Nate Diaz turned himself in to the New Orleans Police Department on Thursday morning and was booked into custody on a charge of felony second-degree battery.
Diaz, the 38-year-old former UFC star, was issued an arrest warrant Monday stemming from a street brawl last weekend involving multiple people following the Misfits Boxing card.
Diaz could be seen in a video that went viral on social media being confronted on Bourbon Street by a social media influencer and boxer, Rodney Petersen. Diaz choked Petersen unconscious with a guillotine submission, and when Diaz set him down, the back of Petersen’s head hit the pavement. Petersen later showed in a social media video that he was bleeding from the back of his head.
“Nate voluntarily turned himself into the New Orleans Police Department [Thursday] morning,” Diaz representative Zach Rosenfield wrote in a statement. “We continue to look forward to presenting all the evidence and videos that show Nate was acting in self-defense.”
Diaz, a Stockton, California, native, arrived at the New Orleans Police Department Sixth District station Thursday morning with his attorney and surrendered, police spokesperson Karen Boudrie said. He was transported to the Orleans Justice Center and booked. He was later released on a $10,000 bond, and Rosenfield said Diaz was returning to Stockton.
“We appreciate how we were treated by the New Orleans Police Department, the court and their staff,” Rosenfield said in a statement.
Tuesday, Rosenfield wrote in a statement that Diaz attorney Walter Becker “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.”
The 6-foot-4 Petersen is 1-0 as a pro boxer, is a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has amateur MMA experience.
Diaz is one of the most popular fighters in UFC history. He left the promotion as a free agent after fighting out his contract in September and is scheduled for a big-money boxing match with Jake Paul on Aug. 5 in Dallas. It does not seem like Diaz’s arrest will affect that fight.