Is Nate Diaz vs. Matt Brown Truly Official?
News arrived last night (Wed., April 8, 2015) that Nate Diaz would be facing off against welterweight Matt Brown at July 11’s crowded UFC 189 pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
But if you ask the enigmatic, outspoken Stockton slugger, he still has another long-held rivalry that he wants to clear up first. Taking to Twitter last night, the younger Diaz stated that he is still fighting former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
Diaz was questioned by MMA Fighting about the tweet, and responded that the UFC booked him in a fight he never officially signed on for:
“We were supposed to meet with the UFC next Monday to get my next fight figured out,” he said, “but then they busted out the Matt Brown fight. I thought I was fighting Anthony Pettis next. He’s trying to fight me and I’m trying to fight him. “I’m open to the Brown fight — I said I wanted to fight him last year — but I don’t like that they made the fight official before we ever negotiated or agreed to it.”
It sounds like the latest in a (very) long series of Diaz being disenfranchised with how the UFC has handled his booking and contract situations. He did say that he wanted to face off with Brown during his highly publicized hiatus last year, but his beef with Pettis has been going on for at least two.
Both “Showtime” and Diaz were demolished by bulldozing new champ Rafael dos Anjos in their most recent fights, so a bout between them could make sense in more ways than one right. Pettis even expressed his desire to finally face off with Diaz during an appearance on The MMA Hour:
“”I can’t even say when I can fight next,” he said, “but I would love to fight Nate Diaz. That’s a fight I’ve been waiting for, for a long time. If that’s next, I’m for sure down with that. I just gotta figure out when I’m able to fight again or when I can start even looking at dates to fight again.”
Yet the UFC has gone and booked him against Brown, apparently making the bout official only days before they were set to meet with him.
It’s true that Diaz had some trouble making weight for his bout with dos Anjos, but facing a hungry welterweight who has lost his last two bouts to the top two competitors at welterweight may not be the best option for the aging veteran, who hasn’t looked all that motivated the past couple of years.
His bout with Pettis has been a long time coming, as well. Will the UFC stick with what could be a much less high profile fight, or will they finally match Diaz up against “Showtime?”
