Nate Diaz appeared recently on The Ariel Helwani Show and discussed potential opponents for his return, naming Dustin Poirier or Charles Oliveira, at welterweight. Diaz and Poirier were scheduled to fight at UFC 230 in 2018, but Poirier was injured, and went on to instead fight Max Holloway at UFC 236 on April 13, 2019, winning Fight of the Night, and the interim lightweight championship. Now Nate believes it’s time.
Now is the time for sure to fight, said Diaz, as transcribed by Farah Hannoun for MMA Junkie. We should have fought a long time ago, and now the stars have aligned. … I’m waiting for a fight where people are ready for the big fight, and now is the time.
I’m not gonna play f***ing nice guy like how Conor McGregor just did with him. Conor just walked him right in for the taking. I think that a fight with me would be more real, a more serious situation for him. I don’t think he could sleep with that.
Nate also expressed interest in fighting Oliveira, who is on an eight-fight win streak, and is coming off a win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 256 in December.
That’s the guy right there, said Diaz. I’ll fight that guy. That’s who I’ll fight. I like the winners because I’m the winner. I ain’t lost to nobody. I’m trying to fight the guys who are winning. … I think Oliveira is the best fight right now and Dustin Poirier.
Although Diaz called out the #1 and #3 lightweights, he wants the fights to be at welterweight.
I’m not fighting at 155, said Diaz. I’ll fight probably at 170, 165, anything to 185. Not 155. That’s a dead division. I don’t have anything that I’m hunting in that division, nothing I’m aiming for. I feel like I own it already, so I’ll probably fight at 170 pounds.
In a positive step for Nate, Poirier is apparently game.
A fight closer to my natural weight sounds like a great idea
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) February 9, 2021
Trilogy fights between Conor McGregor and either Diaz or Poirier are huge fights, and the title appears soon to be vacated by current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, so it is difficult to determine exactly what’s next for Diaz. That said, UG, who do you want to see him fight?
