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What's the story?
In a recent interview with TMZ, UFC President Dana White provided an update on the scheduled UFC 230 bout between Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier and revealed if the fight is still on the cards or not.
In case you didn't know...
Having last competed in the Octagon back at UFC 202 in 2016, Nate Diaz hasn't been active in Octagon competition for the past two and half years since his split decision loss to Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena.
However, ahead of his arch-rival Conor McGregor's return to the Octagon at UFC 229 on the 6th of October, it has been confirmed that Stockton superstar Nate Diaz will also be making his return at UFC 230 in a mouthwatering clash against top 155-pound contender Dustin Poirier.
In the build-up to Diaz and Poirier's fight at UFC 230, both fighters have seemingly claimed that the UFC has apparently agreed to inaugurate a brand new 165-pound championship belt for their scheduled bout. However, in the meantime, UFC President Dana White has played down the talks of inaugurating a new UFC Championship belt.
This eventually led to Nate Diaz claiming on Twitter that he isn't willing to fight at UFC 230 and will further delay his comeback to the Octagon next year.
The heart of the matter
While speaking with TMZ, UFC President Dana White stated that Nate Diaz is obliged to fight at UFC 230, given the fact that the youngest Diaz brother has already signed a deal and the tickets for UFC 230 have also gone on sale.
“He has to, yeah. The guy signed a deal, tickets went on sale, all this stuff is in motion — you can’t just sign a deal and then do the things he’s doing right now, and not fight."
In addition to it, White also claimed that most people seemingly think that the fight between Diaz and Poirier is apparently off and is indeed not happening due to Diaz's recent social media rants.
“If you look at what he’s doing, I swear to God I had some police officers come in here this afternoon and say ‘Ah man, it sucks, the Diaz fight is off. Most people think that the fight isn’t even on because of what he’s doing on social media.”
What's next?
UFC 230 will take place on the 3rd of November, 2018 at The Madison Square Garden in New York City.
