White: Nate Diaz wants a title fight after one win??!?
“First of all, Nate’s won one fight out of his last three fights,” said Dana White. “Him to be talking about a contract renegotiation when you’ve won one fight?”
UFC president Dana White recently lamented that no one would face unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov, naming Nate Diaz as one of the fighters that turned him down.
Diaz then explained that White was full of s—” and that he never turned down a fight in his life.
Diaz’s manager Mike Kogan had a fuller explanation.
We could be looking at a title fight, Mike Kogan told MMAjunkie. I think it’s a smart business decision to sit around for a little bit.
Pettis already said he wanted to fight Nate. Why does he want to fight Nate? He knows it’s a money fight. That’s the name of the game. Who else would bring that much money? Henderson? F–- no.
Kogan asked for a new contract, and when the UFC declined, Kogan declined the fight.
“I thought these kind of conversations were kept between us in private,” said Kogan. “We asked for a new contract. They said, ‘Not after one win. That’s not happening.’ OK, cool, we’ll turn down this fight, which is our right to do, according to our contract. I don’t know how this turns into, everybody is scared to fight Khabib.
Khabib, while being a gangster fighter, he hasn’t paid his dues in the UFC yet. Nate’s been there for eight f–-ing years. Eight f–-ing years, and you’ve got people on Twitter talking about his integrity? Are you people smoking some kind of crack?
We have our story; they have their story. If they are contradicting each other, somewhere in the middle lies the truth. Should I be afraid to speak my mind? I’m not. I don’t work over there, so what do I have to be afraid of? What are they going to do?”
At the UFN 35 post fight press conference, White addressed the issue.
If you look at what was said, they don’t seem to be on the same page – his manager and him don’t seem to be on the same page, said White as transcribed by 5thRound.com. Listen, I like Nate Diaz. Nate and I go all the way back to ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ I’ve never had any problems with Nate, but first of all, Nate’s won one fight out of his last three fights. Him to be talking about a contract renegotiation when you’ve won one fight?
Granted, he looked good against Maynard, now you’re back on track. And to ask for a title fight? Like, ‘I should be fighting for the title.’ Dude, you just won one fight.
And Nurmagomedov still doesn’t have a fight.