UFC President Dana White laughs at the notion that he could just book Nate Diaz.
White said it wasn’t exactly an easy road to book Diaz against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279, but the Stockton, Calif., native wanted the fight — and, the UFC exec said, the public wanted it as well.
“I love Nate very much,” White stated in his press conference following Tuesday’s Contenders Series Event. “I like Nate, and Nate came in here, long before that fight was ever made, and we were talking about it being his last fight, and I said, ‘Listen, kid. You think about the wars that Nate Diaz has put on and the incredible fights and the big fights that he’s done with us, go do whatever you want to do, man.’
” But getting a fight with him isn’t always as simple as it seems. Everyone is like “Well, why don’t you fight?” Well, he requested Francis Ngannou. It would be impossible to go on, but it won’t. It was done. This was the battle he wanted .”
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Also, Diaz appeared on The MMA Hour earlier this month to ask for a fight in order to fulfill his contract and continue with other ventures. He accused the UFC of holding him “hostage” by dangling more lucrative contract offers instead of booking the fight. He also detailed a meeting where he said White pitched several fights, then unexpectedly left the meeting after he declined a new contract. Diaz said he realized when he’d been ditched, he urinated on the building’s lawn.
Ngannou, the middleweight champion of Israel Adesanya were two names Diaz mentioned. He felt they were worthy opponents given their achievements in the octagon. He also stated that he would fight anyone offered by UFC to him for his last fight. This included Chimaev who he claimed turned down an offer.
Diaz speculated that Conor McGregor was the UFC’s contract holder to make it possible for him to complete a three-fight series with his two-time rival. White acknowledged that there was always the chance of another meeting but stated it couldn’t be offered between 2020 now and McGregor’s broken leg.
“Conor’s not ready yet,” White said. White said that Conor’s leg has not healed. Nate could obviously sit around and wait for that, but he doesn’t want it. I don’t know what he’s got planned or what he’s thinking, but right here, right now, he’s ready to fight. He wants to go, and we’re going.
“That’s one of those fights you can do any time, but no, it never worked out that way. Listen, if you get two guys like Conor and Nate, who want to fight each other bad enough, it ends up happening.”
McGregor has been seen submitting Diaz at UFC 196, and taking him to the UFC 202.. But White said he won’t be upset if the trilogy doesn’t happen.
“No. It’s not that I didn’t get the chance to say No. 3,” he said. “The first two were awesome. The first round of the fight with Conor, Nate and Nate was incredible. Conor was landing these crazy bombs, then Diaz comes out in that second round. The second fight was amazing, it was insane. It happens. But we were able to enjoy the first two .”
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Chimaev, on the other hand, is a fresh matchup for Diaz. Many MMA observers, including current and former fighters, have blasted the pairing as a blatant mismatch. Dan Hardy, a former UFC commentator, called the pairing criminal. He claimed that it was an “assassination .”
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White said that when Diaz and Chimaev step into the octagon, people will tune in to watch.
” We made it and we’re here,” he stated. It’s a great fight. This is a fight that people are eager to watch. It’s a fight that people will be interested in, so we’re going to do it.”
