"It's obviously the business side of it" - Belal Muhammad gives his take on Nate Diaz coming up to fight at welterweight instead of lightweight
Belal Muhammad recently gave his take on why fighters like Nate Diaz are willing to fight in the welterweight division despite having more opportunities at lightweight.
On a recent episode of MMA Junkie Radio, UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad sat down with hosts George and Brian Garcia to discuss his future in the division and potential fights against fighters like Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington.
The three also discussed Nate Diaz possibly taking on Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman potentially fighting Conor McGregor during the discussion. Both Diaz and McGregor are natural lightweights, not welterweights. 'Remember my Name' laughed and pointed out that it was definitely all related to moves that made money:
"It's obviously the business part of it."
Speaking further on Diaz's situation, the 33-year-old fighter had this to say:
"I think it's more... so Nate doesn't want to re-sign his contract. He probably wants the Poirier fight right now. They are probably like, 'You want to sign a longer contract with us or your last fight of the contract with Chimaev.' Nate probably has to point out, 'You know what? Fudge it, let me just get this fight over... Fight Chimaev and fight Jake Paul after this.' "
Watch the full episode of MMA Junkie Radio featuring Belal Muhammad below:
Chael Sonnen talks about the possibility of a face-off between Michael Chandler and Nate Diaz
While appearing in a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen claimed that Chandler’s willingness to jump into the welterweight division could mean a potential fight against the Stockton native. To add on to this, he also shared that Diaz vs. Chandler is a done deal, per a "good source" of his.
'The American Gangster' said:
"I woke up this morning to a message. Very, very good source that told me Nate Diaz vs. Michael Chandler is done… I don't think he’s right, I do not think that that's right. But if you are to look at what Michael Chandler said on Saturday… When Chandler talked about Conor McGregor that could be interpreted in a couple of ways. First off he wants Conor… And second, he’s hedging his bet... It sounds as though Michael Chandler is saying for you, 'for a big fight I will leave this weight class and I’ll go to that one.' Which is where you could see a little bit of room to the Nate Diaz thing."
Sonnen has clarified, however, that despite receiving the information from a reliable source, he is not entirely convinced with the news.
Watch Chael Sonnen discuss the possibility of Diaz vs. Chandler in the video below: