Nate Diaz seems to be on the verge of becoming a free agent this weekend at UFC 279. Diaz has made it to the promotion after a stint on season 5 of TUF where he was already a star.
He’s anticipated to complete his contract at UFC 279 this weekend. He will compete against rising star Khamzat Chimaev in the evening’s main event. Diaz is jaded about the fact that UFC wouldn’t greenlight an appropriate match up for him – despite featuring one of the men he was targeting, Tony Ferguson, on the same card.
Nate himself said in a recent interview that the UFC refused to give up on the pursuit of a new contract with Diaz.
Diaz said:
“One time, I said alright look, if I’m going to re-sign because you are so aggressive, adamant and are so adamant about it and kept coming back to me, and every time I said no they kept coming back with more and more and more. We are like these guys aren’t taking no for an answer and they are like this guy isn’t taking yes for an answer.”
“I was like ‘alright, you want me in, then me and my 10 guys are all coming. I need contracts for all my 10 guys.’ After I said it and the deal was getting worked on, I was like ‘f***, they are going to sign all my friends and I’m going to have to fight here.’ Then they started coming back ‘with this guy could go do the Ultimate, and this guy can do,’ and I was like ‘everyone is in or I’m out.’”
This week, it was revealed that Diaz intended to get his promoter’s license in order to launch his brand-new promotion.
However, he did emphasize that he wants to stay active. Therefore, it wouldn’t be at all unexpected to see him switch to professional boxing or continue to compete in MMA.