Nate Diaz is plotting his return to the UFC, but only when there’s a name that interests him enough to actually go back to his old stomping grounds.
The one-time lightweight title challenger hasn’t fought in the UFC since a submission win ove Tony Ferguson back in 2022, which served as the final bout on his contract. While UFC CEO Dana White always left the door open for Diaz to return, he’s mostly been focused on endeavors outside the cage including boxing matches against Jake Paul and Jorge Masvidal.
But just because he’s not there doesn’t mean Diaz isn’t keeping a close eye on the UFC. However, he claims there’s nothing interesting enough to draw him back right now.
“It’s about buzz and who’s popping and who’s doing something,” Diaz told Full Violence during a photoshoot. “Right now, there’s nobody doing shit in the UFC.”
Without naming names, Diaz took direct aim at the welterweight division, which is where he spent part of his UFC career after also competing at 155 pounds.
In one of his final fights under the promotion’s banner, Diaz lost a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards, but nearly scored a late finish after hurting the future welterweight champion in the fifth and final round. Edwards catapulted off that win to later capture a UFC title, but following two defenses, he dropped the belt to current champion Belal Muhammad.
During the conversation, Diaz couldn’t actually figure out who was holding the title, which spoke to his larger criticism of a lack of star power in the UFC.
“Everybody’s boring right now so I’m trying to do other shit for the moment,” Diaz said. “But I want to go back and get a UFC title. I don’t want to fight for nothing. I want to fight for something. Right now there’s not anybody that’s that [entertaining].
“Who’s the champion right now at 170? See exactly, that’s what I’m saying. Why would I go back to the UFC right now to fight who? I’m the champion as far as that’s concerned.”
Muhammad would certainly have something to say about that, but Diaz maintains the sport is lacking interesting fights to lure him back to the UFC.
“Nobody, that’s why I’m not in there right now,” Diaz said. “I’m watching, I’m hoping for something. There’s no buzz, nobody’s doing shit, there’s nobody to fight, everybody’s whack. Every-single-body, boxing and MMA.”
That said, the 39-year-old veteran isn’t giving up hope that something eventually catches his attention enough to go back to the UFC.
He didn’t set a timetable on when that might happen, but Diaz promises he’s not going anywhere because there’s always more to prove in the fight game.
“I don’t think about it as done,” Diaz said about his legacy. “I think it’s underrated and I think I left more of an impact than anybody has really. I think Conor [McGregor] has in a way and then what my brother [Nick Diaz] did. ‘GSP’ (Georges St-Pierre) but that shit all gets forgotten about, too.
“It can’t go away because you ain’t getting credit to begin with anyway so may as well keep that shit going forever. That’s why I plan on fighting forever.”
