Nate Diaz Calls Ilia Topuria a 'Punching Bag' After UFC White House Loss

Nate Diaz has never needed much of a reason to fire shots, and at the launch of Scott Coker's Ki MMA venture he found a target in Ilia Topuria. The former two-division champ dropped his lightweight belt to Justin Gaethje at UFC White House in June — the first loss of Topuria's career and the end of a perfect record that had carried him through two weight classes.

Diaz didn't mince words, calling Topuria "lame" and throwing the "punching bag" label right back at him, a phrase Topuria had reportedly aimed at Diaz first. The 41-year-old's read is simple: Topuria got exposed the moment he stepped in with a genuine problem in Gaethje.

The McGregor Parallel

Diaz sees Topuria's arc as a rerun of Conor McGregor's — the hype machine cranking up before the real test arrived. That comparison carries weight coming from Diaz, who handed McGregor his first UFC loss back in 2016. In Diaz's telling, Topuria got the same early pump-up, then met Gaethje and found out the hard way.

It's worth remembering how good Topuria's resume looked before the fall. He captured belts at 145 and 155 pounds and stacked consecutive knockouts over three future Hall of Famers — Charles Oliveira (now 37-11), Max Holloway, and reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, who sits at 28-4 with a title defense against Movsar Evloev on the calendar. That's not a soft run by any measure.

Now the division waits to see whether Gaethje owes Topuria an immediate rematch or whether a fresh contender jumps the line. Fans and media are split, and Topuria's back on the comeback trail either way.

As for Diaz himself, he's coming off a loss to Mike Perry in May, his first MMA outing in four years. He confirmed he's game to fight for Ki MMA — especially if a ring's involved — and is targeting a return no earlier than January, with at least two bouts pencilled in for 2027. His verdict on the current landscape was blunt: nobody out there impresses him much right now.