Dana White Not Sure Nick or Nate Diaz Will Ever Fight in the UFC Again
It’s been more than a year since Nate Diaz last stepped foot inside the Octagon and even longer for his big brother Nick, who last fought back at UFC 183 in January 2015.
While the Diaz brothers maintain one of the most rabid and loyal fan bases in all of mixed martial arts, there’s still no word on whether or not either one of them will be fighting again any time soon.
UFC president Dana White said on Tuesday that the promotion has been offering the younger Diaz brother fights ever since his majority decision loss to Conor McGregor last year, but he hasn’t been interested in any of them.
“Nate Diaz turned down a fight with everybody on the roster,” White revealed. “We’ve been offering him fights, when’s the last time he fought? A year and a half we’ve been offering him fights. As a promoter, we have to offer him fights cause we’re supposed to give him three fights a year.
“So we continuously offer him fights and he continuously turns them down.”
Fighter contracts in the UFC are based on the number of bouts as well as time on the contract so legally the organization is required to offer an athlete a certain number of fights over a given time limit.
If a fighter suffers an injury or turns down a fight for whatever reason, the UFC contract automatically extends. In Diaz’s case, the UFC has offered him fights with Eddie Alvarez, Tony Ferguson and just recently a potential matchup with welterweight Tyron Woodley but he’s declined all those fights so in turn his contract has continuously been extended.
As for Nick Diaz, White’s just not sure he’ll ever return to compete again.
The elder Diaz brother hasn’t shown much interest in fighting at all in recent months and White doesn’t really see any scenario where he’ll come back to the UFC.
“I just don’t think Nick wants to fight,” White said. “Only Nick and Nate know what they want to do. But I don’t know. I just don’t see it. Nick Diaz used to be a f–king beast. When Nick Diaz was in his prime, Nick would go out and fight anybody and Nick was fun. Nate, too.
“They have such a huge cult following cause they’re interesting guys and they’re fun to watch fight.”
White doesn’t discount that the Diaz brothers are still hugely relevant fighters in the sport with the potential to beat anybody in their given divisions, but he’s just not sure either of them really want to actually compete again.
Both Diaz brothers have cashed in on lucrative fights in recent years so financially White knows that Nick and Nate could probably walk away from the sport forever and still afford to live a comfortable life after what they’ve already earned.
“Money changes everything,” White said. “Ever since Nick fought GSP [Georges St-Pierre], he made big money, he’s just cruising around doing his thing. In two fights with Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz made very, very good money
“That kid doesn’t have to ever fight again unless he’s blowing crazy s–t loads of money or didn’t pay his taxes and get sideways with the IRS, none of that crazy s–t happens, that kid never has to fight again a day in his life.”
