Dana White has reacted to Nate Diaz publicly rejecting a fight against undefeated rising star Khamzat Chimaev.
After Khamzat Chimaev advanced his professional record to 10-0 at UFC 267 by manhandling Li Jingliang, White and Borz both set their sights on Nate Diaz as his next opponent. There’s just one problem, Diaz wanted nothing to do with it.
This, according to the Stockton bad boy himself, is due to the fact that Chimaev only has four fights in the UFC and is a “rookie.” Therefore, the suggestion that Diaz, an established veteran of the game, should fight him was considered “disrespectful” by the Californian.
TMZ caught up with Dana White this weekend and asked the UFC President to comment on Diaz’s remarks. Here’s what he had to say.
“Listen, man. Khamzat is a straight murderer. He’s a killer. He’s an absolute savage. And I don’t blame anybody for not wanting to fight Khamzat Chimaev,” White said.
White was then pressed to respond directly to Nate Diaz’s reasoning and if he thought Chimaev’s “rookie” status is the legitimate reason why Diaz is uninterested in the fight. White could not stifle the urge to smile throughout the entirety of the following response.
“What do you think? What do you think? [SMILE GROWS WIDER] Listen, everybody in this business, everybody in this company is here because they belong here. There are no real ‘rookies’ per se here. There are guys with more experience and some guys with some less experience.
“Khamzat Chimaev is one of those guys that’s willing to fight anybody in multiple weight classes on short notice. He’s doing wrestling matches. If it’s a fight, he’s in, and he wants to fight you. And that’s the reality. I mean, people can spin Khamzat however they want to and I don’t blame ’em.”
Dana White has recently shared how difficult it has been to get Chimaev booked in a fight, stating that no one in the welterweight division wants to fight him. There have been reports of a potential pairing of Chimaev and Burns, and Burns himself said he’d be open to that fight, but there has been zero traction on that bout ever since the initial report.
Why do you think Nate Diaz does not want to fight Khamzat Chimaev? Because it’s “disrespectful” or because he simply wants no part of Borz?
