Nate Diaz offered to fight Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, or Tony Ferguson, but the UFC declined those and forced him fight Khamzat Chimaev.
Diaz has what could be his last fight in the organization at UFC 279, as he headlines the card against Chimaev. The UFC and Diaz have not always seen eye to eye, as he claims they were holding out on him and not offering him fights he was asking for. Diaz even begged for a fight or to be released, as he only had one fight left on his contract. He went as far as urinating on a UFC building in an attempt to get the attention of Dana White and company.
Diaz claimed in an interview with Brett Okamoto, Diaz described how he asked multiple times for Chandler, Ferguson, Poirier, or even Vicente Luque.
“I told him I’ll fight a top five guy, since you won’t let me out to fight Ferguson, Luque, or who the f**k else did I try to fight? Poirier or Chandler, the best of the best.” Diaz said in an interview with ESPN.
Nate Diaz also claimed that he didn’t ask for a bout between him and Chimaev, however he isn’t willing to back down from a fight
Diaz called out Francis NGannou and Israel Adesanya not too long ago, so he isn’t too worried about going up against ‘Borz’. He also believes that Chimaev has a ton of pressure to finish the fight, as he is “supposed to win”, much like Conor McGregor was in their first matchup.
“What they got me doing right now is, they’re acting like I called for this fight, which I didn’t call for, and I don’t want, and didn’t want, and still don’t want, but I don’t give a f**k. I’ll fight anybody. The pressure is on him.”
Do you think Nate Diaz shocks the world again and defeats Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279?