Following Nate Diaz’s interview with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday in which he stated he wouldn’t be fighting Tony Ferguson at UFC 213 unless he gets compensated appropriately, and that the UFC is trying to “pressure” him into a fight with Ferguson, UFC President Dana White responded by saying he didn’t think Nate or his brother Nick would ever fight in the octagon again.
“I don’t think you’ll ever… I don’t know if those guys will ever fight again. We offer ’em fights all the time,” White told TMZ Sports.
Asked if he thought Diaz was waiting on a trilogy fight with Conor McGregor, White said, “We offer fights and they turn ’em down. I don’t know what he wants. That’s up to them. If they want to fight next week or they never want to fight again, that’s up to them. That’s not up to me. … The don’t seem like they want to fight, neither one of them.”
Analysis:
This is all part of negotiations, the way I see it. Nate Diaz knows what he’s worth now and he wants to be properly compensated. He’s a prize fighter, and with Conor McGregor on the shelf, HE is the prize right now. He’s the only guy on the roster to hand McGregor a loss inside the octagon, and not just a loss, but he made him tapout, he made him quit. This take-it-or-leave-it attitude from Dana is all part of the game, just as Nate’s interview with Ariel was. How it will ultimately play out is anyone’s guess at this point. But Nate made a lot of money off back-to-back McGregor fights in 2016 and clearly doesn’t need the money, at least for now. He also keeps himself busy outdoors with triathalons. With UFC’s current lack of star power, they need Nate Diaz much more than he needs them for the time being.