Nate Diaz gave a rare extended interview Wednesday afternoon, and he did not disappoint. Diaz, as one would expect, didn’t have a favorable impression of UFC in the interview. In fact, he called the current state of UFC and MMA as “boring” and “stagnant.”
“There’s not shit going on in MMA right now,” Diaz told Ariel Helwani on a special “MMA Hour.” “It’s boring and everyone is complaining – like they should be.”
Despite not taking a fight since losing to Conor McGregor in a rematch last August at UFC 202, Diaz insists that he’s not waiting out another fight with McGregor. “I already whipped Conor’s ass. He should want to fight me,” he said.
Diaz said he is willing to fight, but only for the right price. “If I am gonna fight, they’re gonna have to make it worth it,” he said. “If you don’t step up, you’re not gonna get that money. We don’t do this for fun. Your mom is watching. Your face is getting smashed up.”
He also made it known that he’s in no rush to get back into the cage and that it will take one of two things before we see Nate Diaz fight again. “Until it’s all the way right financially or somebody makes me want to fight them, I’m sitting out,” he said.
Something gives me a feeling Nate Diaz will be hearing some call outs in the next day or two.
Hiscoe’s Analysis: Based on this interview, Nate Diaz clearly doesn’t give a f— about fighting right now. He made his money in those two Conor fights and he’s perfectly happy to sit around enjoying that money until something appealing presents itself. Because the UFC sale happened right around the time of the second Conor fight, Diaz hasn’t been seeing any big money offers come his way since. He was reportedly offered fights with Tony Ferguson and Eddie Alvarez but it sounds like the money wasn’t enough to outweigh the risk of losing and sacrificing a potential third McGregor fight. I think it would be smart of Diaz to fight somebody while Conor is off trying to box Floyd Mayweather, just to keep his name out there, but it shouldn’t be against a top level lightweight like Tony Ferguson.
WEDNESDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…
-Georges St. Pierre hinted that his fight with Michael Bisping could take place in New York City later this year. GSP was attending last night’s New York Rangers-Ottawa Senators NHL playoff game at Madison Square Garden and posted a photo to Instagram that read: “Big thanks to @NYRangers and #mvpgroupintl for inviting me and @Erik_Owings at @TheGarden for the game tonight! I could be fighting here in a few months… Can’t wait!!!”
-UFC has signed former ACB Featherweight Champion Zabit Magomedsharipov according to The MMA Kings on Twitter. Magomedsharipov is a pupil of Mark Henry training alongside Frankie Edgar.
-Retired former UFC fighter Dan Henderson will be doing some promotional appearances for Bellator when they hold some fights adjacent to a NASCAR race in Charlotte on May 19 and 20.
-The World MMA Association (WMMAA) has announced the 2017 Pan-American Championships will be held on July 14-15 from Monterrey, Mexico. The event was billed in a press release as “The largest MMA event ever in The Americas,” and will feature teams from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay, Brazil, and Spain.
-Alliance MMA, a conglomerate of regional promotions, has announced the acquisition of the National Fighting Championship, an Atlanta-based organization. NFC will be holding an all-day event on July 22 from Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT ROUNDUP…
-Rashad Coulter steps in to face Chase Sherman at UFC 211 on May 13 from Dallas.
-Anthony Pettis returns to lightweight to fight Jim Miller at UFC 213 on July 8 from Las Vegas.
-Gerald Meerschaert vs. Thiago Santos also at UFC 213.
-Charlie Ward vs. Galore Bofando at UFC Fight Night Glasgow on July 16.
-Frankie Perez vs. Chris Wade at UFC on Fox on July 22 from Uniondale, New York.
NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: TUESDAY NEWS DIGEST 5/3: Anderson Silva is not happy with UFC or GSP (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)
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