Nate Diaz is looking for the last fight on his current contract but according to the fighter, the UFC will not grant him his wish unless it comes with an extension. According to a report from ESPN, Diaz may just have to wait until the end of the year for a sunset provision to kick in which would effectively end the contract.
In a long and drawn out interview with Ariel Helwani last week, Diaz described the contractual ordeal with the UFC. He also was clear that he wanted to fight out his contract and not seek another extension so that he can test free agency. He indicated that he would like to box and a fight with Jake Paul would seem like a likely event if he could get out of his UFC contract.
UFC contracts like Diaz now include sunset clauses which expire at a certain time. In the past, fight contracts have had no expiration dates and is one of the reasons there is an antitrust lawsuit against the UFC.
According to Diaz, he has requested his final fight but the UFC wants to retain him as he is a big draw with a huge following. The UFC would like to do the trilogy between Diaz and Conor McGregor but with McGregor out with a broken leg, it’s uncertain when that fight may happen if it’s agreed upon by the fighters.
Diaz’s fight contract is reportedly set to expire according to the ESPN report, sometime in the fall. Thus, the UFC is likely holding out hope that Diaz will renew a contract with the company. If not, they will wait until the very end of the term to have Diaz fight as a way to hold him away from any prospective competitors.
This scenario is similar to that of Francis Ngannou who indicated this past January that his title defense against Cyril Gane was the last on his contract and he would wait out the contract terms which end at the end of the year. It’s not clear whether Ngannou will be allowed to walk without the UFC intervening. One notable aspect of Ngannou’s situation is that he was injured in his fight against Gane which may make his exit a little longer than expected.
Similarly, Diaz has been held up from fighting since last June. Even if Diaz turned down fights due to provisions requiring him to renew his deal with the UFC, it’s hard not to think that the UFC is benching Diaz until it absolutely has to give him a fight to make the company money before he leaves for free agency.
The media has been kind to Diaz mainly because he is a popular fighter and is granting access to them to get his message across and retold by those that can do it. Much of the MMA Hour’s interview was Ariel rephrasing Diaz’s plight for fans. The UFC has not really offered much of an explanation for the Diaz situation mainly because it doesn’t have to since it has all the leverage.
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