Two days after having dinner with Conor McGregor, which McGregor characterized as leaving thing “in a good place,” things might not have gone so well when UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta met with McGregor’s potential opponent, Nate Diaz.
White and Fertitta met with Diaz and the fighter’s manager, Lloyd Pierson on Friday, presumably to try and nail down specifics on the fight with McGregor, which was scrapped from UFC 200. While everyone was smiles at the beginning, things apparently took a nose dive.
“Our Stockton spies — yeah, we got those — tell us Dana, Nate and a couple of suits were all friendly as they chowed down, but the talk got serious and ended abruptly when Dana was visibly angry, stood up and beelined it for his SUV,” according to TMZ Sports.
“Unclear what torpedoed the meeting, but we’ve covered this stuff long enough to know it usually involves money. We know Conor was poised to score a $10 mil payday for a rematch. We don’t know what Nate wants.”
If the report is accurate, Diaz appears to have wanted something that the UFC wasn’t willing to give.
Without any first-hand knowledge of what was said, it’s simple speculation that White abruptly left the meeting due to anything Diaz or his manager said or requested.
A Nate Diaz post to Instagram a short time after TMZ’s report certainly doesn’t seem to point to any friction between the two parties.
(Video courtesy of TMZ Sports | Viewing may be limited by broadcast rights restrictions)
