Nick Diaz's manager has officially ruled out a fight between his client and rising UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev — Fightful have you covered on this story as well as all of the other news in the world of combat sports.
Nick Diaz's manager rules out a potential fight with Khamzat Chimaev
At the UFC 261 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White revealed that Nick Diaz wants to fight in the UFC again and that he is willing to give him that opportunity.
If Diaz's return does happen this year, it would be Diaz's first fight in MMA since he originally lost to the former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 183 but the fight was later overturned to a no-contest as Diaz tested positive for marijuana and Silva tested positive for a banned substance.
There have only really been two names who have been linked to be Diaz's opponent and those are Jorge Masvidal and Khamzat Chimaev.
However, Diaz's manager has now ruled out the possibility of Diaz facing Chimaev in his return fight.
In a statement put forward to ESPN, Diaz's manager said "He’s a good prospect, respectfully, but he hasn’t earned the right to a mega-fight vs. Nick Diaz. So let’s put those rumors to rest. Nate’s up first; our focus is on that. We will narrow down more deserving opponents (for Nick) after the fight.”
Now that the possibility of Diaz vs Chimaev has gone, who would you like to see Diaz fight in his return bout?
Josh Thomson sympathizes with Diego Sanchez after UFC release
Earlier this week, news broke that Diego Sanchez was out of his fight against his former teammate Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone for reasons which were not given by the UFC.
However, details about the release of the UFC veteran came from himself as he revealed all on social media.
Sanchez and his coach Joshua Fabia both claimed that there were "shady" things going on with the treatment of Sanchez in his final few fights leading up to his release.
Although Sanchez was released before he could fight against Cerrone, he received his full fight purse as well as a win bonus and Venum apparel money.
Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson has revealed that he sympathizes with Sanchez and definitely sees where he is coming from in this situation.
Speaking on his podcast "Weighing In" with legendary MMA referee John McCarthy, Thomson said "I feel for Diego. I want everything to be good for Diego. Okay, and Diego makes some very good points. The UFC, because it is like we’ve talked about before, the UFC is not gonna reply to him. We have talked about it with what is his name, Spencer Fisher. Same thing, like they (the UFC) just stop picking up your calls. They are not going to pick up your calls. Their doctors are not going to answer your calls anymore. You’re not a current fighter. There is no relationship anymore. And so that is the one thing, that if we are ever going to do a union for, it is for this.”
Thomson also went onto explain that he believes there should be an insurance plan in place for fighters after their career.
Thomson said "Now you’re going to start seeing some of these fighters, especially the top ones that have been around for a long time, they are going to want to be able to come back and get some form of medical help for everything that is going on with them, and it is not going to happen. So when we talk about like the Ali Act, I could give two shits about the Ali Act, I care more about let’s get some sort of insurance fund for the fighters for after.”
Do you agree with Thomson?
Merab Dvalishvili releases statement after his win over Cody Stamann
Merab Dvalishvili improved to 6-2 in the UFC this past weekend at UFC Fight Night Reyes vs Prochazka after he secured a unanimous decision victory over his fellow ranked bantamweight Cody Stamann.
Dvalishvili has now released a statement after his victory.
Check out the statement below.
Anthony Johnson looking in incredible shape ahead of his Bellator debut against Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros
Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is looking in incredible shape ahead of his Bellator debut.
Johnson was originally scheduled to face former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero but Romero was removed from the bout due to failing a pre-fight medical test due to an eye issue.
Although the fight against Romero will not happen as fans had hoped so, Johnson will still fight and he will take on Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros in the first round of the light heavyweight Grand Prix.
This will be Johnson's first fight in four years where he last lost to Daniel Cormier via submission.
Johnson shockingly retired after the bout and during his time outside of the cage he got jacked and participated in some business ventures.
Johnson is now back in shape and looking better than ever.
How do you think Johnson will do in his Bellator debut?
Anderson Silva offers Chris Weidman some advice on how to cope with his leg break
At UFC 261, the former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman suffered a horrific leg break when he had his leg kick checked by Uriah Hall.
