Nate Diaz has been flexing his muscles outside of the Octagon this week throwing a huge question mark over his bout with Dustin Poirier on November 3.
The 33-year-old threatened to withdraw following the announcement of Conor McGregor’s return, taking on Khabib Nurmagomedov on October 6 at UFC 229.
It appeared Diaz didn’t take well to the news and tweeted, “I can’t commit when they actin like s**t” suggesting he’s far from happy with Dana White.
He also added during the 25th anniversary press conference that he’d been wrongly accused of turning fights down, when actually he’d only been eligible to fight around a month ago after being sued from his last fight.
It’s perhaps the wrong move to play, considering White has his star man back in McGregor and the President wasn’t all too fussed about Diaz’s comments.
In fact, they were met with more of a shrug, no real surprise when the McGregor fight is set to be a box office smash.
For Poirier though, naturally there is confusion. It’d be Diaz’s first fight in two years, but despite the question marks the American lightweight expects Diaz to stand by the contract he has signed.
He said, “Nate says a lot of stuff, but when he signs a fight contract, I don’t really know of any times that he’s not shown up to fight or pulled out of a fight.
“He says a lot of stuff and does a lot of stuff in the media between fights, but when he signs a contract, the guy shows up and puts it all on the line every time.”
There has been no official word on whether Diaz will pull out, and the bookies are still taking bets on the fight, with Poirier a firm favourite.
A number of bookies are offering Diaz as an underdog at 13/8, which could be worth a back, particularly with those more established in UFC betting. You can check on a number of bookmaker comments to discover the best bookies to do so, although it may be worth waiting until he confirms.
The shrug off from Dana White gives the impression there isn’t tons to worry about right now and we’ll still see the return of Diaz in a few months time.
It’s UFC though and it’s never without its twists and turns. They’ll be plenty more from both Diaz and McGregor in the coming months you’d expect.