In a move unrelated to Nate Diaz blowing off his high school reunion, the UFC bumped the Californian’s rubber match with Gray Maynard to main event status for The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale on Nov. 30.
A knee injury suffered by lightweight champ Anthony Pettis caused the UFC to reshuffle a few upcoming cards. The company’s brass moved the original main event for the TUF 18 Finale, a flyweight title bout between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez, to the main event on the UFC on Fox 9 card.
While the two have only met once professionally, with “The Bully” nabbing a split decision in 2010, Diaz guillotined the former three-time NCAA All-American wrestler in the semifinals of The Ultimate Fighter 5.
Manny Gamburyan then separated his shoulder early in the second round of his fight with Diaz on the season finale, making the Stockton native the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5.
Both Diaz and Maynard have momentarily fallen out of title contention and dropped in the lightweight rankings in the last year.
Diaz suffered back-to-back losses, dropping a unanimous decision to Benson Henderson in a title fight at UFC on Fox 5 before getting KO’d for the first time in his career against Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox 7.
Maynard, who earned a lackluster win over Clay Guida at UFC on FX 4, got KO’d in his next fight against T.J. Grant at UFC 160. The loss marked Maynard’s second KO setback in three fights.
But using typical Diaz brother promotional tactics, the younger brother of infamous trash talker Nick Diaz took to Twitter on Monday to stir up some controversy just in time for his fight with Maynard.
Bitching outta everyother fight now ?wonder what that’s like? #urpayingthesepussys
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) November 11, 2013
Roughly an hour after Diaz apparently taking a shot at Pettis for once again injuring his knee, the 28-year-old former title challenger made another move that surely annoyed his bosses. Displeased with the fact that his bout with Maynard won’t be a typical five-round main event, Diaz once again hinted that he may not show for the rubber match.
And I thought Main events were 5 rounds wtf ? Still busy that day but ill think about it
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) November 11, 2013
Diaz doesn’t use a conventional brand of public relations, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt certainly knows that most publicity is good publicity.
However, in the highly unlikely case that Diaz foolishly blows off his date with Maynard, UFC president Dana White will have an easy decision on his hands. After all, White’s released equally talented fighters for less.
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