Dana White Says He Won’t Release Nate Diaz From His UFC Contract
The notorious Diaz brothers are seldom out of MMA news nowadays, with a seemingly constant flow of bizarre blogs, crazy interviews and tons of smack talk. Longtime UFC veteran Nate Diaz was recently in the news for tweeting a request to Dana White, asking for a release from his UFC contract.
The season 5 TUF winner and one-time title challenger claimed it was ‘time for me to be on my way’, potentially ending a seven year, 12-7 run for the organization. ‘The Baldfather’ was on hand to talk to media at the UFC Fight Night 37 weigh-ins, claiming the following:
“He hasn’t called me, Is that how we do these things? You tweet? The answer would be no, (I would not let him out). He just signed a new contract that he was happy with a month ago,” White said of Nate Diaz. “That’s definitely not controversial for the Diaz brothers – that’s called normal. I’ve got 500 guys under contract, and there’s always something. Every day when I wake up, there’s something.”
The news that Gilbert Melendez will be coaching opposite Anthony Pettis on TUF 20 was welcomed with mixed reactions, but most fans are happy in the knowledge that Nick and Nate will be present as coaching staff. The three train together at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and will likely provided worthless moments of awkwardness and ill behaviour during the show.
“I can’t wait. I can’t wait,” White said. “The crazy thing about this this is, I actually like the Diaz brothers. Are they nutty as hell? Yes they are. But I like both of them, and they’re fun to watch fight.”
So it looks like Nate isn’t going anywhere soon, and will grace the set of The Ultimate Fighter once more; this time in the form of a coaching assistant. His stint on TUF 5 provided a unique insight in to the mind of a ‘Stockton Bad Boy’, with plenty of ‘come at me bro’ and ‘Let me bang bro’ type moments.
As for Diaz’s next opponent, that is unknown. He last fought at the TUF 18 finals, knocking seven bells of consciousness out of Gray Maynard. Older brother Nick is on an extended hiatus, occasionally calling for highly undeserved title fights, or just generally whinging.
Diaz does have five FOTN, five SOTN and one KOTN under his belt; could it be that he will take up the ‘less fight-more talk’ approach that Nick has taken to, or will Nate look to make another run at a UFC title?
