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UFC President Dana White received a lot of criticism this week when he revealed that he was open to booking Khamzat Chimaev against Nate Diaz. Many felt the matchup was not good for Diaz and it was in talks because he only had one fight left on his UFC deal.
Nate Diaz had wanted Vicente Luque and Tony Ferguson for his last fight but appears to have changed his tune. The UFC welterweight now wants Kamaru Usman.
Dana White did an interview with BT Sport where he discussed the Khamzat Chimaev-Nate Diaz fight and pushed back at his critics.
“I just did an interview … and he was like, ‘Everybody feels like you’re feeding Nate Diaz to the wolves,'” UFC President White told BT Sport. “(Chimaev) has got four fights. Nate Diaz has been here for years. Nate Diaz was just asking for an Usman fight – that would be feeding Nate Diaz to the wolves. Listen, Khamzat Chimaev looks incredible, but he’s never fought anybody inside the top 10.
“The last guy he fought was No. 11 and he’s never fought anybody in the top five. He’s never been in any of those kinds of fights yet. As incredible as he looks, let’s be realistic here and what he’s done in a short amount of time and how popular he’s become. But if you wanted to fight with Kamaru Usman, you shouldn’t be worried about Khamzat Chimaev.”
UFC President Dana White also revealed that Nate Diaz had been offered Khamzat Chimaev even before UFC 267.
“He was offered that before we even went to Abu Dhabi,” White said. “So he was offered that before that fight even happened. But that was my point: As incredible as Khamzat is and the things he has accomplished and the hype and energy that’s surrounding him right now, he’s still got some big fights ahead of him.”
It's unclear what Nate Diaz will do after his UFC deal is up. The fight with Kamaru Usman is very doubtful.
