Without a bonafide headliner – at least, until Cris Cyborg signed to fight Holly Holm for the women’s featherweight title – at December 30’s year-ending UFC 219 pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas, rumors abounded this week that welterweight champion Tyron Woodley would face fan favorite Nate Diaz for the 170-pound belt.
Talk of the fight understandably made it a controversial one, as Diaz, a normal lightweight, only has a 3-3 record at welterweight and has been out of action since a close decision loss to Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202. But a deeper plan may be at hand, as the winner could potentially face McGregor to somehow grant “The Notorious” a shot at a third UFC title without defending his featherweight or lightweight belts once, especially if Diaz were somehow able to defeat the heavily favored ‘Chosen One.’
The bout is still in its early stages with a month-and-a-half remaining until UFC 219, but Woodley told TMZ that he had already signed on the dotted line and was awaiting Diaz’ reply. He took that stance to a new level at yesterday’s UFC Fight Night 121 weigh-in show (via MMA Fighting), prodding Diaz to sign by wondering why he was ‘scared’:
“I’m here. All I need is the paperwork sent — UFC 219, Dec. 30 needs a headliner. It’s been offered to me, it’s been offered to Nate Diaz. Unfortunately, one half has not accepted. So you guys, people listening and watching, you guys need to get the Twitter fingers and ask your man that said ‘Don’t be scared,’ why is he scared?”
Yet while the fight is the massive ‘money fight’ Woodley has been calling for ever since he won the 170-pound title from Robbie Lawler in July 2016 – he was first calling for it to be versus Nate’s brother Nick – it’s also a joke in terms of merit and overall adherence to the so-called ‘official’ UFC rankings, and Woodley is rightfully favored heavily in early odds for the bout.
But ‘The Chosen One’ replied to that suggestion with the observation that the rankings have gone out the window in the UFC recently, instead offering the view that Diaz’ overall body of work makes him deserve a welterweight title shot:
“Our sport is out of the blue at this point. So, there’s no real rules.
“I’m a huge fan of the Diaz boys. I’m a huge fan of what they’ve done for our sport. I feel like it’s not about the rankings anymore. Sometimes the rankings are a little shaky. When you think about who’s put in the most work, the most time, is he not deserving of the world title based upon what he did? Fighting Conor McGregor; even before, just fighting in these wars.”
Oft-criticized for speaking his minds on many issues in MMA, Woodley has a solid point here, as the rankings have been thrown by the wayside in favor of bouts that the UFC ownership believes will attract casual fans and therefore bigger pay-per-view sales.
But in 2017, that hasn’t translated into anything resembling that perceived success without McGregor fighting in the octagon.
Would a fight with Woodley and Diaz help solve that problem, or would it just add to the issues plaguing the UFC and their increasingly worthless rankings?
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