Much like his brother Nick, Nate Diaz is kind of quirky. Funny thing about the word "quirky," it can mean a wide range of things, from somewhat funny to indisputably maniacal. When it comes to the Stockton, CA born-and-raised Diaz brothers, it's always been more of the latter than the former. One important thing to note though, is that when the crazy comes out, it's always been a bit more Nick than Nate.
Though Nate shares the same aversion to the media as Nick, he's always been more soft-spoken and entirely less offensive. Once the octagon doors shut, Nate turns into the trash-talking thug we've all come to love, but again, he's always been relatively tame in interviews. Or at the very least, more tame than Nick. Still though, you can never expect either Diaz to be your friend before (or during) a fight. That especially applies for Nate.
The Bay Area-based fighter had a prior standoff with his UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem opponent, Donald Cerrone, and slapped his hand away, refusing a handshake. But it's not necessarily personal, Diaz just wants his opponents to be as uncomfortable as possible heading into the fight. He had a few quotes to the media, via MMA Junkie:
"Let's just say for second you're fighting some maniac from the street that's killed 20 people and they're just like crazy as hell, but you get a fair fight with him, and he's just biting his arm off and talking crazy [expletive], then you're going to fight this nice guy that goes to church, and he just comes up and says, 'Hey, man, nice to meet you, It's going to be a good fight.' Who are you guys gonna feel more comfortable fighting? I'd rather not go in like the rest of these guys."
That's not necessarily a unique view point, but you can leave it to one of the Diaz brothers to put it so ... eloquently. Once the fight starts, Cerrone can expect a lot more jeering, a bit more lunacy and he'll have his hands full. Though Cerrone is favored, maybe Diaz and his mind games will help him out here? Probably not, considering Cerrone has been under some intense pressure before.
Just another reason to enjoy the Diaz brothers, either way.