UFC lightweight star Nate Diaz has publicly asked the UFC to release him from his contract.
“I would like to request to be released from the @ufc Its time for me to be on my way .. ?” Diaz wrote on Twitter yesterday.
Diaz has indicated in the past that he’s not happy with what he’s being paid by the promotion he’s fought for since winning ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 5 back in 2007.
That issue may have been exacerbated by his friend and training partner Gilbert Melendez successfully renegotiating a lucrative deal after calling the UFC’s bluff and threatening to leave for rival promotion Bellator.
The fact that UFC president Dana White shot down Diaz’s interest in fighting for the lightweight title may also have contributed to his frustrations.
Diaz last fought in the Octagon back in November of last year, claiming a ‘Knockout Of The Night’ bonus for TKO’ing Gray Maynard in the first round.
That snapped a two-fight losing streak, including an unsuccessful title challenge against Ben Henderson, and has left him placed as the No.5 ranked contender in the lightweight division.
The younger Diaz brother hasn’t enjoyed quite the same level of star power as his older Sibling Nick in his career to date, but nevertheless he is still one of the lightweight division’s biggest draws as can be seen by the fact that he’s headlined two FOX Shows and a TUF Finale in his past four fights.
At 28 years of age he’s still got a lot of fighting left in him too, so he’s not someone that the UFC are likely to be eager to let slip through their fingers.
They may not have taken too kindly too his recent attitude though, and unlike Melendez, Diaz is still under contract with the UFC, so they don’t neccessarily have to bow down to any demands he has at this stage.
At this stage the UFC hasn’t commented on the situation though, so we’ll just have to wait and see how this story unfolds from here.
