A potential big "money fight" could be made official by the UFC, as it's rumored that a pairing of welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz is in the works.
Diaz has never been bigger in his UFC career, coming off of a back-to-back rivalry with UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Diaz became the first man to defeat McGregor under the UFC banner when he choked the Irishman out at UFC 196 back in March of 2016. They rematched just a few months later and McGregor took a close Majority Decision win.
There has been talk that Diaz wouldn't return to the cage unless it's for his third crack at "The Notorious One," but recently reports have surfaced that Nate Diaz vs. Tyron Woodley has been in the works, and it's a fight that has MMA fans very interested.
Recently Woodley joined The MMA Hour to discuss the potential match-up with Diaz and claimed that he's taking it very seriously. Until he hears otherwise, he's training as if his fight with Diaz is a done deal (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“Until I hear no, I’m not going to stop training,” Woodley said. “So when they say 24 (hours), I assume 48, maybe a little longer — 48 or 72 hours — because sometimes the Diaz brothers aren’t known to be the greatest negotiators, with returning phone calls and coming to terms on deals.
"So 24 hours to them could be three days, but this is my job. What, am I going to complain about training?
"I love training, especially when it’s an opponent that I respect, someone that brings some type of threat to me, gives me that anxiety and makes me pumped up to train.
“I’ve been looking for that name, man. This would be the first opponent I get to fight that I get that high-profile fight that actually means something.
"The Carlos Condit was a high-profile fight, but [he wasn’t] into having huge star-power. Neither was Robbie Lawler. Neither were some of the other guys I fought and beat.
"But this is a guy who is directly connected to his brother Nick, directly connected to Conor McGregor, so it could really set me up to fight one of those guys afterward.”
What are your thoughts on Woodley saying he's seriously preparing for the Diaz fight until he hears a definitive "no" from the UFC? Do you think that the fight will eventually get made official? If so, who do you think will emerge victorious in the matchup? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!
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