Dana White reveals stance on Nate Diaz contract, Jake Paul fight 'makes sense'
- Joe Hewlett
- 22 June 2022
The UFC star has one fight remaining on his contract with the company but has made his intentions clear.
Dana White wants Nate Diaz to fulfil his contract with the UFC but is supportive of a potential showdown between him and Jake Paul.
Diaz is one of the biggest names in the MMA company but has not won a meaningful fight for some time, with one win in his last five fights.
The welterweight made his name by defeating Conor McGregor back in 2016 before losing the rematch in the same year.
Diaz has since requested to either fight in July or to be released from his UFC contract ahead of a proposed boxing fight with Paul.
Speaking about the situation, White said: "I mean, I like Nate (but) let's be honest, Nate's won one fight in the last five or six years.
"When these guys get into these positions, you've got guys that have been with us for a long time, that we respect, that we care about.
"You know, you've got Cerrone and Anthony Pettis before he left, and you've got Nate Diaz and Nick Diaz is still under contract with us. So you want to be fair to everybody, you want to do the right things or whatever. Nate Diaz isn't going to come in and fight Kamaru Usman.
"So listen, we're trying to do the best we can. We're trying not to s**t on anybody and disrespect anybody, but it's not like we're talking about Kamaru Usman here.
"We're talking about Nate Diaz. Nate's won one fight in five years, so we're trying to figure this thing out with him. He probably should go on and fight Jake Paul. That's a fight that makes sense.
"Dealing with Nate is always fun, exciting, and interesting, so we'll see," White said. "I don't know what we're going to do.
"Listen, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see, lots of game playing and whatever. Listen, contractually we've got to get him a fight. We'll get him a fight."
