Daniel Cormier has been a long-time fighter and is now a commentator, working with the UFC. Aside from his work with the promotion, DC also has his own YouTube channel, where he voices his opinions. Thus, despite his allegiance to the company, he believes Nate Diaz was conspired against.
Recently, Cormier had a sit-down with former UFC welterweight Ben Askren, discussing many topics. Among them was DC asking Ben about his thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev. Despite seemingly taking the sport by storm, there were many, like Colby Covington, who were unimpressed with the UAE-based fighter’s demeanor.
Notably, the instance Colby pointed out that DC and Askren also touched upon was ‘Borz‘ missing weight at UFC 279. A controversial matter, to say the least, Cormier added, “Nate Diaz was leaving. Nate Diaz left after beating Tony Ferguson, on a victory. If you’re leaving a company, they don’t want you to leave in a way that you’re valuable. They would’ve liked him to lose. I think that’s why he got Khamzat”.
Thus, Daniel Cormier openly admitted that the UFC set him up to fail by putting him in against Khamzat. One of the fastest-rising prospects in the UFC, many feared for Diaz the day the fight was announced. Fortunately for Diaz, Chimaev’s massive weight miss meant that he was thrown in with Kevin Holland in the co-main event instead.
Daniel Cormier believes that the UFC set up Nate Diaz
For the most part, fans knew that Nate Diaz was being set up by the UFC ahead of his free agency. Set to pursue his boxing endeavors, Diaz wished to be done with his UFC contract and wanted a way out. Thus, it appeared as though the UFC set him up to lose, which would hurt his valuation in the future.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that something like this has occurred with Diaz. Recently, with the lawsuit against the company, emails regarding fighter pay and other matters were leaked. It could be seen that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva intended to lowball Diaz ahead of his contract renewal. Had Nate not accepted the deal, he would have been handed a tough opponent in the prelims for his last fight.
Everything Nate Diaz has done in opposition to the UFC has and will always be justified pic.twitter.com/2RL5oohrRA
— Kairos (@KAIROSMMA2) December 2, 2023
Thus, the promotion’s shrewd and cunning ways to underpay their fighters could be seen as clear as day for everyone. With that said, some, including Ben Askren, have alluded to the possibility that Nate Diaz was in fact protected for his last fight. Some believe that the only way to sell the PPV would have been to put Nate against Khamzat. However, the UFC always intended to have ‘The Stockton Slugger‘ fight Tony Ferguson and leave on a win.
Notably, this would have kept a good relationship with the fighter, possibly keeping the door open for a McGregor vs. Diaz trilogy as well. To make matters more interesting Khamzat also hinted that he was ‘told’ by the UFC to intentionally miss weight. Whether the theory is true or not, only time will tell. In the meantime, accusations against the UFC for pulling wool over the viewer’s eyes, are not going away anytime soon.