Nate Diaz Wonders Why He Wasn’t At UFC 209
Nate Diaz hasn’t competed in the UFC since facing UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor at UFC 202, while brother Nick hasn’t fought since facing former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 183.
UFC 209 took place this past March and the event numbers matched the area code of Diaz’s hometown, which prompted many fans to believe one or both of the Diaz’s would be on the card. However, it was not to be and Nate says that the UFC had an ego problem, which is why they were not on the card.
“It was almost like an ego thing the UFC was playing,” Diaz said on The MMA Hour. “Like, no one even called. People were demanding it all over my Twitter and sh*t. People were like, ‘why aren’t Nick and Nate on 209?’ No one called. Why didn’t anyone call for that? I hear people saying they dropped the ball. They did drop the ball on that one. I think it would’ve made sense. Like I said, I don’t want to fight nowhere, but it’s what should’ve happened. Right? Isn’t it what should’ve happened? Shouldn’t they have done that? Everybody was expecting it already, why wouldn’t they have no tried to make that happen? They didn’t even attempt. … They just want this to die out. They want me to die out and go away.”
Don’t expect to see either of the Diaz brothers in the UFC, as Nate said on The MMA Hour that neither he or his brother would compete this year.
According to the youngest Diaz brother, the promotion that they have called home for years now pretty much refuses to acknowledge their existence.
“They try their best to not talk about us,” Diaz continued. “It’s like, as soon as somebody says ‘who’s the stars?,’ they’ll purposely not say me and Nick. But we’re still getting invited to huge parties. They’re still calling. The only ones who ain’t calling are you. We’re not going away.”
The Stockton native has kept himself busy outside of the Octagon, as he competes in triathlons and partakes in various cannabis related activities.