Joe Rogan Praises 'Most Underappreciated Superstar' Nate Diaz

Ultimate Fighting Championship color commentator Joe Rogan has always been a fan of the Diaz brothers and was Octagon-side to witness younger brother Nate’s convincing victory over former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 on Saturday night.

Rogan labeled Diaz “the anti-hero” during his walkout on Saturday, in reference to the Stockton, California, native’s nonconformist personality which is a major part of his status as a fan favorite over the years. Once the fight began, Diaz was able to walk down Pettis throughout the fight and pressure him constantly on the way to unanimous decision win.

The performance doesn’t come as a surprise to Rogan who has always had great respect for Diaz and wrote on his Instagram account that he’s glad the 34-year-old former “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner is finally getting the adulation from the fans.

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What a crazy night! The @yoelromeromma vs @borrachinhamma lived up to the hype! Just an absolutely insane fight! The shots @yoelromeromma is able to endure seriously defy logic. The man is made out of some other worldly material. It was a crazy close fight that could have gone either way. Many people I spoke to thought Yoel won. I will have to watch it again and try to score it myself. Amazing fight either way. I’m glad @natediaz209 is getting the love and respect he deserves. I’ve been saying for years he’s the most under appreciated super star in the UFC roster. The roar when that man walked into the arena was second to none, and the fight was excellent. Congrats to the GOAT heavyweight @stipemiocic for regaining his crown and cementing his legacy as a legend! Some people were confused as to why I interviewed DC after the fight because I’ve publicly stated that I don’t think it’s a good idea to interview fighters after they’ve been KO’ed. I think most of what happened to DC was those brutal body shots, and although Stipe dropped him with head shots he was never out cold, and seemed clear headed after he stood up and the results were announced to the crowd and Stipe got the belt given to him. The UFC asked for an interview, and I asked DC if he was ok with it, and he said, Yes. I think interviewing fighters after a brutal loss is kinda sketchy, but I was also thinking that it’s possible that this may be the last time we see DC in the octagon. I love DC, and I would never want to put him in a bad position, but I made a judgment call and felt this would be alright. Whatever he decides to do from here on out the man is a future hall of famer and one of the best to ever do it. It will be very interesting to see what he decides to do from here out. The undercard has some amazing fights too. Just a great fight night overall! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan) on Aug 18, 2019 at 12:43pm PDT

“I’m glad [Nate Diaz] is getting the love and respect he deserves. I’ve been saying for years he’s the most underappreciated superstar in the UFC roster. The roar when that man walked into the arena was second to none, and the fight was excellent.”

Diaz had been on a self-imposed hiatus from fighting for nearly three years, claiming the promotion ignored him after his loss to Conor McGregor in their rematch.

Fans were treated to a possible next bout for Diaz when he called out Jorge Masvidal during his post-fight interview with “Gamebred” -- who was in the crowd -- nodding in delight to being called out.