The Ultimate Fighter season five winner Nate Diaz is reportedly in talks to make his long-awaited return to the UFC Octagon at August’s UFC 227 in Los Angeles, California.
Former interim title challenger Kevin Lee, who put on the best performance of his career defeating Edson Barboza via fifth-round doctor stoppage in the main headliner of UFC Fight Night 128 on April 21, caught wind of this news took to social media and calls for a showdown with Stockton, Calif., native. ‘The Motown phenom’ has been calling out Nate for some time now, but all these offers went unnoticed.
@danawhite @seanshelby if y’all really want @NateDiaz209 to fight you know who to come to
— Kevin Lee MTP (@MoTownPhenom) May 3, 2018
This news stirs a wide range of excitement in MMA fans, but unfortunately, UFC president Dana White who put the brake on the possibility and said the promotion has been offering Nate Diaz a fight every three to four months since his UFC 202 bout with Conor McGregor.
Also, @danawhite didn’t seem to think much of the news about UFC negotiating a fight with Nate Diaz. “We offer him a fight every 3 or 4 months and have ever since his last fight. Nothing is going on.”
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) May 3, 2018
“We offer him a fight every 3 or 4 months and have ever since his last fight,” White told Yahoo’s Kevin Iole. “Nothing is going on.”
In fact, if Diaz does return to the Octagon at UFC 227, several fighters who are ready to lock horns with him, including top-ranked lightweight, Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier, and Eddie Alvarez.
Lee has won six of his last seven bouts, with his only defeat coming to Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson via third-round submission at UFC 216 last October.
