In the post UFC 241 Press conference Nate Diaz was asked about a possible fight against Colby Covington to which he replied “Who is it? What weight? I don’t know who that is”.
The press asked Welterweight winner Nate Diaz about his interest in fighting Colby Covington (Currently No.2) in welterweight. Diaz disclosed that he does not recognize Covington enough to face him. The main reason was that Covington has not yet been in the UFC long enough to fight against fan-favorite fights yet. Despite his undisputed wins as an interim champion, he is still far off from being recognized on the same level as Diaz.
After Diaz’s win against Anthony Pettis in UFC 241, he is now regarded as a ‘Needle-mover’ by UFC President Dana White. The President could not assign the title to him five years ago which affected his popularity. The fighter has now stated his appreciation to the acknowledgement “And then he had to do what he had to do, so I ain’t mad at him either for that”. Diaz further discussed in the interview that he ’doesn’t think too highly of all the fighters who failed to step up in his absence’.
Diaz also elaborated on his justification for taking the three-year break. The fighter did not take easy fights and only wanted fan favorite events. By defeating them, he would instantly gain a large bonus, popularity and prove his strength against upper tier contenders. He further clarified that beating Conor McGregor was important as McGregor was at the height of his career. Winning the fight stunned the crowd and was ‘supposed to make others step up within the three-year gap’. It was clear in the interview that Diaz would have stepped back earlier if he had found a popular combatant.
