Nick Diaz gave up the opportunity to fight for the UFC welterweight title in his anticipated return, allegedly for financial reasons.
SB Nation and MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas tweeted that the ex-Strikeforce welterweight champion (and UFC fan favourite) passed up on the promotion’s offer of a title fight at UFC 209. The 170 pound champion [Woodley] will instead square off for a second time against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
In news that will have fighters and fans scratching their heads on multiple counts, Diaz rejected an offer to fight for the title. In addition to being out of action since January 2015’s “No Contest” bout against Anderson Silva due to a ban for Marijuana intake, Nick Diaz has not won a fight in five years (October 2011’s unanimous decision win over B.J Penn).
While this is an indication of the Diaz brothers’ draw and appeal, it would have been very interesting hearing Dana White’s justification for skipping the likes of Thompson and Demian Maia in awarding the Stockton native an immediate shot at the strap.
Luckily for Dana White’s PR team, Woodley confirmed that the fight was rejected.
Luke Thomas tweeted:
Tyron Woodley tells me the UFC offered Nick Diaz a fight against him for UFC 209. Woodley says Diaz declined b/c Diaz wanted more money.
— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) January 12, 2017
Whether Nick [Diaz] is looking to follow in younger brother Nate’s new found wealth, due to recent multi-million dollar fights [with Conor McGregor] is uncertain, but the general indication is that the Cesar Gracie black belt is in no hurry to take the first fight thrown at him, even if it is the biggest fight in the welterweight roster…
Woodley’s comments follow on from the confirmation in August last year that the Diaz’s intellectual misgivings were responsible for spoiling the chance of a fight which the champion had offered Diaz “on a platter”.
