Maybe the UFC has only itself to blame for losing Nate Diaz to the ring. Joe Rogan certainly thinks so. The UFC color commentator and podcast host said UFC failed to promote Diaz properly for his pair of fights against Conor McGregor.
Diaz has now left the UFC for professional boxing. He first took on Jake Paul in a decision loss. The Stockton star then re-matched with Jorge Masvidal in the boxing ring. Last summer, he avenged a prior 2019 doctor’s stoppage TKO loss.
But Diaz has not ruled out a return to action in the octagon — in fact welcomed the possibility. But he has been unable to clearly identify a potential opponent he would be willing to take on.
Perhaps best known for his pair of fights with McGregor in the Octagon, Diaz produced a huge upset over the Dubliner back in 2016. Becoming the first fighter to beat McGregor, Diaz landed a rear-naked choke win on just a two-week notice. Butlater that year, Diaz would be beaten in a rematch, in a close majority decision win for McGregor.
Despite twice sharing the spotlight with the former two-weight gold holder, Diaz was “underappreciated” by both fans and Octagon brass, according to Rogan.
Nate Diaz sounds out potential UFC foes
Remaining steadfast on booking a return to the UFC, former lightweight title challenger Diaz has sounded out a couple of foes for his return. But some of them are highly unlikely.
He welcomed a fight with incoming UFC 317 headliner, lightweight title hopeful Ilia Topuria. He also namedropped current symbolic BMF champion Max Holloway. Holloway is set to lock horns with Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 next month.
He’s also staying in a notch higher weight class.
“Those are the guys right there that I would want to fight,” Diaz said on The HJR Podcast. “Like Max Holloway, I’d like to fight that other guy [Topuria]. He’s really good, but he’s smaller than me. I’m done with 155. I’m cool with that. It always was [a hard weight cut] since I was 18. It was hard. I’m staying at 170. I’ll fight 185 too.”
