Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock
Before and during their fight in Strikeforce back in 2009, Nick Diaz talked plenty of trash about Frank Shamrock, showed him the middle finger and generally appeared to be disrespectful about the veteran star.
In the cage he also handed the Strikeforce middleweight champion a punishing beatdown, landing relentlessly with strikes until the bloodied and battered Shamrock crumpled to the mat from a body shot and took further punches until the referee finally waved off the fight.
Diaz’s demeanor changed almost instantly after that, standing over his downed rival and offering him a hand to stand back up.
Still hurt and knowing that this would mark the final fight of his career, the dejected Shamrock got part way up and stopped, only for Diaz to bend down and tell him, “get up, you’re the f***ing legend.”
Shamrock obliged and Diaz then lifted the veteran’s arm up into the air and during their post-fight interview also bowed respectfully to his opponent and said, “I’m sorry for all that sh*t I talked, you’ve got to forgive me.”
“I’ll always respect him for that,” a tearful Shamrock said years later in a documentary about his life. “He didn’t have to do that for me.”
