Nate Diaz upset with UFC after McGregor fight announcement
LOS ANGELES — The UFC announced the octagon returns of arguably its two biggest stars on Friday, but the Las Vegas-based company already managed to anger one of them.
Nate Diaz’s late appearance at the UFC’s news conference was the main attraction before UFC president Dana White revealed in a surprise video that Conor McGregor will return Oct. 6 to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at T-Mobile Arena.
The last-minute announcement apparently didn’t sit well with McGregor’s former rival. Diaz immediately stormed off the stage while the montage played.
THE FIGHT IS ON!@TeamKhabib vs @TheNotoriousMMA Oct. 6 in Las Vegas at #UFC229! pic.twitter.com/GHNzmj4eWY
— #UFC227 (@ufc) August 3, 2018
“I’m not fighting on that show,” Diaz tweeted soon after the news conference. “(Expletive) the UFC.”
Diaz is scheduled to end his two-year hiatus Nov. 3 against Dustin Poirier for UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The bout was leaked late Thursday night to excite MMA fans on social media, but Diaz’s comeback event quickly lost some of its sizzle with the McGregor-Nurmagomedov announcement, a fight that could potentially shatter all of the UFC’s box office records.
Nate Diaz has arrived pic.twitter.com/FZlz9lRa8h
— Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) August 3, 2018
“I don’t know if I’m even fighting,” an upset Diaz told reporters outside of the Orpheum Theater. “They better start acting right and start over promoting instead of under promoting. … They brought me to this press conference late.”
Diaz arrived roughly 10 minutes late to the news conference as fans cheered his arrival and face-off with Poirier.
“It’s time to go,” Diaz said when asked why he accepted this fight.
Diaz shot up to stardom after defeating McGregor at UFC 196 at the MGM Grand Garden. Diaz lost the rematch by majority decision at UFC 202 at T-Mobile Arena.
“I already won twice,” Diaz said after being asked if he wants a trilogy bout with McGregor.
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Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.
