White says he wouldn’t honor Nate Diaz’s request to be released from UFC
LONDON – With one odd Twitter post this past week, or at least oddly timed, UFC lightweight Nate Diaz raised a lot of eyebrows.
But one of them apparently was not of the man he likely was most trying to get the attention of, UFC President Dana White.
Diaz, the Season 5 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter†who in 2012 challenged for the 155-pound title, tweeted at White and the UFC late this past month that he’d like out of his contract. But on Friday, White said he hadn’t heard anything about Diaz supposedly wanting to be released.
“He hasn’t called me,†White said following the weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night 37 at O2 Arena in London. “Is that how we do these things? You tweet? The answer would be no, (I would not let him out).â€
In fact, White said the last he heard, the Stockton, Calif.-based fighter was all good with his deal – which White said was just recently renewed. And he shrugged off the notion that Diaz’s tweet was “controversial†in nature – at least for someone like Diaz or his older brother, UFC welterweight Nick Diaz, who also has had a few embattled moments with the company of late.
“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.â€
White was reminded that he may be seeing more of Nate and Nick soon, since their teammate, Gilbert Melendez, will be coaching Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter†– and expects to utilize the brothers on his coaching staff.
“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.â€
Nate Diaz, along with his “TUF 5†title, has 11 fight-night bonus wins in the UFC. This past November, he got back on track following a two-fight skid when he stopped Gray Maynard with a first-round TKO at the TUF 18 Finale in Las Vegas.
Nick Diaz has been in retirement since a title loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158. He recently said he would return – but only for an immediate title shot at welterweight. Prior to his title loss to St-Pierre nearly a year ago, he lost an interim welterweight title fight to Carlos Condit, then was suspended after testing positive for marijuana metabolites.
