"Nate is not as clear as you think" - Chael Sonnen speculates about Nate Diaz's career after the Khamzat Chimaev fight at UFC 279
Nate Diaz has been extremely vocal about his desire to leave the UFC following the last fight on his contract against Khamzat Chimaev. However, Chael Sonnen believes there's still a chance he'll stick around.
Diaz will fight Chimaev in the non-title main event of UFC 279. Many fans suspect the match-up was made to make Diaz look bad on his way out the door, but Sonnen suspects it's designed to offer Diaz something that may entice him to re-sign, i.e., a UFC title shot.
In a new YouTube video, Sonnen said:
"We all think we're experts on Nate and we all think we know what's going on with Nate but Nate is not as clear as you think. So when Dana says this is a number one contendership, possibly, anything is possible, that's what he's talking about. He's talking about the possibility of getting Diaz back. Of having a different conversation, something different to offer Nate. But before he's going to have that offer, he has to see Nate defeat Chimaev."
Watch Chael Sonnen discuss the title implications of Diaz vs. Chimaev below:
In recent interviews, Nate Diaz has revealed that the UFC offered to pay him a large sum of money to re-sign. Diaz turned them down, saying his only desire was to leave and be able to dictate the terms of his own career.
After the promotion froze him out for over a year between fights, it's unsurprising that he doesn't have much faith in the UFC promoting him fairly. He sees all his recent fights as being designed to build up his opponents rather than himself. With the Khamzat Chimaev fight, that's difficult to deny. With that in mind, it's hard to see the promise of a welterweight title fight drawing him back in.
With back-to-back welterweight headliners at #UFC278, #UFC279, @danawhite says Khamzat Chimaev could absolutely earn a shot at the winner of Usman-Edwards – but so could Nate Diaz.
"If Nate beat Khamzat Chimaev ... you'd have to look at Nate, too."
Full: mixedmartialarts.com/news/dana-whit… https://t.co/uNFf9PsUSr
Dana White suggests a welterweight title shot could come to the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev
While Dana White hasn't officially made Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev a welterweight number one contender match, he did say it was 'fair' to suggest the winner deserved a title shot. Following the latest edition of Dana White's Contender Series, he said:
“It’s fair. I don’t ever do that s*** but it’s fair to say if [Khamzat] wins that one, that’s the fight to make. [Usman has] already beat everybody twice at the top so that makes sense ... I did a bunch of media today and everybody’s counting Nate Diaz out. It’s just like people counting Leon Edwards out. You can’t count anybody out. In this sport, man, you never know what’s going to happen. Anything is possible.”
Things get more complicated if Leon Edwards beats Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 on August 20. Depending on the result, an immediate rematch could be booked. Past that, Leon Edwards has bad blood with Jorge Masvidal which stems back to 'Gamebred' punching 'Rocky' backstage at a London UFC Fight Night in 2019.
#UFC278 Edwards wants a piece of Masvidal, this time in the Octagon 👊 #UFC278
(via @bokamotoESPN) https://t.co/o5FsllRda0
All these moving parts will become locked in place after the next two UFC pay-per-views, giving a much clearer view of the 170-pound division by mid-September.
Do check out the video below of MMA fighters who joined Hollywood: