Welterviktsmästaren Tyron Woodley och mellanviktsmästaren Michael Bisping kom tidigare överens om att möta varandra i catchweight, men tidigare utmanade Woodley bland andra lättviktsmästaren Conor McGregor och Nick Diaz.
Woodley mötte senast Stephen Thompson då matchen dömdes som majoritetsbeslut och en retur mot Thompson är något som många förväntar sig bli av. Diaz tackade dock nej till erbjudandet när han blev tillfrågad.
Det här berättade Woodley:
I just asked Nick. I saw Nick in a night club. We hosted a party at Hakkasan. I was with TJ and Demetrious Johnson and Cody Garbrandt hosted his party there. So I see Nick Diaz there and went up and asked him. It is not like Nick is scared of fighting you know. He’s not scared to fight me or Robbie or Conor McGregor. Nick wants to get paid man. He’s held out in the past and it has worked out in his favor. He went out there and fought Anderson Silva for close to a million bucks. He knows that he pushes the needle. Plus there is a card, 209, so he understands what he is worth to that card. So I can’t knock him for that. It’s more of a situation of him wanting to get paid.
This is the honest truth man. I can sit here an act like I am Bruce Almighty but Nick Diaz is a bigger draw than me. He is a bigger name than me. Me fighting him and me wanting to fight Nick is because I recognize and realize that I am the world champion but Nick Diaz is a legend. He has had to fight the guys like Diego Sanchez, Paul Daley and Frank Shamrock. He has had to have wars with Georges and BJ Penn to get his name to where it is. So all I am trying to do is fight the Robbie Lawler’s, fight the Nick Diaz’s , GSP’s and Conor McGregor’s so that I can become a name that enters in to the legend category. Then people will want to fight me for the same reason I want to fight Nick. That’s all it is. There is nothing personal. I respect him as a fighter.
Diaz har inte gått match sedan början på 2015 då han mötte Anderson Silva, då matchen dömdes no-contest. Diaz testade positivt för cannabismetaboliter och fick 18 månaders avstängning av NSAC och Silva åkte även han fast för dopning.
