What started as a chaotic Russian reality show filming in Thailand turned into an unexpected vacation adventure for UFC veterans Nate Diaz and Jake Shields – complete with monkey mayhem and painful lessons about ocean wildlife.
According to Shields’ recent podcast, the duo had traveled to Thailand with only two days’ notice to participate in a Russian reality show that quickly devolved into chaos. After multiple brawls broke out within an hour of filming, they decided to abandon the project and turn their trip into an impromptu vacation in Phuket.
The real adventure began when they decided to explore the beautiful Phi Islands via speedboat. It was during their return journey that Diaz’s decade-old grudge with local wildlife came to a head. As Shields recounted, they were driving past Monkey Beach when Diaz remembered a traumatic encounter from ten years prior.
“I remember 10 years prior I was robbed of my food and chased off by a pack of 15 or 20 monkeys,” Shields explained on his podcast. This time, however, Diaz felt ready for revenge. “I had a little backup and a little too much to drink. So I was feeling brave. So we decided to swim over and get some payback.”
The plan didn’t go as expected. Despite having Shields as backup, Diaz found himself overwhelmed once again by the aggressive primates. “My friend didn’t back me up, bro. I got jumped,” Diaz lamented, though he maintained his fighting spirit: “But I went down swinging.”
The monkey encounter wasn’t the only wildlife-related mishap of their island adventure. Despite repeated warnings from their boat driver about the dangers of swimming to shore, the fighters ignored the advice and jumped into the water anyway. Their reckless decision led to a painful encounter with sea urchins, which Shields admitted he “had no idea what the f**k a sea urchin was.”
The venomous spines proved to be excruciating, with Shields noting that “the sea urchins were far more deadly than the Chechen and Dagestani fighters” they had encountered during the reality show debacle.
Both learned hard lessons about respecting local wildlife and listening to experienced guides. The boat captain had repeatedly warned them about the dangers, but as Shields confessed, “I’ve never been good at listening.” It seems like even seasoned UFC veterans can find themselves outmatched by nature’s smaller but craftier opponents.
