Nate Diaz reportedly has made no mention behind the scenes of a fight with Darren Till, despite claims that he ‘pulled out’ of a booked fight.
The legendary former UFC lightweight title contender hasn’t fought since his win over Jorge Masvidal last summer in their boxing rematch. He is never short of fight offers, and has been eyeing a return to the UFC in recent months.
So it was a surprise to hear that Diaz had reportedly turned down a Misfits Boxing bout with Till that was set for early August. And his best friend Jake Shields has told Bloody Elbow that the pair had never discussed such a bout at any point in recent weeks.
Nate Diaz vs Darren Till was ‘never mentioned’ says best friend
Nate Diaz has been spending the last few weeks in Thailand shooting a reality show with Jon Jones, from which he walked out after a mass brawl during filming. One member of his team who was on the ground in Thailand was his best friend Jake Shields, who would be privy to all fight news.
Speaking with Bloody Elbow at Saturday night’s DBX 2 event in Miami, Shields seemed baffled by the claim Diaz had pulled out of fighting Darren Till, saying: “No, what? Nate’s my best friend and he’s never mentioned that.”
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
He proceeded to say that such a match-up doesn’t make much sense, given that Till is a big name but not a major pay-per-view draw the likes of Diaz’s last opponents Jake Paul and Jorge Masvidal.
“I like Darren Till but I just don’t think he’s at a big enough level for Nate to fight, he’s almost there but he’s not quite a big enough name. Someone like [Mike] Perry makes a bit more sense, even though I like Perry and I don’t want to fight him but that fight makes a bit more sense.”
Darren Till claims he now can’t get a fight for August date
Till and his manager Lee Eaton have both publicly claimed that Diaz went back on a deal to fight him in Misfits Boxing this summer. As a result, the Brit says he has been unable to book a big name fight after two tune-ups in the ring earlier this year against Anthony Taylor and Darren Stewart.
“I had fight news to announce,” he told fans in a video. “Basically Nate Diaz called the fight on with me he wanted to fight me on August 2. He called everything he called the weight and I accepted, I got straight into camp on Monday and now he’s pulled out of the fight.”
He then listed a series of names who are now not available, including boxing legend Carl Froch, who reportedly needs months to prepare. The fight that fans have wanted for years is with Mike Perry, but the Dirty Boxing Championship boss and BKFC ‘King of Violence’ reportedly wants seven figures.
Till claims that Tyron Woodley – who dropped and submitted him in their 2018 UFC title fight – is interested in a second fight, but isn’t able to do it this summer. And he said that Jorge Masvidal, who viciously knocked him out a few months later, is also not keen on another go.