Nate Diaz's manager says "smart business decision" is to wait to see if Title shot opens up

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Nate Diaz's manager has expanded upon comments made this weekend regarding a proposed fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. In an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Mike Kogan revealed that they attempted to renegotiate Diaz's current contract to take the fight, and with the UFC not going for that, they're instead holding out for a future title fight.

"We could be looking at a title fight," Mike Kogan said. "I think it's a smart business decision to sit around for a little bit. [Anthony] Pettis already said he wanted to fight Nate. Why does he want to fight Nate? He knows it's a money fight. That's the name of the game. Who else would bring that much money? [Benson] Henderson? F*** no."

"Now we're forced to defend ourselves," Kogan continued when reacting to Dana White's Tweet over the weekend. "I thought these kind of conversations were kept between us in private. We asked for a new contract. They said, 'Not after one win. That's not happening.' OK, cool, we'll turn down this fight, which is our right to do, according to our contract. I don't know how this turns into, everybody is scared to fight Khabib."

"Khabib, while being a gangster fighter, he hasn't paid his dues in the UFC yet. Nate's been there for eight f***ing years. Eight f***ing years, and you've got people on Twitter talking about his integrity? Are you people smoking some kind of crack?"

Penick's Analysis: There are a few things at play here. A fighter sticking up for what they feel they're worth is exactly the type of thing that needs to happen more often. However, there is a time and place for it. If they agreed to a contract at one point, trying to re-negotiate it after one victory when he had lost two straight fights isn't the right time. He looked great against Gray Maynard, but that's not the fight to get him a title bout. He's going to have to win another fight to get a shot, and they can try to re-negotiate a new deal after that.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_19915.shtml

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