Jake Shields: ‘Nate Diaz Is Training Every Day And Wants To Fight’
When will we see Nate Diaz back in the UFC Octagon? That’s the million dollar question right now and according to one of Diaz’s closest friends, it’s all about the money.
Jake Shields competed on Polaris 6 in London last evening where he took on Craig Jones in the main event. The match didn’t go to plan for Shields and he lost via heel hook after little over 2-minutes, but speaking in the backstage area afterwards he reflected on his performance.
“Yeah it obviously didn’t go well for me,” Shields said with a rye smile. “Craig Jones is a phenomenal guy and I know he was going to be very explosive in the opening minutes. I came in trying to pass his guard and being aggressive form the beginning, I switched from gameplan, tried forcing the pass and he came underneath and caught that heel hook.
“He’s so deadly there, the position is tough. I may have tapped too early, but the problem is once he gets it in you can blow your knee out so for a grappling match it’s not worth having a blown out knee so I [tapped]. He had a phenomenal performance.”
One man who wasn’t in Shields’ corner last night was Nate Diaz. As one of his close friends, Shield’s gave an update on him.
“Nate trains every day and I talk to him a lot,” Shields said. “He’s in great shape and he wants to fight, but he just wants to make sure that, you know, he’s a huge star and he wants to get paid.
“Hopefully Dana will realize the fans want to see Nate and pay him. He’s not being unreasonable, he just wants to get paid.”
While Dana White has given his own reasons, Shields thinks the reason Diaz hasn’t accepted a fight from the UFC is down to money. Shields believes the UFC should recognize the value Diaz brings to the table and should make him an offer that more reflects his drawing power.
“I don’t know the exact business so I don’t want to day, but I would guess it would be that the money isn’t right,” Shields said. “We all know Nate is a huge star, Dana will say he’s not and has done for years, but he’s the second biggest star in the sport right now.
“He’s absolutely one of the best. If Dana is smart then he will get him signed. When you walk around with Nate in streets now he’s a rock star, people just swarm on him and mob him. Dana can pretend he’s not, but he’s a superstar.”
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