“The Best Of The Best” Nate Diaz reveals he never wanted to fight Khamzat Chimaev and was instead aiming for Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson or Dustin Poirier
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Nate reveals the fights he really wanted instead of Chimaev
Before Khamzat Chimaev, Nate Diaz was ardently campaigning to face fellow veterans like himself, including Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier and many more. However the UFC certainly was not interested in the idea and Nate had to ultimately settle for the Chechen.
The reason Nate refused to fight Chimaev earlier was according to him he felt Chimaev, who only had 4 fights in the UFC to that point was not worthy enough of a challenger for a life-long UFC vet like himself. However, that idea changed after his bout with Gilbert Burns, one where he was tested and according to many passed it adequately.
However, according to Diaz there is still much left to prove for the young contender but he will have to settle to fight him in his final UFC appearance. Nate made a point to clarify that this was never the fight he had in mind as he prepared for his final UFC bout.
Related: “There’s ALWAYS a chance,” Jake Shields believes Nate Diaz’s UFC career might not end after UFC 279
Nate Diaz wanted to make the long-awaited Dustin Poirier fight happen before leaving the UFC
For the past year, most notably Diaz has been campaigning to fight Dustin, who also showed interest in the fight and verbally agreed to meet in the octagon. Originally the two were supposed to face back in 2017, but Diaz walked out of the event when it was announced that McGregor and Khabib would headline the same card. However the UFC never made any further attempts to materialize that fight.
Diaz also campaigned shortly for fights against Chandler and Ferguson when after UFC 274 , again where all parties mentioned were interested, all but the UFC. Frustrated by not getting booked, Diaz would go as far as to urinate of the grounds of the UFC Performance Institute and later post the same on social media.
Talking to Okamoto of ESPN, Diaz ooenly revealed that he never wanted the Chimaev fight and in fact still does not. Diaz emphasized that he was the sole reason this fight was made as Khamzat faced Burns to get a ranked opponent to his name, something that could at least motivate Diaz so as he can land up high in the title contention picture if he were to be him.
Also Read: “PRESSURE’S ON DAWG” – Nate Diaz sends a BRUTAL warning to Khamzat Chimaev ahead of UFC 279
“I told him, you can go fight a number 5 guy, a top 5 guy and then I’ll fight him, since you’re not letting me fight Ferguson or Luque, or who else was I trying to fight? Poirier, Chandler, the best of the best”, said Diaz as he explained how he was kept on the sidelines so that Khamzat could fight a ranked opponent and get matched with Nate.
Diaz further went on to say that the reason he called out Adesanya and Ngannou was as he wanted the UFC to pay heed to his demands and match him against someone better than him. A wish that was certainly fulfilled. Diaz headlines UFC 279 this weekend, his first headliner since UFC 244 at the MSG
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)