Nate Diaz has admitted just days out from his fight with Khamzat Chimaev that he doesn't particularly want the bout to take place.
The former UFC lightweight title contender will leave the promotion after 15 years on Saturday night regardless of the result against Chimaev at UFC 279 in Las Vegas. He was keen to get another match-up and very publicly turned down Chimaev at first, but is now more focused on getting out of his promotional contract.
He is planning to launch his own promotion in the coming weeks and has insisted no amount of money from the UFC could convince him to stay. He is even willing to take this fight in order to finally be released from his contract, but insists there is minimal bad blood between he and the promotion.
“What they’ve got me doing right now is they’re acting like I called for this fight, which I didn’t call for, and I don’t want, and didn’t want, and still don’t want,” Diaz said in an explosive interview with ESPN. “But I don’t give a f***, I’ll fight anybody. But the pressure’s on him — he better finish me, because he’s the next killer in town. Because ... if I whoop his a**, they’re going to say, ‘Oh, he wasn’t the best in town. But they’re not going to let me go [otherwise]. I asked for 20 fights, 10 fights, 15 fights.
“This fight is not even about this guy. It’s about making this guy It’s about making this motherf***er, right? And I’m like, 'Okay, well, you guys aren’t going to let me go because I’m the best fighter here, and you’re not going to let me go unless it’s off of somebody? I’ve got to make somebody for you?'
"Well, alright, you’re welcome. Let’s make you. You’re welcome, UFC. You’re welcome, Dubai. You’re welcome, all you motherf***er in your country. You’re welcome. This is just my halftime show. I’m just getting started.”
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The event will be just Diaz's second headliner since his rematch with Conor McGregor at UFC 202 in 2016, and only his fourth fight since then. He had a star-making win over the Irishman a few month's prior, but has struggled to stay active under the UFC's banner and has spent years at a time out of action.
He will likely have some major money offers outside of the UFC, with the most obvious one seemingly a boxing match against Jake Paul. The YouTuber-turned-boxer faces Anderson Silva on October 29 and his team have frequently pushed for a fight between he and Diaz once he is free from his exclusive UFC contract.
For Chimaev, the bout is a strange stop-gap. He was the highest ranked contender at welterweight who hadn't already been beaten by Kamaru Usman before the Nigerian lost his title to Leon Edwards last month in a major upset. Now, the division could be held up as a rematch is organised, meaning Chimaev must stay busy, and even consider a move back up to middleweight.
