Things were trending in the right direction for a Nate Diaz return to the lightweight division. UFC president Dana White stated last month that he had a big fight in mind for the former 155-pound title challenger. However, the embattled star has different plans in mind.
In an interview with ESPN that was released on Tuesday, Diaz threw a wrench into plans. While not giving an exact reason, Diaz feels competing at lightweight does nothing for him at this stage of his career.
"No, I'm not fighting at 155," Diaz said. "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."
Diaz last fought at UFC 244, losing the BMF title fight to Jorge Masvidal via third-round TKO when the New York State Athletic Commission felt the Stockton, Calif., native could no longer continue. So with a return to lightweight not in the cards and wanting anything from a catchweight to middleweight, Diaz threw out two possibilities. The first one is a familiar name to Diaz.
After his second-round stoppage win over Conor McGregor at January's UFC 257, Dustin Poirier mentioned Diaz's name at his post-fight press conference as someone he'd like to scrap with. They were scheduled to battle at UFC 230, but Poirier had to bow out. Diaz feels everything is now set up for the clash to finally occur.
"Now is the time for sure to fight," Diaz said. "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," Diaz continued. "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."
The other name who came out of Diaz's mouth was that of surging contender Charles Oliveira. The Brazilian has won eight consecutive fights and is coming off a dominant win over former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 256.
"That's the guy right there," Diaz said of Oliveira. "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."