What is With All the Chaos Going On at Welterweight Right Now? It Doesn’t Seem to Bother Nate Diaz Though… He’s Ready to Stake His Claim for a Shot at the Title…
Nate Diaz is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC and you could make a strong case that his stock has never been higher. Not even after beating Conor McGregor did he ride such a wave of approval. But if you were in Anaheim at UFC 241, the night he beat Anthony Pettis, you’d see just how much love the Diaz brothers still have.
After putting on a fantastic performance to basically overpower ‘Showtime,’ Diaz called out his fellow bad dude, Jorge Masvidal. The pair share a level of realness and lack of respect for authority that has made them cult heroes and ironically two of the promotion’s biggest stars in 2019.
But could Diaz be set for an even bigger fight? There’s trouble brewing at 170lbs with the promotion struggling to get a title fight together. Would it make sense to throw Diaz in there right now?
Champ Camp #baddestmotherfuckerinthegame#msg 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/kE17qsBqtM
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) September 6, 2019
Title Shot
First of all, we need to be clear: Colby Covington deserves that title shot. You might justifiably hate the man’s guts, but it also has to be acknowledged that he’s earned the right to fight for the belt. He even had his own version of it when he was made an interim champion, before getting stripped because he needed to take time out for nasal surgery.
Still, though, his grinding wins over the likes of Demian Maia, Robbie Lawlor and Rafael Dos Anjos have been highly impressive. His ridiculous cardio and pressure have put pay to almost everybody who has got in his way. But for some reason, the UFC is struggling to come to terms with Covington and the welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
Complicated
According to Ariel Helwani, the UFC had actually given up on trying to make that deal and instead looked another option, which would be to hand Jorge Masvidal the title shot. He’s coming off the back of two scorching KO victories – over Darren Till and Ben Askren respectively. ‘Gamebred’ demanded a title shot, but now it looks like they’re struggling to come to terms as well.
Diaz may be looking to take advantage of the muddy waters in the division. You can see the tweet he released earlier today, ‘champ camp,’ with him basically standing and looking ripped. Sure, it could just be a reference to him being a tough dude and his potential fight with Jorge Masvidal for the ‘Bad Motherf**ker Belt,” but it’s all about the timing with these things.
Hey @NateDiaz209 fuck these losers. See you at MSG. #BMF title on the line #supernecessary
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) September 6, 2019
Title Fight
Usman v Covington was aimed as the main event for UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden in December. That looks increasingly fragile now which is a real headache for the UFC. Masvidal hasn’t fought since March when he dominated Tyron Woodley to claim the title. Now there’s a real chance he won’t fight again in this calendar year.
Just another quiet day in the welterweight division.
