Nate Diaz To Return To Octagon Versus Dustin Poirier For UFC 230 Co-Main Event
As per recent reports by Los Angeles Times,’ Lance Pugmire Nate Diaz finally returns to UFC Octagon after more than two years of hiatus at Madison Square Garden on November 3 In New York.
The lightweight showdown will serve as a co-main event for UFC 230.
Diaz (19-11) has not competed inside the UFC Octagon since losing a majority decision to rival champion Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 202 back on Aug. 20, 2016. Stockton’s Diaz made a disclosed $2 million payday from that grudge match. Before that Diaz submitted Mcgregor in the second round on short notice at UFC 196 back in March of the same year.
The asterisk to that is former UFC lightweight title challenger Diaz basked in the riches of the pay-per-view (PPV) dollars, opting to remain sidelined until another massive super fight opportunity with great payday emerged.
Earlier this year Diaz teased he’ll return sometime in May or June of this year, but nothing comes to fruition. But later talks of him meeting Georges St-Pierre at UFC 227 emerged also went hazy, as Diaz felt that GSP was his brother’s rival, and then St-Pierre fell ill.
Diaz vs Mcgregor trilogy seems to make sense as Diaz holds a submission victory over Irishman, but opted to accept a match against Poirier, who hinted on social media by posting that something good is on the way:
😁
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) August 2, 2018
Poirier (24-5) has surged to No. 3 in the UFC lightweight rankings by winning eight of his last ten UFC Octagon appearances. ‘The Diamond’ finally settled a score by picking a second-round TKO win over Eddie Alvarez in their UFC Calgary main event after their first encounter ended in a controversial no-contest.
Poirier has earned three fight-of-the-night bonuses and a performance-of-the-night bonus in his last four showdowns.
UFC 230 doesn’t have the main event yet, but it also includes a rematch between former middleweight champions Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold.
