Dana White: Nate Diaz Isn’t Coming In Out Of Shape
After lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of his scheduled bout with featherweight champion Conor McGregor earlier this week, fan favorite Nate Diaz stepped up on extremely short notice to meet the “Notorious” one in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196.
McGregor, the 145-pound champion, was originally set to fight dos Anjos at 155 pounds, but his fight with Diaz will now take place at 170 pounds.
Apparently there were issues with Diaz getting down to lightweight on such short notice, and the two agreed to compete at welterweight.
The weight issues and the short notice may lead some to believe that the Stockton native isn’t in the best shape, but UFC president Dana White assured LA Today that Diaz is in tiptop condition and ready to go:
“”Nate Diaz has been training for a triathlon,” White revealed. “Nate Diaz is in phenomenal shape right now.
“So he’s not coming in out of shape. He’s in phenomenal shape right now.”
Continuing on, White admitted that featherweights Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar were called first, but neither man was fit to compete, leading the UFC to bring in Diaz for the blockbuster event:
“We called a lot of people. Our first choices were Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. Neither guy could do the fight. Frankie Edgar’s going crazy because I said he couldn’t do the fight. He’s injured. He’s injured and couldn’t take the fight,” White clarified.
“This business is a business of opportunity. When opportunity knocks, you jump on it or you don’t. In a perfect world, you’ve had six to eight weeks to train, you know the guy you’re fight and you have no injuries and everything goes perfectly. Nate Diaz and a lot of other guys, too — Urijah Faber was on the list, Anthony Pettis, “Cowboy” Cerrone — but at the end of the day, Nate and Conor really want to fight.
McGregor’s title was never on the line at this event, and he won’t be fighting for a second title anymore either. At the end of the day, however, White claims that this fight isn’t about belts:
“This isn’t about numbers or belts,” White said. “It’s about two guys who want to fight.”
Which illustrious trash talker will come out victorious next week?