Weidman's leg break was almost identical to Anderson Silva's leg break which ironically came against Weidman when he checked a leg kick from Silva at UFC 168.
In an interview with AG Fight, Silva spoke about what went through his mind when his sons sent him the video of the leg break.
Silva said "To tell you the truth I don’t watch MMA fights anymore, but my sons do. When Weidman broke his leg, they immediately sent me the video and I was shocked. A ‘movie’ passed through my mind recalling the drama I went through after the same accident."
Silva also went on to give Weidman some advice on how to deal with the injury.
Silva said "All I can advise Weidman is to stay close to his family members because next weeks will be really rough. But Chris has a champion’s mind and I’m sure he will return stronger. I just wish the best to him.”
Giga Chikadze open to fighting any featherweight contender
This past weekend at UFC Fight Night Reyes vs Prochazka, Giga Chikadze impressively finished UFC veteran Cub Swanson in the first round with a nasty body kick.
In his post-fight interview after defeating Swanson, Chikadze used his time on the mic to respectfully call out the former featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Chikadze realizes that he is not a household name yet and that could be why a fight with Max Holloway does not happen, however, if the fight with Holloway does not happen he would like to fight Holloway's most recent opponent Calvin Kattar.
Chikadze also revealed that if a fight against Kattar does not happen he would love to fight Yair Rodriguez.
Chikadze said "I’m going to say something I really want to say: If the fans and Dana White and Sean Shelby really want to see something special, I think (me) versus Yair Rodriguez will be a real ninja fight. At some point, I believe this fight has to happen. It has to be real Mortal Kombat. I would love this fight, and plus, he’s been pulling out of fights for the last few times, and I’m not that dangerous."
Would you be interested in a fight between Chikadze and Rodriguez?
Sean Strickland releases statement following win over Krzysztof Jotko
Sean Strickland defeated Krzysztof Jotko via unanimous decision this past weekend at UFC Fight Night Reyes vs Prochazka which now sees him progress to a four-fight win streak and his third win in a row since coming back from a very serious motorcycle injury in 2018.
In his statement, Strickland thanked his coaches and training partners.
See the statement below.
Kai Kamaka's manager filing appeal after "blatantly horrible" decision loss to T.J. Brown
It is fair to say that the scorecards from the judges for the fight this past weekend between Kai Kamaka and T.J. Brown were questionable, to say the least.
On one scorecard Kamaka judged to have won the fight 30-27 whilst on the two other cards, Brown was scored to win 29-28.
Following Kamaka's controversial decision loss, his manager is filing an appeal to the Nevada State Athletic Commission to try and get the result of the fight overturned.
In a statement that was sent to MMA Fighting, Kamaka's manager Brian Butler said "Tomorrow we will be filing an appeal for the blatantly horrible decision against Kai Kamaka. I don’t believe I have seen one media outlet that gave that fight to TJ and from what I understand even TJ and his team say they didn’t win. There is little to no recourse on these judges not being able to do their jobs properly and for a fighter like Kai who moved his entire household from Hawaii to pursue this career, it’s simply not right."
Butler also went on to say "I’m not suggesting that the fight wasn’t competitive but that doesn’t mean it was hard to see that Kai won every round of that fight. Our hope is that if they won’t overturn the decision, the commission will at least review the fight with us and explain to us where Kai lost.”
How did you score the fight between Kamaka and Brown?
Rashad Evans urges Diego Sanchez to get rid of "parasite" Joshua Fabia
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans has urged his fellow UFC veteran Diego Sanchez to get rid of his coach and manager Joshua Fabia as he believes that he is a "parasite."
Evans posted the following comment under a post on Sanchez's Instagram.
Evans said "Diego the UFC gave you a chance to compete as long as you did because they actually cared about you. You were the original TUF champ and they took care of you for that. You messed around and let that con artist Josh Fabia use you to try and get a lawsuit against the UFC. They sensed it because it was obvious that your manager/coach was about to get litigious. I wish you the best my friend but you must get this guy out of your life. He is a parasite.”
Do you agree with Evans' comments?
Fightful has all of your MMA needs covered. Follow us on Twitter for updates, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive interviews, lists, news updates and predictions.
