Nate Maness He loves fighting for the UFC and has been successful. That’s why he’s intrigued by what appears to be a breakup, although he says he’s also not sure if that’s the case.
According to Maness (16-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC), his UFC contract expired after his victory over Jimmy Flick in June. The win put him on a two-fight free agent streak and moved him to 5-2 overall.
Maness thought he was in a good position to resume the promotion. However, Maness recently told MMA Junkie that it hasn’t felt like that since.
“Honestly, we haven’t heard anything,” Maness said. “We sent a few different messages. We gave them a few weeks after the fight and then sent out some feelers, but we couldn’t even get a response. Your guess is as good as mine.”
According to Maness and his manager Pat Wilson, from RISE Sports Management Group, the UFC had an exclusivity deadline to re-sign, but it has now expired.
On June 28, Maness appeared on the algorithm-based show UFC roster tracker account, which indicates that the promotion was done with him for now, which left them scratching their heads.
“I feel like I did my part to earn my spot,” Maness said. “We never had a reason for it. I’m 5-2 with three shots. I fought some really tough guys. I would like to be in the UFC. If not, I would at least like a reason why I wasn’t rehired. Other than that, I hope to keep fighting. We have already received some offers. So I’m just taking a step back and seeing what happens and continuing, I guess.”
Maness, these are all positive feelings towards the UFC. In fact, if he could snap his fingers, Wilson and matchmaker Mick Maynard would be working on his next fight. Although other offers have surfaced, Maness plans to wait a little longer to see if the UFC changes course.
“Maybe they cut me to make room for the Contender Series guys,” Maness said. “But yes, let’s wait for this correspondence period to end. We don’t want to fight the best guys in the world for a small amount of money. So let’s wait and analyze our offers and make the best choice to support my family. … I would love a top 15 guy. I feel like I’m right on that score. Charles Johnson just scored a big win against Van. He and I have talked in the past. I would love this fight.
“Anybody in the top 15, man. I feel like I can compete with anyone – and they can beat me too. But I feel like they will all be exciting fights. That would be amazing to me.”
Maness, 33, said offers have already come in from other places, although he declined to name which promotions specifically. The money offered is enough, but Maness is hoping the UFC will give him an answer first.
“I would just like a reason,” Maness said. “I feel like this is just good business. There was nothing from us that we said anything bad about the UFC. We don’t post anything we shouldn’t. We took everything they threw at us. I would just like a reason. What can I do better? Is this who I’m fighting against? Is this who I am? Anything like that. So I hope they listen to us and reach out, even if they don’t want me. It would just make the situation a little easier. That would probably be the only thing.”
