"UFC is slow rolling me" - Nate Diaz claims UFC is intentionally delaying last fight on his contract
Nate Diaz has suggested that the UFC is intentionally delaying the last fight on his current contract.
Diaz’s most recent fight was a unanimous decision loss against Leon Edwards at UFC 263 in June 2021. The MMA legend has just one fight left on his UFC contract, and has been lobbying with the organization to book him at the earliest.
In the aftermath of UFC 263, Diaz set his sights on a fight against longtime rival Dustin Poirier. The Diaz-Poirier feud dates back to 2018. They were scheduled to clash in a lightweight bout at UFC 230 in November 2018, but the fight fell apart after Poirier withdrew due to a hip injury.
It was rumored that Diaz and Poirier had agreed to fight at UFC 270 in January this year. However, the fight failed to materialize yet again as Diaz wants the UFC to book the final fight of his contract.
The Stockton native even went as far as asserting that he’d like to fight Poirier and then retire. Diaz has now posted a tweet comprising a photo of Poirier and him facing off, alongside the statement:
“Ready to fight @ufc is slow rolling me wtf”
Ready to fight @ufc is slow rolling me wtf https://t.co/8cjm0udGJ5
Additionally, Diaz put forth an Instagram post featuring the same photo of himself facing off with Poirier. The statement attached to the post addressed the UFC and president Dana White. It read:
“I’m ready to fight my last fight @ufc @danawhite this guys says he’s ready also so lets get this sh** poppin. I got sh** to do”
Dana White on a potential Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier fight
Speaking to ESPN MMA in January, Dana White reacted to Nate Diaz’s callouts of Poirier.
The UFC president noted that the organization has fights planned all the way up to May. He indicated that the UFC aims to book its athletes in at least three fights a year. Regarding a possible Diaz-Poirier matchup, White said:
“Yeah, of course, we're interested. This is what we do. We make fights every weekend. What happens is guys want to jump out of nowhere and say, ‘I want to do this. I want to do that.’”
Watch Dana White talking about UFC 270:
Poirier has lately hinted at moving up from lightweight (155 pounds) to welterweight (170 pounds). Diaz has competed at welterweight since 2016. The consensus is that a fight between him and Poirier will likely be contested at 170 pounds.
It’s also believed that after competing in the final fight of his UFC contract, Nate Diaz could cross over to the sport of boxing to face YouTube megastar Jake Paul.