The rumours of a Nate Diaz return at UFC 219 have dampened significantly.
When the UFC's big end-of-year show was without a title fight, it appeared as though the promotion was scrambling to put a Nate Diaz welterweight title shot in the headline slot.
It was one of those strange fights that would have garnered a lot of attention because of Diaz's star power, but it didn't get fans excited at all. Tyron Woodley being so dominant at 170 lb with the Stockton native holding a 3-3 record in the weight class meant that it would have been a very undeserving crack at the belt.
However, it didn't exactly come as a surprise that the matchmakers were trying something so different considering how poorly most PPVs have performed in 2016 and the lack of champions available to fight on the Las Vegas card.
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Now that Cyborg vs Holly Holm is official for UFC 219, there seems to be less of a push for Diaz v Woodley. Although 'the Chosen One' has claimed that Diaz may be too scared to take the fight, boxing coach Richard Perez confirmed to
Submission Radio that this was not the case.
"I don't think so. The UFC doesn't want to give Nathan the money."
"What Woodley's trying to do is get his name out there. He wants to fight the best, so he wants to fight, so he wants to fight Nathan. But, the UFC doesn't want to pay Nathan, so why fight him? He can fight McGregor, you know?"
Diaz is a notoriously tough negotiator and with his coach placing a "$15 million" price tag on his return, it's no wonder why the promotion has been reluctant to get the deal done.
In other words, we're not surprised, motherfuckers.
