Nate Diaz has reportedly told his soon-to-be ex-boss, Dana White, that he won’t box Jake Paul.
Last weekend, the UFC officially announced that Diaz will fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 on September 10 in Las Vegas. Diaz has made it very clear that after the fight, he will leave the UFC and go on to other ventures.
One heavily rumored fight that has been swirling around is Diaz vs. YouTuber turned boxer, Paul. While most of the noise has come from Paul, Diaz is known to never turn down a fight.
That’s goofy
However, in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, the UFC president revealed Diaz told him he wouldn’t fight “The Problem Child.”
“I don’t know [if Diaz will fight Paul],” White said. “I don’t know. He said, ‘I would never do that.’ That’s what he said to me. He said, ‘That’s goofy.’ 100%. I’m telling you what he said to me.”
While Diaz might say he won’t fight Paul now, just wait until he sees the potential payday.
At UFC London, former opponent Leon Edwards said that the matchup between Diaz and Chimaev was fu*ked up, and he wished Diaz got an easier matchup to go out on. Former UFC fighter Dan Hardy echoed the same thing.
Dana responds
In the same interview with Yahoo Sports, White responded to them and all of the critics of matchmaking.
“I love when fighters or other people or anybody else give us advice on this incredibly successful business that we’ve built,” White said. “It cracks me up. So I’m looking at Francis Ngannou or Khamzat Chimaev and a couple of other ones that were not good, either. I’m going to take Khamzat.
“I can tell you this: Leon Edwards, Dan Hardy, and anybody else out there yapping, has never dealt with the Diaz brothers, OK? It’s a very unique experience. It takes a very fu*king long time, and we got through it and here we are. It’s a very popular fight people are going to want to see, that people like, and everybody’s getting what they want. Dan Hardy and Leon Edwards don’t have to watch it. They can go to the movies that night.”
If you aren’t going to the movies that night, Chimaev vs. Diaz headlines UFC 279 on September 10.
