Chael Sonnen believes Nate Diaz fans could miss his final UFC fight after the promotion forced him to face Khamzat Chimaev in order to get out of his contract.
Diaz has been actively pushing to get out of his exclusive deal with the top MMA promotion over the last year, and made his grievances public in an explosive interview last week. And the UFC have now got him a match-up, against the No.4-ranked welterweight contender who has never lost.
Chimaev was initially offered to Diaz early in his battle with the promotion, but he wanted a different match-up at first. However, the California native is now so desperate to get out of his deal that he is willing to take the unfavourable bout, in which he is a massive 1/11 underdog with certain bookies.
And former UFC middleweight and light-heavyweight title contender Sonnen is unsure if fans of Diaz will get on board with the UFC 279 pay-per-view on September 10. He feels that those who want the fighter to be treated fairly will be annoyed that after four fights in six years, three of which were losses, he's being used to help build an up-and-coming fighter.
Sonnen compared the fight to an infamous WWE match between Shawn Michael and Bret Hart in which Hart was told ahead of the pre-scripted event that he would be winning, but Michaels ended up being given the victory. Hart was about to leave for WCW at the time, a rival promotion, similarly to how Diaz will likely now go and fight Jake Paul in boxing.
"Why are they fighting?" Sonnen asked of Diaz and Chimaev in a YouTube video. "It's a big fight, it's a main event, it's a pay-per-view... We've done that a whole lot of times and there's always being something on it. Why are these two fighting?
"If you want to pull out, just to have a little sprinkle, that it's a No.1 contender's match, I don't believe that is going to happen. By the time this fight rolls around you're going to have the Gilbert Burns and the Colby Covingtons and Belal Muhammeds booked. It's going to be a tough sell to look at the welterweight fights that are coming up and say that this is the No.1 contender fight.
"The other problem that you're going to have with doing that is just like letting Bret Hart walk out with your belt, you're going to let Nate Diaz walk away with your No.1 contendership. You can bet the house that it isn't going to happen, Chimaev is currently a 4/1 favourite over Diaz, then please tell the world. If this is about promoter vs athlete, we've seen athlete vs athlete, athlete vs coach, athlete vs wife but I never got to do athlete vs promoter and nothing works better."
However, Sonnen is concerned that fans may stay away if they're that confident that Diaz will be beaten by Chimaev, as the bookmakers believe he will. Diaz is a massive star, but has struggled to build on the momentum of his star-making win over Conor McGregor in March 2016 due to issues with the promotion.
Will you be tuning in to watch Nate Diaz fight Khamzat Chimaev? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"The question is now, does Nate have a big enough fan base that is willing to go and watch him if it means destruction?" Sonnen asked. "That's not a proposal they've been offered before, it's a very unique spot.
"The last time Nate was supposed to face destruction was his last fight [against Leon Edwards], and that was three from the top. The reason wasn't Leon, you missed that, it was third from the top because the main attraction was going to lose, that's why it couldn't draw. When we do a squash match, we don't do it against the favourite - it's never been done that way. But we're going to try to sell out the arena, and move pay-per-views on a non-title, non-No.1 contender fight that has absolutely no back story? This is a big ask.
"I got confronted with this and I got my feelings hurt, I got Alan, I got Ross, I got Elaina and two others who were with me from top to bottom until recently. But I lost a fight, and I knew that wasn't me, I knew what had happened and I wanted to redeem it, so I had an opportunity against Daniel Cormier, which is a tall order.
"I have sparred with Daniel a lot, and recent, so I knew where I was at with Daniel and I won't make believe that I would beat him but I could give him problems. I could have gone out with the scariest guy had a good competition. Do Nate's fans want to come to the party for a 4/1 underdog? I'll tell you, I didn't have Nate's fans but I had four loyal guys and they told me 'no'."
