Nate Diaz: 'They can't deny I'm a needle mover now'

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Wild

Zi Nazi
Admin
Dec 31, 2014
85,004
123,331


Nate Diaz believes the rousing success of UFC 196 earlier this month should officially put UFC President Dana White’s insistence he’s “not a needle-mover” to rest once and for all.

In July 2014, White blasted Diaz (19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who at the time was disgruntled with his contract, on a skid in the octagon and on the outs with UFC management, for his lack of drawing power.

“He seems popular when you’re looking on (expletive) Twitter and some website,” White said nearly two years ago. “But the numbers, the real numbers, tell the truth. We know who moves needles and who doesn’t move needles. If Nate Diaz was a massive needle-mover, we’d have called him (to fight). He’d be on the phone, we’d be figuring it out and we’d work it out. He doesn’t move the needle.”

Diaz gives McGregor credit for UFC 196's success. However, he also takes credit for himself, and said he was convinced it would happen all along if given the right opportunity.

“I knew that I brought the numbers,” Diaz told MMAjunkie. “When I fought on FOX it was like 3, 4, 5 million viewers every time I fight and headline these FOX shows. That’s where my argument was in the first place. I was like, ‘I see what’s going on here.’ So when I said they were trying to hold me back and trying to say that I wasn’t moving the needles or whatever, I already knew that. I knew the pay-per-view numbers were going to be huge.

“My point was proven. He brings a big following and he’s got good numbers, too, but that’s why I was saying after my fight with (Michael) Johnson, I was like, ‘You want to see a fight?’ No one pays attention. That’s why I had to demand that (expletive) and express it and come off the way I did, so I could try to get a fight. Now they can’t deny it, the whole needle-moving thing.”

LINK: Not a needle-mover? Nate Diaz says UFC 196's success proved Dana White wrong
 

ThatOneDude

Commander in @Chief, Dick Army
First 100
Jan 14, 2015
35,390
34,272
Looks like someone's been watching their big brother's career and doesn't want to make the same mistakes.
 

GSPTrainingInAPool

Man on the silver mountain
Dec 1, 2015
2,995
3,826
Looks like someone's been watching their big brother's career and doesn't want to make the same mistakes.
Nick is the poster boy for being really popular, but also having shiiiiit luck. Poor bastard got the book thrown at him and then some. Nate would be wise to take some notes and learn from those mistakes
 

FeeO

You're all on steroids.
May 14, 2015
1,289
3,034
Looks like someone's been watching their big brother's career and doesn't want to make the same mistakes.
Nick basically said as much on Chael Sonnen's podcast (I mean in between ranting about his stolen bike and declaring his willingness to grow a garden): that Nick hadn't understood for a long, long time how the game actually worked, with the locker room money and points and so on, with the making a show, and he hoped that the information he collected the hard way would benefit Nate. He seems to feel real guilt for getting Nate into fighting, and I hope that's alleviated some, now.

Plus I would watch Nick Diaz's gardening show with obsessive zeal.
 

salamx1976

Active Member
Mar 15, 2016
39
57
Lets not get it twisted everyone watched UFC 196 to see Conner Mcgregor. Honestly pre Conner fight , i dont feel Nate was a needle mover or a main event'er. I know he main evented a Fight night against Melvin Guilard but that was quite some time ago. But now, NOW that he just beat the biggest MMA superstar in the world, Nate Diaz has major heat and the UFC would be foolish to not promote his rising star power. Hundreds of thousands of casual fans tuned in to see Conner Mcgregor but then saw this guy Diaz beat the biggest star in MMA so now they are intrigued and i think the casual fan wants more Diaz. So in summation Diaz is absolutley right, NOW at the current time he is a needle mover and with the right match up and an epic highlight reel choke of Conner , Diaz could bring some eyes to PPV and butts in seats. My message to the UFC give this man an epic match up and pay this man his money!!!
 

salamx1976

Active Member
Mar 15, 2016
39
57
Nick basically said as much on Chael Sonnen's podcast (I mean in between ranting about his stolen bike and declaring his willingness to grow a garden): that Nick hadn't understood for a long, long time how the game actually worked, with the locker room money and points and so on, with the making a show, and he hoped that the information he collected the hard way would benefit Nate. He seems to feel real guilt for getting Nate into fighting, and I hope that's alleviated some, now.

Plus I would watch Nick Diaz's gardening show with obsessive zeal.
That interview was hard to get through Nick was all over the place and he never really made sense or at least none that i could decipher.
 

FeeO

You're all on steroids.
May 14, 2015
1,289
3,034
That interview was hard to get through Nick was all over the place and he never really made sense or at least none that i could decipher.
Heh, I've listened to so many of his over the years that I think I've cracked the dialect.
 

PrideRules

Pride Never Die!!!
Oct 20, 2015
1,203
2,005
needle mover... Who came up with this? It's bad enough already. I'm really starting to question my manhood with my sport of choice.
 

Ghost Bro

Wololo ~Leave no turn unstoned
Nov 13, 2015
8,511
10,828
Nick basically said as much on Chael Sonnen's podcast (I mean in between ranting about his stolen bike and declaring his willingness to grow a garden): that Nick hadn't understood for a long, long time how the game actually worked, with the locker room money and points and so on, with the making a show, and he hoped that the information he collected the hard way would benefit Nate. He seems to feel real guilt for getting Nate into fighting, and I hope that's alleviated some, now.

Plus I would watch Nick Diaz's gardening show with obsessive zeal.
Nick had always had some great post fight thoughts (especially after decisions he lost). Due to the timing, people were taking it as excuses but he always said stuff like this.. the rules have to be clearer..what's scored vs what's not and what has more weight.

Everybody just dismisses a lot of shit they say because "they don't sound smart"..When it comes down to it, he's a fighter and the models he describes usually are those that promote a fight...sometimes there's just him pointing out the bizarre (Sherk winning by simply going forward etc ).there's no standard criterea, and its setting the sport and some fighters who don't wanna point fight, back.