Nate Diaz isn’t interested in lightweight contender Dustin Poirier’s big rematch with Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 next month (Saturday, July 29, 2023).
At UFC 244 in November 2019, the “Baddest Motherf-ker” (BMF) moniker was born when superstar lightweights Diaz and Jorge Masvidal were booked into the headline at Madison Square Garden. Ultimately, 2019 was the year of Masvidal, who capped his winning streak with three straight fights, ending with a doctor’s third-round technical knockout of Diaz.
The title was expected to be the one of its kind, but UFC President Dana White changed his mind when booking the main event for UFC 291 between Poirier and Gaethje. As for Diaz, he doesn’t see either of them deserving of the BMF title.
“Yeah, I don’t feel like it fits the criteria. I’m fine,” Diaz said Inside. “Poirier and Gaethje, right? Yes, what are you talking about?”
Diaz’s loss to Masvidal marked his third appearance inside the Octagon. He fought twice after that, losing a unanimous decision to future UFC Welterweight Champion, Leon Edwards, before ending his contract with a fourth round victory over Tony Ferguson (highlight of the hour).
According to Diaz, the UFC wanted him to go in a different direction to close out his 15-year career in the promotion. Diaz was booked to fight Poirier at UFC 230 in November 2018 but the match never took place due to Poirier’s injury. Instead, Poirier continued to fight for the interim and undisputed lightweight titles against Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov before reigniting his rivalry with Conor McGregor, whom Diaz also has a history with. Notorious’s back-to-back wins led Poirier to another title tilt against new champion, Charles Oliveira, in December 2021, which he lost in a third round naked choke.
“They wanted me to sign to fight Conor, and I could fight Poirier in the meantime, but I’m tired of Poirier not fighting me,” Diaz said of his recent UFC fights. “But he was just choked by everyone (laughs). He was just choked by everyone, Mama-Kir, go win some fights and I’ll fight you.
So, they wanted me to fight him to kill time so Connor would recover and come back [after his leg break] Then they wanted me to sign another fight with Conor but only if I won.” “What the fk?”