Nate Diaz shuts down Dana White’s ‘needle mover’ diss: ‘I knew what was up’

Prior to Nate Diaz’ successful comeback against Michael Johnson at UFC on FOX 17, there was some debate as to whether the Ultimate Fighter product would ever return to the Octagon.

Negotiations between Diaz and the UFC were tough, and Dana White infamously stated that the Stockton bad boy wasn’t a ‘needle mover’ or a big pay-per-view draw.  “Lowest rated FOX show ever. Lowest rated FOX show ever. His numbers, he doesn’t pull the numbers in. Nick (Diaz) is a needle mover. Nick moves the needle. [Nate] doesn’t pull good numbers,” White said at the UFC Dublin media scrum in 2014.

The UFC president was forced to eat his own words, however, after the mega-successful UFC 196 PPV featuring Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor in the main event. It’s estimated that the event secured around 1.5 million buys and rivalled the blockbuster UFC 100 card headlined by Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir in 2009.

Diaz, who submitted McGregor as the considerable underdog at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, responded to White’s comments in an hour-long special on The MMA Hour.

“That’s cold, Dana,” Diaz said, per Shaun Al-Shatti of …

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