Nate Diaz would rather fight Ben Henderson than Frankie Edgar in UFC Title shot

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

With a highly impressive win over Jim Miller last Saturday night at UFC on Fox 3, Nate Diaz earned his shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship. The only problem with that is he's second in line behind Frankie Edgar, which may keep him out of action until the end of the year.

Many called for Diaz to take on Anthony Pettis this fall instead of waiting out a shot, especially with Pettis calling him out for that fight, but Diaz is ready for the most lucrative fights he can find right now. With a three fight winning streak, it simply makes more sense for him not to risk having his shot at that big money fight derailed.

"I'll still fight whoever they want me to, but I'm gonna take the fight that pays better," Diaz said in an interview with MMAFightCorner.com. "I been getting paid pretty good for awhile, but I'm ready to up my stock. If Pettis is the bigger paying fight, I'll be fighting Pettis, you know what I'm saying. Like I said, I want the bigger payday, I want the bigger fight. That's what it is.”

"[For Pettis], I'm probably the guy to fight. I'm on a winning streak. I've defeated some top guys. Of course he wants to fight me. But, I'm about the bigger fights right now. My whole career I've had these up and downs, because I've always fought whoever. And I'll still fight whoever, as long as it's worth my while."

A title fight definitely fits that bill, and he'll take on the winner of the August 11 UFC 150 main event rematch between Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar. Diaz has a preference as to who he'd like to fight between the two, however, and ultimately hopes his matchup comes against the current champ.

"I would rather fight Henderson, because I gotta lot of respect for Frankie," Diaz explained. "[Frankie] trains with some people that are affiliated with my team, so I'd definitely rather fight Ben. I don't wanna fight Frankie. I wanna fight Ben."

If he fights and defeats Henderson or Edgar this year, he'll own the UFC Lightweight Championship. However, he still wouldn't consider himself the best lightweight in the world, as he believes that distinction goes to his teammate, Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Gilbert Melendez.

"He is above me," Diaz admitted, while expressing frustration with the fact that Melendez isn't yet in the UFC. "They brought all these other guys over and they left Gilbert behind. I think it's pretty unfair. So, I think that he should have had a chance to fight for the belt, but they kept him over there."

"I'm gonna do my best to get that belt, and if I don't, Gilbert's gonna be right there, fighting the guy who beat me."

Penick's Analysis: I completely understand Diaz's stance here. He's been derailed throughout his career by some tough fights, and now that he's got this title shot in front of him there's no need to take another fight. The title fight, likely a headlining slot on pay-per-view, will bring him more money than a fight with Anthony Pettis, regardless of how entertaining the fight could be. That makes it reasonable for him to sit out. It's going to be interesting, however, because if he does capture the title, and if Melendez does get brought to the UFC, the two of them won't fight each other. Regardless, right now his sensible play personally is to wait for the shot; however, he makes it clear that if the UFC wants him to take on Pettis, he's not going to turn it down.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13250.shtml

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