Dr. Dre almost stepped into the Verzuz ring.

Nearly a year ago, there was talk of the rap legend taking on Diddy in a highly-anticipated showdown.

“Yeah, we talkin’ about it,” Puff told Fat Joe back in April. In December, Swizz reignited the Dre and Diddy matchup rumors.

However, nothing came to fruition and Swizz Beatz is now revealing why. During his appearance on “The Breakfast Club” this week, Swizz said that Dre had signed on to do Verzuz, but backed out at the last minute after hearing the audio issues that plagued Teddy Riley and Babyface’s battle.

“When Dr. Dre wasn’t feeling the sound from Teddy Riley and Babyface, that hurt our heart,” Swizz said, according to HipHop-N-More. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Dr. Dre was at the Teddy Riley one. But he was supposed to come at the end and announce that he was gon’ do Verzuz that night.”

But Dre ended up pulling the plug over production concerns. “He got on the phone, he was like, ‘Man, I can’t be a part of nothing that sound like that, my legacy is quality,'” added Swizz. “I was just like, ‘Oh, we just lost Dre’ … That one felt pretty crazy.”

While Dre may be sitting out, Verzuz has announced a new slate of matchups including The Isley Brothers vs. Earth, Wind & Fire (April 4), Redman vs. Method Man (April 20), and SWV vs. Xscape (May 8).