“Stick To Fighting and Stay Out of Promoting”- Dana White Has a Stern Message for Dan Hardy After ‘Assassination Attempt’ Comments
For over a year now, Nate Diaz was sitting on the sidelines and awaiting a call to secure his final matchup in the UFC. That call came in the form of Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 in September. In the final fight of his UFC contract, the younger Diaz brother will take on arguably the most talented and hyped upcoming fighter in the UFC at the moment.
While Dana White believes, it will be a good matchup, a number of fans, as well as pundits, have bashed the UFC for its matchmaking. Former UFC fighter turned pundit, Dan Hardy went as far as to brand it an ‘assassination attempt’ by the UFC against Diaz.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Dana White shared his thoughts on the criticism he had been receiving regarding the fight. He said, “I love when fighters or other people or anybody else, give us advice on this incredibly successful business that we’ve built. It cracks me up. I can tell you this: Leon Edwards, Dan Hardy, and anybody else out there yapping, has never dealt with the Diaz brothers, OK? It’s a very unique experience.”
White continued, “It takes a very f*cking long time, and we got through it and here we are. It’s a very popular fight people are going to want to see, that people like, and everybody’s getting what they want. Dan Hardy and Leon Edwards don’t have to watch it. They can go to the movies that night….. Wake up, boys. It’s not how it works Do you think Nate Diaz wants to go out like that? That’s why you guys better stick to fighting and stay out of promoting.”
Khamzat Chimaev; a fight Nate Diaz asked for?
During his interview with Ariel Helwani, Nate Diaz stated that he would not fight Khamzat as he did not want anyone else to build a name off his platform.
However, it could be that Diaz realized the UFC would not give him a fight other than Chimaev in the timeline that he wanted and therefore accepted the fight out of frustration.
