If Nate Diaz fights for the UFC again, it will be on his terms. Not the UFC’s and definitely not Conor McGregor’s.
During a recent appearance on the This Past Weekend podcast, Diaz was asked about where he feels the business is headed with him preparing to return to MMA against Mike Perry on the May 16 Most Valuable Promotions card headlined by Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. His answer spiraled into a lengthy rant about a potential UFC return, which he claims would have been a trilogy bout with McGregor, an opponent he isn’t interested in revisiting at the moment.
“For instance, I think that if I went back to UFC, they want me to fight Conor McGregor right now,” Diaz said. “For me, Conor McGregor just—Pull up his record, do we got his record? I know this, but I’m thinking about it, I’m like, Conor McGregor just f*cking lost to [Dustin] Poirier. He got knocked out on his ass… so Poirier knocks his ass out and then he breaks his leg, which is horrible because Poirier’s a sorry little bitch. I’m like, he knocks him out and then he gets his leg broken and it’s like, ‘F*ck, that’s f*cking horrible.’ We’re adversaries, but I’m like, ‘Bro, you broke your whole shit.’ I don’t wish that on nobody.
“Then I’m like, I hope he comes back and does good. Then everybody’s counting him out, I’m like, alright, cool. I know he’s having a hard time with the UFC because I’ve been having a hard time with the UFC. I’m like, ‘Yo, good vibes, damn, handling your shit.’”
Diaz and McGregor had a memorable two-fight series in 2016, with Diaz handing McGregor his first-ever UFC loss at UFC 196 and then losing an immediate rematch via majority decision at UFC 202. A third fight has loomed over the rivals for the past decade, but is yet to come to fruition. McGregor has not fought since breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
With McGregor not on Diaz’s radar right now, he let the UFC know he wants to face current “BMF” titleholder Charles Oliveira. Diaz innovated the belt in 2019, but never actually won it as he lost the inaugural BMF championship fight to Jorge Masvidal. It has since been featured as a specialty title for various bouts, most recently when Charles Oliveira defeated Max Holloway in a bout that was light on drama thanks to Oliveira’s smothering grappling game. Diaz feels a fight with Oliveira is more meaningful than a third McGregor fight.
“In the meantime, I’m doing whatever I’m doing, and then when [McGregor] is ready to come back now and he’s motivated and doing what he’s got to do and I’m like, ‘OK, I want to fight motherf*cking BMF motherf*cker who’s claiming my belt that’s running all around,’” Diaz said. “Charles Oliveira just won the fight. You’re rocking my belt now and you’re running around like you’re the baddest motherf*cker, so that’s where I’m like, what’s popping with the UFC, let’s link up and get this fight popping. I go back to talk to them about it and they’re all ready for me to come back and fight Conor. I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, listen to what I’m talking about.’
“I want to fight the best of the best when they are the best of the best. Conor’s great, but I’m not trying to go kill off Conor when he’s on his last dying f*cking leg, literally. That’s f*cked up. I’m not trying to be the ending to some f*cker’s story like that. We ain’t friends, we ain’t none of that, but I ain’t trying to finish this dude off. That’s what I plan on doing if we’re fighting. At the same time, I ain’t trying to get f*cked up by nobody who just got knocked out on his ass and broke his leg, this guy’s down and out, now he’s nothing but motivated to fight me because who else are you going to fight in there? They’re probably going to give him a f*cking BMF belt, f*cking bitch-ass Oliveira, who I believe I’ll beat the f*cking shit out of.”
Since parting ways with the UFC in 2022, Diaz has only competed in a pair of boxing bouts, losing to Jake Paul in August 2023 and then earning a measure of revenge over Masvidal with a majority decision win the following July. He didn’t compete at all in 2025, but an offer to fight Perry, one of the faces of BKFC, piqued his interest for a return to MMA this year.
“[The UFC is] like, ‘OK, we want you to come back and maybe later we’ll do that,’” Diaz said. “I’m like, OK, well, you know who’s doing a good job? Close to the same amount offer for Mike Perry, who’s the f*cking most violent motherf*cker around right now. Doing things, taking over business, running shit, doing his own promotion. I’m a lot more enthusiastic to get up and run and get ready to train for this motherf*cker who’s going to knock me out or I’m going to knock his ass out and we’re going to take who’s the bigger dog and the best motherf*ckers there are.
“In the meantime, I’m not fighting for MVP, I’m fighting for Netflix and I’m fighting from Real Fight Inc., which I’ll probably be doing with Netflix anyway, Real Fight entertainment on a thing, show you how to throw a real MMA fight show. I’ve been in the UFC for 20 years now so I’m like, yo, I’m going to do that from Real Fighting. I’m not working for f*cking MVP like all these other motherf*ckers are. I’m a UFC fighter, I’m working for me, for Real Fighting, and I’m hunting Jake Paul’s motherf*cking ass not taking a fight with a guy who’s on the comeback. Me and Conor will fight again when the time is right, and it’s to fight, but it’s going to be when we both on the uprising. Not when someone’s dying out. I’m nobody’s comeback story either, so I’m fighting the most dangerous, most violent motherf*ckers there is on Netflix and then I’m hunting his boy that he works with at MVP. So that’s what I’m doing right now. That’s my objective and that’s what I’m doing. I didn’t want to talk about it, but that’s what’s happening.”
No matter what happens on May 16, Diaz is leaving the door open for future fights in the UFC, the promotion he called home for 15 years. Should he come back, he’s going to make sure he has a say in who’s standing across from him in the octagon.
“I want to go back to the UFC,” Diaz said. “Yeah. I have bigger offers from the UFC than I got from these guys, but the opponents weren’t the right opponents at the moment and I believe everything in this fight game—and a lot of things—but the fight game is timing. I think that if I would have went to the UFC, I wouldn’t have been fighting the fighters that I want to be fighting. I want to fight the best of the best, and if I’m not going to get that, then I’m going to fight on the biggest thing I could that was offered me.”
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