UFC veteran Nate Diaz had the combat sports community on the edge of their collective seats Wednesday afternoon when it was revealed that he would be making an appearance on a special episode of The MMA Hour.
While Diaz didn’t announce his next fight as many expected, the Stockton superstar divulged about his recent offer from the UFC for a UFC 213 fight with top lightweight contender Tony Ferguson. After revealing that he had been offered a fight at UFC 213 on July 8th against Ferguson, Diaz stated:
“July 8th. I wasn’t supposed to say that, but I was [offered it], and I gladly accepted, and then it was gladly rejected. It was rejected because of circumstances. Yeah sure I’ll fight him, but under these circumstances. Then I was ignored, and the rumors went on. I was like ‘Why are the rumors still going if it’s not popping?’”
In regards to Tony Ferguson’s recent callout, Diaz stated:
“Tony’s talking this shit but it’s not very genuine. I’m not going to buy that, I’m not mad at you Tony. He’s doing his thing, he’s doing what he was told to do, but at the same time you’re not very motivating for me to fight you. He’s saying ‘You need to fight. This is the fight game, you need to fight because that’s what we’re here to do.’ I’m like, guess what, I have already. I got more fights than you, more fights than everybody. So I have already, and I’m going to tell you right now, in this game. It is about the money motherfucker, it’s all about the money. If it wasn’t about the money, then what the fuck are you doing it for? You getting in a cage and fighting in front of everybody and you’re just doing it for not the money? Guess what motherfucker. If you want to fight, we can fight now in my front yard, I can meet you down the road at the park. We could do whatever. Anybody. But if you want to fight me in that cage, the Octagon, that’s making millions and millions of fucking dollars…I want my piece. Especially since they’re tuning in to watch me, they’re not watching you. And that’s not my fault, that’s your fault. Not just him specifically, but everybody. Step your games up, and do it for real. Not just phony style.”
As for the immediate future, Nate Diaz has no plans to return to the Octagon this year:
“I’m taking the year off with my brother. We’re doing some serious races this year, we got the schedule lined up.”
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/3/2017.