Nate Diaz has every intention of returning to the Octagon once he takes care of some business against Jake Paul next month.
After 15 years with the UFC, Diaz walked away from the promotion to pursue an opportunity in the world of professional boxing. Nearly a year removed from his last fight, the ‘Stockton Samurai’ will scrap with ‘The Problem Child’ on August 5 as part of an event inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. As for what will come next, Diaz revealed during an appearance on Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk that he plans on returning to the UFC once his bout with Paul is in the books.
“I’m gonna get this fight done with and then everything changes with every fight. People don’t understand that. Everything changes with every fight. Like the fight show last week and every fight show that happens changes the whole f*cking bracket.”
Diaz added, “If they’ll have me, I would love to go back to the UFC.”
Diaz’s desire to return to the UFC is a little surprising considering the pair’s very public split. At one point, Diaz’s relationship with the Las Vegas-based promotion was so fractured that he once posted an image of himself urinating on the grounds of the UFC’s Performance Institute. But as the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
“I got love for Dana [White] either way, I don’t care what he says,” Diaz said when asked about White’s reaction to his fight with Jake Paul. “It’s all business. I just want to do my thing and get back to what I do. Fight for real.”
Video of Nate Diaz sparring with a pro boxer pic.twitter.com/gkZsFrDr3R
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) July 13, 2023
Nate Diaz is Fighting Jake Paul on Behalf of All MMA Fighters
With such a strong interest in returning to the UFC, one would ask why he decided to leave the promotion in the first place. According to the man himself, it was all for the opportunity to put Jake Paul in his place after ‘The Problem Child’ publicly trashed a majority of the UFC roster en route to becoming a combat sports star himself.
“This guy thinks he’ll actually beat everybody’s f*ckin’ a** and he’s louder than all you fools who are really beating people’s a**. So now I have to step the f*ck out to box real quick and whip this motherf*cker’s a** so we’ll know who’s the real a** whipper. Understand what I’m saying. People saying, ‘Oh, it’s a mismatch’ and this and that. Well then you f*cking fight him, motherf*cker. Make sure the best fights are happening because that’s what I’m here to see when I’m watching fighting. And this fools poppin’ off in interviews. ‘We’re real fighters.’ Prove it motherf*cker. I’mma go beat his a** for talkin’ sh*t.”
Diaz also addressed Paul’s recent verbal jabs aimed at a former foe of his, Conor McGregor.
“And then he was talking sh*t to Conor and dissing his wife, and sh*t. On some real disrespectful stuff that he shouldn’t be saying. And nobody’s saying sh*t. I’m the one that said, shut the f*ck up, b*tch. I’m gonna whoop your a** for real.”
Though Diaz and McGregor shared the October on two separate occasions, both men hold one other in high regard and have made it quite clear that a trilogy bout between the two will happen, one way or another. With Diaz determined to climb back into the Octagon after a brief stop in the squared circle, perhaps Diaz vs. McGregor 3 will be on the docket for 2024. Assuming the Irishman jumps back into the USADA testing pool at some point.
