Nate Diaz appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday, addressing his meeting with the UFC to discuss the Conor McGregor rematch proposed for UFC 202 in August. According to Diaz, TMZ’s report of the meeting was overblown, though he admits things were left unresolved.
“That was exaggerated,” Diaz said. “We finished talking and then we walked out. It wasn’t the worst meeting. It wasn’t the best meeting but it wasn’t the worst meeting either… It seems like this [fight] is a pretty big deal, so can I be compensated for this? They weren’t the happiest about that, but they’re not talking to me about it right now, so we’re working on it and we’re going to get it figured out.
“I think they thought that this is the new deal, this is a new fight. That was UFC 200, this is UFC 202 now. I said yes to 200, and I wasn’t happy with it. I was rushed into the last thing anyway.”
It once again comes down to Diaz’s belief that the UFC continues to back the wrong man in McGregor, as he contends the UFC has simply given McGregor a much bigger push without it being warranted.
“Can I get built up a little better?” Diaz said. “Conor McGregor is an artificial, they pushed him and he wasn’t whooping all types of asses and s***. They put me in, I’ve been in fight after fight, I didn’t do no media, I didn’t do no s*** … now he’s where he’s at because the UFC kicked his ass and put him in gear and blew him up. How come he was such a big deal when he beat Dennis Siver? Who the f*** is Dennis Siver? Is that guy even ranked? I’m like, ‘get the f*** out of here.’
“My following is strictly from ass whooping and talking some s***. And this motherf***er is like on top of the world because the UFC wanted him to?”
Penick’s Analysis: Diaz has leverage, he knows it, and he’s using it. It’s just the absolute bane of Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White’s existence, which is why that meeting didn’t go quite as well as they would have hoped. That talks haven’t ceased means they’re still working on getting that fight together for August, but they are likely going to need to cede some ground to Diaz – even if it’s not everything Diaz wants – in order to make it happen. At this point, good on Diaz for taking full advantage of the situation, because he understands the potential money to be made in the rematch, even if from a pure competitive standpoint it’s not necessary.
[Photo (c) Mark J. Rebilas via USA Today Sports]
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