UFC denies claims that Diaz, Poirier are fighting for 165 lbs title

Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier claim they’re fighting for the inaugural 165lb title at UFC 230. Inside sources and Dana White say otherwise.

A lot of fighters have campaigned for the idea of adding new weight divisions, such as the 165-pound classification. The concept is what led to Conor McGregor trying to push a fight with Georges St-Pierre.

In response, Dana White has been adamant about it never happening. In 2017, he was quoted as saying “It’s never going to change. You’re still going to have people trying to – let’s say I add a 165-pound weight class. That will only mean bigger guys will try to make 165. Everybody’s always looking for an advantage.”

Because nobody knows anything in MMA, Nate Diaz announced on Twitter that a new weight division is exactly what will be added to inaugurate the new 165lb title for the UFC 230 main event on November 3rd.

His opponent, Dustin Poirier, was all too happy to confirm:

Is any of this even true? Not according to MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, who was told by a UFC official that this is absolutely false.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto spoke to Dana White, who similarly shot down Poirier and Diaz’s tweets.

You’d think the fighters would know if the contracts have already been signed. They could also be negotiating publicly in order to make such fantasies become reality. We’ve seen odder things happen in the UFC, so how this all shakes out will be interesting.

UFC 230 tickets go on sale this week, and with the Madison Square Garden event just over five weeks away, it’s also been reported that we could see an interim title created just to headline the show.