Nate Diaz insists he had no incentive of fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov when offered the matchup.
UFC CEO Dana White publicized that Diaz turned down a fight against Nurmagomedov in 2014, a decision Diaz’s manager at the time jumped to defend.
The pair never ended up fighting, but were involved in an altercation in 2015 at a WSOF event. Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC) addressed his side of why he never faced Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC).
“‘He turned down a fight with me.’ I was like, ‘I didn’t even know who you were,'” Diaz told Sneako of Nurmagomedov (h/t MMA Uncensored). “They offered me a fight with Khabib when he was brand-ass new. I fought for a title, and I fought hella people already and they offered me a fight with Khabib.
“I was like, ‘F*ck you. You’re going to make a name off me with some new guy? Give me somebody in the top f*cking five. I just fought the champion so now I’ve got to fight somebody way down the list?’ He’d be like, ‘He turned down a fight with me 20 times.’ You got slapped, b*tch, as far as I’m concerned.”
Diaz never fought for a UFC title fight again, but his path led him to superstardom after he handed Conor McGregor his first octagon loss in a stunning upset submission at UFC 196. He was edged out in a majority decision loss in their rematch at UFC 202, and went onto split his next four UFC appearances. He hasn’t competed since submitting Tony Ferguson at UFC 279, but left the door open for a potential return.
