The UFC is in a bit of a bind. They’d like to book the entertaining Khabib Nurmagomedov in a March fight for one of their multiple lightweight titles, but for stupid reasons they don’t have a good matchup for him right now. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani texted children’s role model and potential Nurmagomedov opponent Nate Diaz tonight and got back the following: “I’m only fighting at lightweight for a big fight or 20 million just to take the call.” He also declared that he has no interest in fighting Conor McGregor a third time both because he already beat him up once and because the UFC isn’t offering him enough money to make it worth his while.
Just what this means for the future of March’s proposed fight for one of the UFC’s multiple lightweight titles remains unknown. Given that Diaz has enough sense to make clear that he wants a lot of money to get involved, though, it’s a very good bet that if he is involved, he’ll get a lot of money.