'FIGURE IT OUT'
UFC still ‘interested’ in making Nate Diaz vs Dustin Poirier but Dana White admits grudge match may not happen
THE UFC are still 'interested' in making the eagerly-anticipated grudge match between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz.
Poirier and Diaz began jawing at one another on social media a few days after the former's unsuccessful bid to dethrone lightweight champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 269.
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Talks over a short-notice January showdown failed to bear fruit, but the UFC brass are still open to making the bout.
During an ESPN+ fan Q&A, president Dana White said: "It's a fight that they both want and it's one that we're interested in.
"And we've just got to figure out [how to make it]."
As interested as the UFC are in booking Diaz vs Poirier, White admits there is a possibility the bout won't align with the promotion's schedule.
The veteran promoter, 52, continued: "I don't know if that's the fight by the time we're ready.
"But like I said, we've got fights made up all the way until May 21 right now. So yeah, we're interested."
Fan favourite Diaz - who has one fight left on his contract - hit out at the UFC brass earlier this month, accusing them of putting him on ice.
Alongside a picture of his 2018 face-off with Poirier, he tweeted: "[UFC] stop playing wit me, consider this my signature to fight this f***er.
"I been trying to fight for a minute, quit slowing down the real fight game it's time."
White responded in an interview with ESPN, insisting the promotion will give Diaz a fight in the near future.
He said: "Of course, we're interested [in that fight]. This is what we do. We make fights every weekend.
"What happens is guys just want to jump out of nowhere. 'I want to do this, I want to do that.'
"We have fights booked all the way to, I want to say May 2. Everything is in place. Everything is done. Obviously, Nate Diaz will get a fight."
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Poirier and Diaz, 33 and 36 respectively, were due to fight one another three years ago in the main event of UFC 230 in New York.
But their Madison Square Garden melee fell through when Poirier suffered a hip injury.
And The Diamond is still hellbent on sharing the cage with the youngest Diaz.
He told UFC commentator Joe Rogan last year: “I think before I’m done fighting, I’m going to fight 170.
“I’ll go up to 170 and fight Nate. For sure. I do because of the way it fell apart."
He added: "Me and him were supposed to fight at Madison Square Garden.
“I kind of was the fall guy - he gets to point and say I pulled out of the fight and I did. I went to get stem cells done on my hip.
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“But I was going to fight, I was going to go through a camp and fight him if they wouldn’t have started offering me other replacement opponents.
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"Nate was playing games with the UFC, UFC started offering me opponents.
"And I said, ‘Look guys, if this is happening, I’m just going to have my hip taken care of.’ He’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight.”
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