Tyron Woodley Says Nate Diaz Intentionally Priced Himself Out Of UFC 219
Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz will not be fighting a UFC 219 and the UFC welterweight champion is blaming only one man.
UFC President Dana White yesterday downplayed the fight was ever really in the works, but reports suggest that both men were approached about the fight and that it was very much a serious consideration for the Dec. 30 show.
Talk of the fight going ahead unfortunately hit a roadblock when it became clear that Diaz was demanding $15m to take the 170-pounds title fight. From there, all talk dissipated and the UFC closed the deal on Cris Cyborg vs Holly Holm to headline the end of yarn pay-per-view.
Speaking to MMAJunkie Radio yesterday, Woodley explained why he thought Diaz was making such high demands. Suffice to say, the UFC welterweight champion thinks Diaz’s demands were made with the intention for the fight not to take place.
“It seemed like it was his way of saying ‘no’, without saying ‘no’,” Woodley said. “It seemed like him saying ‘nah I don’t want to fight him’ without saying ‘I don’t want to fight him’. It seemed like he was saying ‘I’m scared homie’, without saying ‘I’m scared homie’. He’s never made $15m to fight.
“Let’s all recycle and go backwards. He was fighting for $16,000 and $16,000. I don’t know if he has amnesia, but before he fought Conor McGregor, he beat Michael Johnson for $16,000 and $16,000. After two fights with Conor, you think you’re going to make $15m fighting me? I’m not even Conor. He’s not even going to make that fighting Conor.”
Woodley then provided an example of exactly what he thinks Diaz doing and why.
“For him to throw that number out there, that’s like me saying ‘I’ll fight Stipe Miocic right now, sign me up, yeah I’ll fight him’,” Woodley said. “How much you need? $30m! I know I’m never going to get $30m. Basically I’m puffing chest out and acting like all [tough].
“He doesn’t want to lose credibility with the fans. He doesn’t want to lose that, ‘I’ll fight anybody, anytime. I’m from Stockton. I’m from the hood, la la la.’ You really got to defend that? You really got to defend that statement? He don’t really want to defend that, so he’s trying to defend the fans that really see him in that light.”
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