{"id":556247,"date":"2026-03-22T04:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/556247\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T04:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:01:12","slug":"dana-white-still-open-to-nate-diaz-ufc-reunion-despite-mvp-signing-just-got-an-offer-he-couldnt-refuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/556247\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White still open to Nate Diaz, UFC reunion despite MVP signing: ‘Just got an offer he couldn’t refuse’"},"content":{"rendered":"

UFC CEO Dana White was bound to field questions about Most Valuable Promotion’s rapidly-developing debut MMA event<\/a>, especially now that it’ll host the return of one of the sport\u2019s most recognizable names, Nate Diaz.<\/p>\n

A longtime UFC veteran, Diaz is set to face Mike Perry<\/a> on the first-ever MVP MMA card on May 16 on Netflix, an event headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. Speaking to the media after UFC London on Saturday<\/a>, White addressed the situation head-on and made it clear there\u2019s no bad blood from his end.<\/p>\n

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“He came in and met with me a couple weeks ago,” White said. “We had a good time, and I think Nate just got an offer he couldn’t refuse. I haven’t talked to him since then, but yeah, I’m happy for him.”<\/p>\n

Rumors swirled after the news broke last week that Diaz may have burned any last remaining bridges between himself and the UFC<\/a> by signing to fight for MVP. However, White is keeping the door nudged open for any potential Diaz return, despite the Stockton native’s four-year absence from the Octagon.<\/p>\n

“Let him do his thing, let’s see how the fight plays out, then we’ll see what happens,” White said.<\/p>\n

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While Diaz\u2019s next move grabbed headlines, the focus of UFC London surrounded the featherweight division \u2014 particularly the title picture for reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski.<\/p>\n

Fresh off his headlining bout with Lerone Murphy at UFC London, undefeated contender Movsar Evloev once again strengthened his case as a top challenger by winning a majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47). When asked about Evloev\u2019s place in title talks, White didn\u2019t dismiss the possibility \u2014 but he wasn\u2019t ready to make any commitments yet, either.<\/p>\n

“Possibly, yeah,” White said of Evloev’s chances to be the division’s next title challenger. “I’m not even thinking about that. The fight just ended. But yeah, obviously, he’s in a great position.”<\/p>\n

[Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Evloev has long hovered near the top of the division without receiving a title shot, and his continued success has made him an unavoidable talking point whenever the championship picture comes into focus. Another top option was present in the arena on Saturday, though: Brazilian finisher Jean Silva, who climbed back into the win column with a big win over Arnold Allen in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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But much like with Evloev, White remained measured when discussing Silva\u2019s chances of leapfrogging into contention, which are seemingly more present than one would imagine.<\/p>\n

“We’ll have to see. When we announce it, then you’ll know it’s true,” White said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC CEO Dana White was bound to field questions about Most Valuable Promotion’s rapidly-developing debut MMA event, especially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,958,786,785,22147,85,787,234587],"class_list":["post-556247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dana-white","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-nate-diaz","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}