"That was a very sociopath move of us" - Chael Sonnen details how Nate Diaz is benefitting from the "made up" idea of the UFC holding him back

By Will Miles

Modified Sep 17, 2022 23:56 GMT

Chael Sonnen (left), Nate Diaz (right) [Image courtesy of @sonnench on Instagram]

Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen has weighed in on the general fan's perception that the UFC was holding back the career of veteran Nate Diaz.

Diaz recently ended his tenure with the organization after his UFC 279 main-event bout against Tony Ferguson. Originally set to face Khamzat Chimaev, Diaz was rescheduled to face another veteran in Ferguson after the Chechen-born welterweight missed weight. The Stockton fighter bowed out of the UFC with a victory against 'El Cucuy', submitting him in the fourth round.

Nate Diaz's dispute with the UFC has centered around the belief that he's been denied multiple fights, opportunities and ventures that would have seen him make significant money. A 'superfight' with Jake Paul has also been rumored but Diaz was unable to secure the bout while under contract.

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Discussing the now-free-agent fighter on his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen said that Diaz has benefitted from fans believing he's been hampered by the UFC:

"We all decided the UFC's holding him up, the UFC is holding Nate up for a boxing match with Jake Paul. We made it up! We made that up. That was a very sociopath move of us...We made that up but forget we made it up. We forgot along the way that there was no actual source for it. We thought we were right, we began to speculate."

Watch the full video here:

Tony Ferguson frustrated with himself for attempting takedown against Nate Diaz

Tony Ferguson recently expressed his disappointment with his performance that saw him lose via a guillotine choke to Nate Diaz deep into their main-event bout at UFC 279.

The last-minute headliner saw the two veterans go head-to-head in what was the last fight of Diaz's contract. Both fighters had their moments, but Diaz was leading on all three judges' scorecards heading into the fourth.

A tiring Ferguson shot for a takedown but the Stockton fighter's years of jiu-jitsu training and his preparation for Chimaev saw him immediately lock in the submission for the victory.

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Post-fight and now dealing with a five-fight skid, 'El Cucuy' spoke with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto and shared his frustration at not keeping the fight standing:

"But I guarantee that he [Nate Diaz] was preparing for that takedown with Chimaev. I would be practicing my submissions left and right. He had that in his tank already, so I'm kicking myself for not keeping it standing for sure on that one."

Check out the interview here:

About the author

Will began his tenure at Sportskeeda as an MMA writer over 2 years ago and has penned over 1800 pieces so far, including 35+ exclusives, which have garnered close to 5 million views.

Will graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications from Bournemouth University, where he was also a valued member of their communications team. His degree heavily focused on social media and writing, which eventually led him toward sports writing.

He turned into an MMA fan after witnessing Conor McGregor’s 13-second TKO win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in 2015. The Irishman sits at the top of his list of top-five MMA fighters of all time, which also includes world champions like Demetrious Johnson, Michael Bisping, Max Holloway, and Georges St-Pierre.

Will especially enjoys working on event days and feels his contribution to Sportskeeda’s UFC 300 coverage was one of the high points of his time with the organization. He ensures his articles are accurate by going through multiple sources, which also helps his writing be as informative as possible.

His interests away from work include football, gaming, live streaming, and listening to music.

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Edited by Aziel Karthak