Nate Diaz backed out of the fight and UFC claimed I did - Dustin Poirier recalls 2018 fight against Diaz falling through

Dustin Poirier has once again set the record straight on why his supposed 2018 bout against Nate Diaz fell through.

'The Diamond' was adamant that it was Diaz's fault all along. However, Diaz has since been pushing the narrative that Poirier decided to get surgery, which led to the cancelation of the UFC 230 matchup. Diaz's account was perceived to be true at the time as initial reports cited Poirier's injury as the cause of the bout getting nixed.

According to Poirier, that wasn't the case at all. Airing his grievances against Diaz and the UFC, Poirier explained his version of the story. Appearing on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, the two-time lightweight title challenger claimed:

"They dragged me around with [that] original 2018 thing. I feel like the UFC should've cleared the air because Nate backed out of that fight, you know. They were offering me other fights. And I was like, 'F*** it, I'm gonna have my hip taken care of.' If it's not Nate in three weeks – or whatever it was from their fight date – I said, 'I'm not fighting.' Then he said I'm the one who backed out and all this."

Check out Poirier's comments below:

In October 2019, Poirier disclosed more details about the incident. The Louisiana native revealed that Diaz made demands that the UFC did not agree to. At that point, Poirier believed the negotiations were going nowhere, which is why he chose to address a lingering hip issue instead.

---

Dustin Poirier to Nate Diaz - "I'll fight you, let's go!"

Earlier this year, it appeared that the UFC was trying to revive the conversation between the camps of Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz. However, the negotiations amounted to nothing as both men remained on the sidelines without a fight booked.

According to Poirier, he has always been willing to fight the Stockton-based bad-boy. Reiterating his intentions to take Diaz on, Poirier proclaimed:

"I don't know what's going on with his current contract with [Khamzat] Chimaev, but I said yes to them twice this year. And I'm saying yes right now to you and the world. I'll fight you, let's go!"

Of course, it has been heavily rumored that a Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev matchup could be in the works for UFC 276. However, UFC president Dana White maintained that nothing is set in stone for Diaz's next fight.