Nate Diaz wants a fight within the next two months or an immediate release from the UFC.
In his latest request through social media late Monday evening, Diaz (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC) has once again asked for a release from the promotion he’s fought in since 2007. Diaz has not competed since a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263 last June. In March, Diaz began publicly relaying his frustration with the promotion, asking for a fight as soon as possible, or granting his release.
Three months later, not much has changed.
“UFC release now please or give me fight with anyone in July or August,” Diaz wrote on Twitter.” I have bigger sh*t to do.”
The tweet includes a video of Jake Paul viciously knocking out former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in their December boxing match. One can only speculate upon the meaning of attaching this specific video to his latest request for a fight or release from the UFC.
Unlike his previous requests, Diaz issued a deadline this time around, asking to be booked for a fight by July or August. The promotion hosts events for eight consecutive weeks starting July 2 through August 20, including three pay-per-view events. Diaz’s previous five fights have taken place on PPV cards.
Soon after Diaz’s initial tweets asking for release, UFC president Dana White stated the promotion would find Diaz a fight soon, but apparently there has been no progress made.
Did the UFC pull the Chimaev offer?
Something stinks about this whole deal
Great idea, because Dana LOVES ultimatums… Im sure theres a Russian or two he could fight anytime hes feeling strong…
I don’t think they’re trying to force that fight on Mate but he knows better or his team does. Way too big and strong a wrestler.
I’ll say it right now.
Nate Diaz isn’t fighting either Paul brother at any time.
Paul is twice his size and has been actively fighting.Id prefer he fight Anderson Silva or Vitor Belfort.A Belfort-Silva rematch in boxing be cool too
If anyone know anything about the UFC and Dana. Its that they are very vindictive & vengeful once you’re on your way out or displease them in any way
What is going on with the UFC?
Where is Conor?
Where is Nate vs Dustin ?!?
Where the fuck is Jon Jones and the heavyweights!?
UFC has sucked this year!!!
And Dana is usually right when he says… “when we have a drought of superstars get ready because they’re all going to be coming back at once”. He usually takes pride in dominating the summer with stacked cards (for today’s standards)
They were busy building fight island
Yeah maybe they all live on fight island, like the fighters were saying they were gonna do back when the concept was first introduced. Yeah maybe that’s it
DANA REPLIES
Ongoing contract discussions between the UFC and Nate Diaz, one of the promotion’s biggest stars, spilled into the public Tuesday when both Diaz and president Dana White commented on the situation.
On Monday, Diaz (20-13) asked the UFC to either release him from his contract or book him a fight by August. He also indicated he wishes to box YouTube star turned professional boxer Jake Paul. He accompanied his post with a video clip of Paul knocking out former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in December.
“UFC release now please or give me fight with anyone in July or August,” Diaz wrote on Twitter. “I got bigger s— to do.”
At a news conference Tuesday in Salt Lake City, UFC president Dana White commented on the promotion’s efforts to book Diaz’s next fight.
“I don’t know what we’re gonna do,” White told The MacLife’s Oscar Willis. “I like Nate, [but] let’s be honest. Nate has won one fight in five or six years. When these guys get into these positions, you have guys who have been with us for a long time, that we respect and care about … you want to be fair and do the right thing, whatever. Nate Diaz is not going to come in and fight [welterweight champion] Kamaru Usman. We’re trying to do the best we can, trying not to s— on anybody or disrespect anybody. … He probably should go on and fight Jake Paul. That’s a fight that makes sense.”
Diaz (20-13), 37, has not fought since a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in June 2021. He has one fight left on his UFC contract, and for the better part of a year he has been publicly demanding the promotion book him that final fight. Diaz has expressed interest in facing multiple opponents, including Dustin Poirier, Vicente Luque and Tony Ferguson.
The UFC did offer Diaz a fight in 2022 against surging welterweight Khamzat Chimaev, according to sources. However, Diaz turned it down, citing Chimaev’s inexperience in the company. He referred to Chimaev as a “rookie” in a comment to TMZ in December.
Despite White’s comments regarding Diaz boxing Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), it is extremely unlikely that would be his next fight because he remains under contract with the UFC.
According to sources, Diaz and the UFC have discussed a new deal in the past, however neither side has commented publicly on the possibility of one in quite some time. In March, White said he thought the chance of Diaz re-signing with the UFC was “very good.”
This is not the first time Diaz has publicly asked to be released by the UFC. He also did so in March. Representatives for Diaz declined to comment further when reached by ESPN on Tuesday.
Dana White and Nate Diaz finally seem to agree on something.
On Monday, Diaz took to social media to once again call for the UFC to either book him on the final fight of his contract or release him. This time around, Diaz did so while teasing his interest in a potential big-money boxing match against Jake Paul.
When asked about Diaz’s comments on Tuesday, White echoed sentiments about the Paul matchup being a good opportunity for Diaz’s career. In doing so, the UFC president also appeared to indicate that Diaz’s time with the UFC may soon be coming to an end.
“I mean, I like Nate. Let’s be honest, Nate’s won one fight in the last five or six years,” White told TheMacLife. “You know? When these guys get into these positions, you’ve got guys that have been with us for a long time, that we respect, that we care about. You know, you’ve got Cerrones and Anthony Pettis before he left, and you’ve got Nate Diaz and Nick Diaz is still under contract with us. So you want to be fair to everybody, you want to do the right things or whatever. Nate Diaz isn’t going to come in and fight Kamaru Usman.
“So listen, we’re trying to do the best we can. We’re trying not to s*** on anybody and disrespect anybody, but it’s not like we’re talking about Kamaru Usman here. We’re talking about Nate Diaz. Nate’s won one fight in five years, so we’re trying to figure this thing out with him. He probably should go on and fight Jake Paul. That’s a fight that makes sense.”
Paul is currently slated to headline an event at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on Aug. 6 against an opponent yet to be announced. But the influencer quickly weighed in on the situation, and of course, used it to needle White.