Following an altercation in which Nate Diaz was seen allegedly choking out a social media influencer, Diaz has turned himself into police in New Orleans. An arrest warrant was been issued for the former UFC star following the incident over the weekend.
The warrant was issued on Tuesday. Diaz turned himself into authorities on Thursday morning, according to his representative Zach Rosenfield.
The situation, which was caught on camera and posted to social media, showed a wild brawl outside this past weekend's Misfits Boxing event. TikTok user Rodney Petersen was seen talking with Diaz, appearing to have his hands up trying to calm the situation when Diaz grabbed him and locked in a guillotine choke.
Diaz continued to squeeze the hold until dropping Petersen to the ground, resulting in Petersen's head bouncing off the street. A social media post by Petersen showed the hair on the back of his head matted with blood.
"After investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Nate Diaz," police spokesperson Karen Boudrie told ESPN. "He has been charged with second-degree battery."
During the Misfits Boxing event, Diaz was caught on video throwing a water bottle at Chase DeMoor, one of the stars of Netflix's "Too Hot To Handle" and "Perfect Match," who had been disqualified for illegal strikes in his own fight earlier in the evening. The pair were held apart before the situation could escalate, though DeMoor later posted on social media showing Diaz's entourage "jumping" him during the post-event brawl where Diaz choked out Petersen.
"Nate's attorney Walter Becker can confirm that Nate has received word of the arrest warrant and Becker has been in contact with court authorities in New Orleans," Rosenfield said in a statement. "Nate's attorney looks forward to presenting all of the facts about this incident to the District Attorney which clearly demonstrate that a trained fighter named Rodney Petersen aggressively pursued Nate with the intention of engaging him and once doing so, Nate acted entirely in self-defense."
Diaz last fought in the UFC in September, scoring a guillotine choke submission of Tony Ferguson. He then parted ways with the promotion and signed to face social media star-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a boxing match on Aug. 5.
