Diaz says UFC tried to bump him from movie trailer in favor of McGregor or St-Pierre

Nate Diaz thinks that the UFC isn’t interested in using him as much as guys like Conor McGregor or Georges St-Pierre.

It’s no secret to UFC fans that the Diaz brothers do things in their own unique way. Both Nick and Nate Diaz always deliver in the cage, but Dana White has made no secret of the fact that it’s not easy to actually get them into it sometimes. In Nate’s case, he wants to get paid and he wants relevant fights. His issues with the UFC run deep, but one recent example from a USA Today article illustrates part of the reason he gets so frustrated.

According to Nate, he got hooked up with a promotional job for the movie Fist Fight, starring Charlie Day and Ice Cube. He sparred with Day in a promo in a recorder trailer. But the UFC didn’t like that and allegedly wanted to go in a different direction:

“The UFC is like, ‘We’re thinking GSP or Conor McGregor,’ ” Diaz said. “My guy said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to use Nate.’ They came back to say, ‘We really think you should use GSP or Conor.’

“I don’t know what it is. I’m not a white boy with blue eyes or great looking, I talk all (messed) up. I’m not the look they’re going for, but this is fighting. You don’t go for a look. You go for the baddest that’s out there. This is an example of my whole career.”

In his mind, it encapsulates why he’s not fully behind the brand – because they’re not fully behind him:

“They try to shut us down. With Conor, they made a star out of him. They have never done that for me. I’m still here after all the holding back I’ve been through. They’ve never put my name on a pedestal. If they had my back the whole way, I’d be like, ‘UFC, all day, don’t be dissing my company like that,’ but why would I do that for a company that does this?”

Diaz still doesn’t have a fight booked, despite two bouts with McGregor that were among the highest-selling PPVs in company history in 2016.

Nate Diaz thinks that the UFC isn’t interested in using him as much as guys like Conor McGregor or Georges St-Pierre.

It’s no secret to UFC fans that the Diaz brothers do things in their own unique way. Both Nick and Nate Diaz always deliver in the cage, but Dana White has made no secret of the fact that it’s not easy to actually get them into it sometimes. In Nate’s case, he wants to get paid and he wants relevant fights. His issues with the UFC run deep, but one recent example from a USA Today article illustrates part of the reason he gets so frustrated.

According to Nate, he got hooked up with a promotional job for the movie Fist Fight, starring Charlie Day and Ice Cube. He sparred with Day in a promo in a recorder trailer. But the UFC didn’t like that and allegedly wanted to go in a different direction:

“The UFC is like, ‘We’re thinking GSP or Conor McGregor,’ ” Diaz said. “My guy said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to use Nate.’ They came back to say, ‘We really think you should use GSP or Conor.’

“I don’t know what it is. I’m not a white boy with blue eyes or great looking, I talk all (messed) up. I’m not the look they’re going for, but this is fighting. You don’t go for a look. You go for the baddest that’s out there. This is an example of my whole career.”

In his mind, it encapsulates why he’s not fully behind the brand – because they’re not fully behind him:

“They try to shut us down. With Conor, they made a star out of him. They have never done that for me. I’m still here after all the holding back I’ve been through. They’ve never put my name on a pedestal. If they had my back the whole way, I’d be like, ‘UFC, all day, don’t be dissing my company like that,’ but why would I do that for a company that does this?”

Diaz still doesn’t have a fight booked, despite two bouts with McGregor that were among the highest-selling PPVs in company history in 2016.