It looks like Nate Diaz won’t be UFC 222’s saviour.
UFC 222 needs a main event and Nate Diaz is supposedly interested in providing one.
The Las Vegas card is in awful condition since featherweight champion Max Holloway withdrew from his scheduled defence against Frankie Edgar. ‘The Answer’ has indicated that he’s willing to fight anyone on the card, but at the time of writing, no replacement fight has been booked.
With no fights on the thin undercard worthy of main event status, the UFC panicked. An attempt was made to run back the bantamweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt on short notice. However, the champion understandably declined.
Former champion vs former champion #UFC222 https://t.co/RM6XQANAOz
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 6, 2018
If the UFC are that desperate that they were willing to risk losing their planned superfight between Dillashaw and Demetrious Johnson, it stands to reason that they would try to get Diaz on the card. Especially considering Dana White has already offered him fights.
However, the UFC president told Lance Pugimire of the LA Times that Diaz has rejected every fight offer he’s made.
“He doesn’t want to fight. We have made around five or six fights in the last six months and he has turned them all down. Alvarez, [Justin] Gaethje, [Edson] Barboza and [interim lightweight champion Tony] Ferguson multiple times.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGQJYQVOPpo
White could be telling the truth. Perhaps Diaz doesn’t want to fight. Although, the evidence supports the idea that for the right price, he’d be willing to return to the Octagon.
His boxing coach Richard Perez famously said that Diaz would need at least $20 million to complete the McGregor trilogy. Whether or not Diaz is worth that much in a promotion suffering a dearth of star power is certainly up for debate.
It’s also worth noting that White consistently claimed that Georges St-Pierre ‘didn’t want to fight’ while the former welterweight king was negotiating his return. Despite White’s claims, GSP made a victorious comeback at UFC 217.
RELATED ARTICLES
MORE FROM Sports Joe
MORE FROM Sports Joe
