Nate Diaz is set to fight out the last fight on his UFC contract at UFC 279. Diaz leaving the promotion once he hits free agency was considered such a certainty that UFC brass decided to match him up against Khamzat Chimaev in what many people are calling a lopsided mismatch.
In a new in-depth interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Diaz discussed his reasons for leaving and the UFC’s attempt to bury him on the way out.
“I do not want to fight in UFC for a while,” Diaz said. “Because while I’m here I’m either doing nothing or I have to fight some f**king lame ass and build him up for him to fight somebody.”
Diaz pointed out that everyone who has beat him over his last several fights has gone on to fight in a title shot next. In Nate’s mind, Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, and Leon Edwards all used his name to propel themselves to the next level. So of course the UFC is doing the same thing with Khamzat Chimaev.
“It makes perfect sense, because they want him to have a title fight,” Diaz said. “So who do they have him fight? I’m the champion. Anybody I fight gets the f**king title fight. I’m the guy.”
https://twitter.com/btsportufc/status/1567558957396361221
The 37-year-old Stockton fighter reiterated that he was not interested in fighting Chimaev. But now that the fight was being forced on him, he wasn’t about to accept defeat easily.
“I’ve gotta just go in there and fight him for you real quick,” he said. “I’m unmotivated for that, but I’m gonna do what I gotta do and no one ain’t gonna stop me. I’ll never sit back and let no one whoop my ass. The way they’ve been pumping him up and the way I’m supposed to lose, he better f**king kill me. He better kill me.”
“Let’s just say he does, right? He’s the next best thing and he’s ranked number three. The guy I beat [Edwards] is number one. If I lose, I’m still just number two or number three.”
Through the interview, Nate Diaz paints himself as the man behind a lot of the biggest moments in recent UFC history. His win over McGregor that sold over a million pay-per-views precipitated the UFC’s four billion dollar sale to Endeavor. His BMF belt bout against Jorge Masvidal in Madison Square Garden drew out then-president Donald Trump. Since the UFC hasn’t been willing to promote those accomplishments, Diaz is making his own fight company, Real Fight Inc., to do it himself.
Nate Diaz announces he’s forming a fight promotion and applying for a promoter’s license to create ‘Real Fight, Inc.’, which will feature ‘up and coming prospects or household names who fit the brand of Real Ninjas. Real Fighters. Real Shit.’
Full statement with promotion logo: pic.twitter.com/BR0lb9fpjR
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) September 4, 2022
“How can I not create my own organization?” Diaz said. “I created all this s**t. I made the Conor fight. I made the biggest thing out of the Masvidal fight. The president was there. That was all done by me. I don’t care what nobody says. The UFC and people can promote it like I’m a hater. No, no, no. I made all that happen. I’ll write my own organization. I’ll write my own story then.”
Certainly not the words of someone who’s looking to re-sign with the UFC following UFC 279. So enjoy Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev this weekend, it may be the last time we see Diaz in the UFC for a while.
What do you think, Penn Nation? Is Nate Diaz speaking truth?