Nate Diaz has revealed he turned down a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov when the latter was entering the UFC.
Diaz had gone five rounds with Benson Henderson for the UFC lightweight title in December 2012, before being offered a fight with Khabib.
Khabib had only just entered Dana White‘s promotion at the time, claiming two wins in his first fights after his January 2012 debut.
Diaz, on the other hand, had been competing in MMA’s premier promotion for over five years when he lost his first title bout to Henderson via unanimous decision.
What did Nate Diaz say about Khabib Nurmagomedov?
Diaz was discussing his early UFC career on a livestream with popular creator Sneako on Wednesday, when he shockingly revealed that a fight with Khabib had been talked about in the past, and why he rejected it.
“[Khabib] was saying he turned down fights with me,” Diaz, 40, explained.
“I was like, ‘I don’t even know who you are.’ They offered me a fight against Khabib when he was brand new.
“I fought for the title, and I fought [other] people already. I was like f*** you.
“You’re going to make a name off me with some new guy? Give me someone in the top five.
“I just fought the champion, so now I’ve got to fight somebody way down the list?”
Diaz, of course, turned down the fight with the Russian soon-to-be UFC legend.
‘The Stockton Slugger’ went on to trade wins and losses in his next four fights before his first meeting with Conor McGregor, which would turn out to be one of the most legendary rivalries in the promotion’s history.
Diaz would unexpectedly hand McGregor the first defeat of his UFC career in March 2016.
Five months later, the pair rematched in the main event of UFC 202, and the Irishman exacted revenge by outpointing Diaz to claim a majority decision win.
Khabib, meanwhile, wound up stopping Thiago Tavares in his third UFC bout after a potential fight with Diaz collapsed.
He then embarked on a six-fight winning streak before contesting his first UFC title bout against Al Iaquinta in April 2018.
‘The Eagle’ scored a unanimous decision win over Iaquinta and defended the belt against McGregor six months later.
Khabib’s rivalry with McGregor is one of the few in UFC history to better the latter’s rivalry with Diaz.
The Russian retired undefeated with a 29-0 pro MMA record after submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020.
Since his retirement, Diaz has contested just two bouts, losing to Leon Edwards before submitting Tony Ferguson in his last fight to date.
Diaz said in March that he wants to make a UFC return to fight for a belt one last time.
He has previously stated fighting McGregor for the third time as one of his options, with fans suggesting both men could meet at the classic UFC White House card next year.