Poirier: Nate Diaz was a ‘headache,’ ‘over-negotiated’ for UFC 230

Dustin Poirier says Nate Diaz was being difficult during negotiations for their UFC 230 bout.

Dustin Poirier ended up pulling out of his UFC 230 bout against Nate Diaz, but according to him, this were already chaotic even prior to his injury. As “The Diamond” notes, the UFC was constantly scrambling to have a main event for the Madison Square Garden event, and Diaz was also being difficult during negotiations.

“We don’t even have enough time to talk about all the times it was changed,” Poirier told Luke Thomas on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “The fight was on, it was off, it was just crazy, there was a lot of crazy stuff going on.

“They wanted to switch it to five rounds, man, it was just so messed up dude,” Poirier said. “Nate was being hard to deal with, I believe. Every weight class they offered it at 155 and he wanted 160 and I agreed to that. He kind of negotiated himself out of a main-event spot. They offered us the main event, I accepted, Nate over-negotiated, they lost the main event, it was just back-to-back days of him trying to have his way, honestly.

Poirier, who is currently nursing a hip injury, says he is uncertain if the UFC can make Diaz “play ball,” but would ultimately still be open to the match up.

“It’s a huge headache with all the stuff that he was playing,” Poirier said.

“So much stuff went on behind the scenes. Even if everything went smooth, I’m not sure if this fight would have even went through with this guy,” he continued. “But if the UFC wants it, I’m down. If they can make it happen, I’m down.”

Poirier earlier noted that he is in for a quick return as he won’t be needing surgery, so that bout can conceivably be rebooked soon if both parties agree to it. Diaz though, just voiced his frustrations about Poirier “mysteriously” pulling out, saying he’ll just go “back out on tour till the game mans up.”