Five years ago, Dana White wasn’t too impressed with Nate Diaz for “not being a needle-mover”. But after two big fights against Conor McGregor and a win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 241, the UFC president is now saying otherwise.
“Yeah, pretty tough to deny (his superstardom),” White told media members during the UFC 241 post-fight scrum. “He’s a needle-mover now.”
White particularly took note of Diaz’s three-year layoff then winning against a former champion like Pettis.
“You have to talk about the layoff,” he said. “You have to talk about that this kid hasn’t fought in three years. He looked a little rough in the first round, looked like he gassed out at the end of the first round, too. And then completely changed his game plan and started to fight his fight.
“Then once he got there, he basically did what he wanted against one of the top ten guys in the world after a three-year layoff. Pretty damn impressive.”
Diaz, now 20-11 (with 16 wins by stoppage), wants a fight against Jorge Masvidal next.
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