Morning Report: Nate Diaz talks the politics of throwing in the towel, not paid well enough to take 'ass whoopings'

Ahead of his rubber match with Gray Maynard this weekend at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale, Nate Diaz delves into the unwritten warrior ethos of throwing in the towel. Diaz, who found himself on the business end of the white flag in his most recent bout with Josh Thomson in April, says the onus weighs on a man's corner to protect him when he fails to.

"I think it's a lot of pressure for people to throw in the towel," says Diaz. "But at the same time, my brother fights. He's experienced in fighting and he understands. I understand, too. I just saw the last Junior dos Santos fight with Cain Velasquez. I'm like 'what the f**k is wrong? Does this guy have friends?' For me, if my partner is fighting and he's not doing well and I get time to talk to him or if it's early in a round I'm gonna say 'if he doesn't start doing better and keeps catching punches and shots I'm gonna throw this towel.' He's gonna have to be mad at me later but I'm the one who's going to have to go to sleep at night thinking how I let you get your ass whooped."

After seeing his younger brother take an onslaught of punishment late in round two against Thomson, Nick Diaz had seen enough. While the towel was somewhat inconsequential given the referee's stoppage came prior to even seeing it, it's safe to say Diaz' corner agreed with the call.

"I ain't mad at [Nick]," says Diaz. "He was doing what he thought was right. He was like 'I don't want to see my brother take no shots. I don't think they pay us well enough to be taking f***ing ass whoopings like this.'

Diaz admits he agrees with his brother's call, but that he'd always like to be given the benefit of the doubt.

"I didn't feel like the fight should be ended, but that's just my opinion. And if I was watching from the outside I probably would have thought, too 'oh yea, that didn't really look good.' But the only people who know are people in that fight."

"I felt I was defending myself a little bit but I watched it, too. It didn't look good. It looked like it was time to throw in the towel so I agree with it."

After the flak dos Santos' camp caught for allowing their man to continue, Diaz believes 'ignorant' mindsets by fighters and trainers alike aren't fully grasped until later on.

"I'm sure Junior dos Santos' coaches were probably thinking 'we should throw the towel in' but didn't. Later that night they probably thought 'f**k man, I feel really bad. We just let our friend get his ass whooped.' He's a soldier, he wasn't going to quit. A fighter ain't gonna quit. That's when it's up to your friends and your brothers to not let you die."

Diaz faces Gray Maynard in the main event of this Saturday's TUF 18 Finale live on FOX Sports 1.

I'm off for Thanksgiving so no report for Friday. See you back here Monday morning.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

TUF Finale card set. The women's bantamweight final is set with Julianna Pena facing Jessica Rakoczy.

Del Rosario. UFC heavyweight Shane del Rosario remains in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest.

Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas covers a TUF 18 Finale preview, UFC 168 discussion and more in this week's live chat.

Changed man. Rousimar Palhares says his days of lingering heel hooks are over. "We're working hard to make sure that it never happens again," Palhares told MMAFighting.com. "I wasn't focused and I didn't realize that I was doing it. Now that I can see it, I hope I can work hard on that. We're training the right way, fixing the issues. It's perfect now."

Forgotten at 170. Tarec Saffiedine can't wait to reintroduce himself to the world with a win over Jake Ellenberger at UFC Fight Night 34.

MEDIA STEW

With no report tomorrow, I'm going hard on videos. Not necessarily better, just more of them.

Liz Carmouche teaches some clinch work to Team Rousey.

Gray Maynard pre-fight interview.

New Bellator signee Darrion Caldwell.

Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Waylon Lowe at WSOF 5.

Road to Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs Smith.

Herb Dean's just glad it wasn't him.

This week's Knuckle Up with Eugene S. Robinson.

Action on FFC 4:

Kev Brooks vs. Mark Duncan.

Chris Bungard vs. Tom Richards.

Guy breaks opponent's rib, claims ring girls. Skip to about 11:00.

Action from Premium Fight 3:

Cesar Tozi vs. Fernando Neguinho.

Márcio Azevedo vs. Gustavo Erak.

Francisco Maciel vs. Joselino Indio.

TWEETS

Get well soon.

Everyone please pray for my best friend @Delrosariomma He's got a little girl to help me raise. He ain't leaving us yet #prayforshane

— Ian McCall (@Unclecreepymma) November 28, 2013

So I guess news has broken. My teammate Shane Del Rosario suffered full cardiac arrest yesterday morning, (cont) http://t.co/IawnqUrcB3

— Carla Esparza (@CarlaEsparza1) November 27, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving.

Want to wish a happy Thanksgiving to all my American fans- Hope you get time to relax & enjoy the long weekend with your family and friends!

— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) November 27, 2013

Happy tanks given to all my American fans enjoy the Holliday with your family and friends GOD BLESS YOU GUYS

— Vitor Belfort (@vitorbelfort) November 27, 2013

Ever see it happening?

@TheNotoriousMMA @danawhite what do you say Dana ? Can I smash this piece of trash ??? I'll do it just say the word BOSS ;-)

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 28, 2013

Didn't go small.

Started a new tattoo. The SBG Gorrilla. Pay no attention to my bulging deltoids. Or that I am on the jaxpot pic.twitter.com/ahEpTZm4Wu

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 27, 2013

Struve looking ready.

"@Erik_Fontanez: @StefanStruve @BoosterGear Looking fit, man." I'm fit and in shape, could start a camp immediately and be ready in 2 months

— Stefan Struve (@StefanStruve) November 27, 2013

55 minutes?

Worst part of camp is over!!! Laying still for 55 min for MRI brain pictures for Medicals.... while u have a itch on ur face

— Scott jorgensen (@Scottjorgensen) November 27, 2013

When does it start?

Party at the Russian beach club. #Vietnam pic.twitter.com/01A7Uk7OOU

— Cody Donovan (@donnybrookcody) November 28, 2013

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Nov. 27 2013)

Junior Hernandez vs. Hugo Viana at UFC on FOX 10

Charles Oliveira vs. Andy Ogle at UFC Fight Night 36

Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy at TUF 18 Finale

Roxanne Modafferi vs. Raquel Pennington at TUF 18 Finale

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via Jonnyboy6969.

Who Should Fight Who? UFC 167 Winners & Losers

St. Pierre should fight Hendricks - Reason: This was a very close fight. I do not think it was a robbery. Watching it Live I scored it 48-47 GSP but after watching it again I now believe that the fight was a Draw. You could make a case for both GSP and Hendricks, it all comes down to that first round and how you scored it. Two of the judges gave that Round to GSP which won him the fight. I believe that round was even. The good news is there will be an immediate rematch. Its going to be huge and I'm really looking forward to it.

Hendricks should fight St. Pierre - Reason: I thought Hendricks did a very good job. I don't think he did enough to get the Win though. He wasn't aggressive enough, he should have tried to finish GSP when he had him hurt. He let GSP take that fifth round because he thought he was ahead on the scorecards. Never take a round off like Hendricks did. You'll regret it. All this 70% nonsense is really dumb. All I know is he better come out guns blazing and throw 100% in the rematch. Otherwise he'll be 0-2 in UFC Title fights. I do believe he will be more aggressive in the rematch and I think he'll knock GSP out and become the new Welterweight Champion.

...

Check out the rest of the post here.

Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.