Matt Brown confirms Nate Diaz fight “isn’t happening”
Matt Brown has taken to twitter to confirm suspicions that his fight with Nate Diaz, which was scheduled for UFC 189, is no longer going ahead.
The UFC recently announced that Brown (19-13 MMA, 12-7 UFC) and Diaz (17-10 MMA, 12-8 UFC) had been added to the already-stacked UFC 189 lineup due to take place July 11 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Once announced, Diaz wasted no time in shrouding the affair in uncertainty with the following tweet:
Diaz, 29, elaborated on the tweet when he spoke with Ariel Helwani on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour.
“I was told the Brown fight was talked about but they were supposed to work out a deal and figure it all out, negotiate the fight the next Monday. Then all of a sudden (it’s announced),” Diaz said. “I never necessarily okayed the fight, the fight was never negotiated.”
Diaz maintained that he had not been contacted by the UFC about the fight and that he felt he was being “strong-armed” by the promotion.
“They just have the push power. They say I’m fighting and I’m fighting now”, Diaz Said. “I don’t think so. It don’t work like that. ”
Now, Brown has confirmed that the fight is off.
Fight against @NateDiaz209 isn't happening. I'll update you guys soon as I get the word on opponent/date/ thanks for the support as always!
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) April 15, 2015
By the way I like watching Diaz fight lw's I wish him the best of luck in the future and I'll be watching every time he fights
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) April 15, 2015
Diaz has had a tumultuous relationship with the UFC in recent times and was removed from the UFC rankings due to “inactivity” last year amidst contract negotiations. His only outing in 2014 occurred in December and resulted in a one-sided decision loss to the now lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
Brown was on an impressive seven-fight streak before dropping his last two fights by decision to welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and former champion Johny Hendricks.
The UFC has yet to make the cancellation of the fight official, and it is still listed on UFC.com.
