We may have seen the last of Nate Diaz following his controversial loss at UFC 244.
Diaz, who is one of the most exciting fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, tussled with Jorge Masvidal in the main event of UFC 244 last weekend.
In front of the sold-out crowd in New York, the welterweight pair delivered an entertaining headliner, with the ‘baddest motherf***er’ title and a $50 000 cash prize on the line.
It was Diaz’s second UFC outing since returning from a three-year fighting hiatus with a dominant victory over Anthony Pettis.
The Stockton slugger was dropped by Masvidal twice in the each of the first two round before the UFC doctor called the stoppage at the end of the third.
The result raised many eyebrows as MMA fans believed Diaz can still continue to fight despite a nasty cut above his right eye.
Calling For Rematch
In the UFC 244 post-event press conference, Diaz was all praises for Masvidal and said he wants to fight him again for the second time.
“It doesn’t make it official, right? If someone else decided the fight was over, I don’t feel too bad a** [expletive] about that fight.”
“He deserves everything he gets, he’s a great fighter, right on for him. He’s been around a long time. Jorge Masvidal, I’m coming for you. That’s my plan from here on out.”
“If you’re the baddest [expletive], you gonna take that win? I would love to run this back, that’s the only thing I wanna do,” he stated, (transcript from South China Morning Post).
However, the welterweight star believes that the biggest obstacle to earn a rematch with ‘Gamebred’ would be the UFC itself.
“But I know how this game works. I can already see the f****** coming.”
“I give all the rematches and make names for people. I brought the president, straight up. I don’t see the president going to no title fights.”
“I believe it’s fair. Hopefully they don’t throw so much money Jorge’s way and say, ‘Let’s do something else’. need to get my rematch.”
Leaving Again
Diaz hopes that Masvidal will keep his word about giving him a rematch.
“I’m not coming back making names for no people.”
“Every person I fought, they [the UFC] would say he gets a title shot if he beats me. What do I get? ‘You get No 27 [ranked fighter] again.
“I think he’ll run it back. If you’re a man of your word, you gotta run it back. A real fighter will.”
“Conor didn’t take the rematch, hopefully Masvidal takes the rematch, I been taking all the rematches. That’s what I hope we can make happen.”
“I hope everyone gets on the same page, otherwise it might be another three years off again.”
While Masvidal has agreed to Diaz that a rematch is necesarry, UFC president Dana White believes otherwise.
The outspoken UFC chief ruled out a rerun of their BMF title bout as they are preparing something big for Masvidal, which could be the title shot.
This is why Diaz has seemingly decided to leave the spot again.
In a cryptic Instagram post, he wrote:
“F—k a rematch this s—t was over before it started. I’m goin on out on tour. Peace out fight game ✌ ”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Nate Diaz)