Stockton brothers Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz are two of the most iconic fighters to grace the sport of mixed martial arts. Besides having unfiltered personalities and great fighting prowess, the Diaz brothers are also vegans, which means they don’t consume animal-based food products. “If anything, meat’s gonna slow you down,” Nate once told Men’s Journal. Guess what? It seems like Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson‘s son is a big fan of their lifestyle.
As we all know, they hardly come any bigger and tougher than ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who was known to strike fear into his opponents’ purely because of his massive size and presence. For an accomplished champion like him, the 46-year-old had advised his son to have a good amount of meat in his diet if he wants to become a top MMA fighter. But his son, Raja Jackson, whom his father likes to call ‘Rampage Jr.’, continues to follow a meat-free diet, and it hasn’t sat right with ‘Rampage Sr.’.
“My son, he don’t eat no animal products, but he wants to be a fighter,” ‘Rampage’ Jackson stated on his ‘JAXXON Podcast’, with guest Tai Tuivasa. In response, the Australian heavyweight burst out laughing when he heard about the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s son’s vegan diet, but the former light heavyweight champion wasn’t messing around. “I’m not joking, bro,” Jackson yelled!
Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson revealed that most of Raja’s diet involved vegetables, and Tai Tuivasa saw nothing wrong with it. But the former UFC champion appeared skeptical about his son’s chances of ever making it to the top of MMA without a diet routine that involves animal products. “He eats a lot of f—ing veggies and f—ing carbs and nuts and s–t. Berries and s–t… He’s healthy, but [it may not help him in becoming a fighter],” Jackson further stated.
Following this revelation, Jackson’s co-host, Bear Degidio, revealed that Raja had told his father about his vegan diet in a messaging app. It didn’t take him too long to take a snap of the whole conversation and share on social media, while taking a dig at the Diaz brothers because he didn’t have a good impression of veganism. “So Rampage screenshotted their conversation, posted on Instagram, said, ‘The only vegan you should be watching… is Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz.’ Why’d you do that? Screenshotted your own son,” said Degidio as he questioned his co-host’s motive. Jackson responded, “He pissed me off with that s–t.”
TOKYO, JAPAN DECEMBER 28, 2019: American MMA fighter Quinton Jackson during a weigh-in ceremony ahead of his Bellator 237 main card heavyweight bout against Russian rival Fedor Emelianenko, the cross-promotional event between Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation scheduled to take place at Saitama Super Arena on December 29. Valery Sharifulin/TASS PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxONLY TS0C8EB1
While the common sentiment about the Diaz brothers is that they’re vegan, Joe Rogan once revealed that it’s not really true. He made these statements a few years ago on his podcast, so let’s take a look at what the 57-year-old had to say.
Joe Rogan claims Nate Diaz is not a vegan anymore
Joe Rogan, back in a JRE MMA Show episode back in 2021, revealed that Nate Diaz was a vegan back in the day. But now, he has started consuming dairy products. When it comes to consuming meat, the Stockton native eats fish. So why do people keep bringing him up as an example of veganism? Well, Rogan claims it’s because they just want to justify their lifestyle.
“Nah, he doesn’t eat vegan. They keep saying that. That’s not true. I mean he eats eggs and fish and I mean I don’t know if he’s still eating fish,” said Joe Rogan. He further stated, “But he certainly was at one point of time. But the vegans love to claim him. Because it’s nonsense. They just tried to find just one person who’s like elite on a vegan diet.”
Interestingly, a close friend of the Diaz brothers, Kron Gracie—son of the legendary Rickson Gracie—is mostly vegan. However, in a VICE special, Gracie was seen eating at a Sushi bar after a hard training session.
Well, everyone has their own way of life, and people can eat anything they want. But do you think a vegan diet is detrimental to an MMA fighter? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.
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