25 April 2023 , 07:57
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Nate Diaz has been charged with second-degree battery and an arrest warrant has been issued for the ex-UFC star following a brawl he was involved in over the weekend.
Diaz, 38, is wanted by New Orleans police for his involvement in a street fight with Logan Paul lookalike Rodney Petersen, 34. Karen A Boudrie, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department, confirmed that a warrant has been issued for Diaz's arrest as she told MMA Fighting: “There has been an arrest warrant issued — he is not in custody,” she said.
The UFC legend was in New Orleans to watch his teammate Chris Avila pick up a one-sided decision win against Paul Bamba at Misfits Boxing 6. Just hours after the influencer boxing event, Diaz would be caught up in a scuffle outside of the XULA Convention Center with Rodney Petersen, a popular TikTok influencer who plays off the similarities between himself and Paul.
Diaz was caught on video appearing to choke Petersen unconscious while kneeing him to the stomach, before dropping him to the ground and walking away. Petersen, who claimed he suffered a bloody head injury in the scuffle, has since been profiled as an amateur MMA fighter who is a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Petersen's last MMA fight took place in 2015 and he is also 1-0 as a professional boxer.
New Orleans police released a statement about the altercation and charge against Diaz that read: “At or about 2:10am on Saturday April 22- NOPD’s Bourbon Street. Promenade officers and supervisors were alerted to a large altercation in the 400 block of Bourbon St. The officers were able to disperse the crowd. Witness alerted the officers to a white male subject who was believed to be unconscious.
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"A short time later, the subject regained consciousness. Officers observed the subject was bleeding from the rear of his head and EMS was summoned to render aid. After investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Nate Diaz. He has been charged with second degree battery. He is not in custody at this time.”
Nate Diaz was filmed choking Rodney Petersen unconscious in a street fight
An arrest warrant has since been issued for Diaz by New Orleans policeSecond-degree battery is a felony in the state of Louisiana that is punishable by up to eight years in prison. Diaz, whose representative has denied the charge, is scheduled to compete in his professional boxing debut against Jake Paul on August 5 and it's unclear if his arrest warrant will scupper plans of the fight.
The UFC legend has since told Paul to fight YouTube rival KSI in a tweet that read: "Lol why Dont u [two] scared p****s just fight each other August, I’ll fight someone who can really fight." KSI accepted to be Diaz's replacement opponent for the fight, with Paul thanking his rival for being "so humble and committed".