UFC President Dana White is eager to book Stockton’s own Nate Diaz a fight in 2021, after going without a single bout in 2020.
Nate Diaz (20-12) rose to fame after a submission victory over Ireland’s Conor McGregor back in 2016, since then the 35-year old has competed three times. Recently Diaz has been quiet on his future in terms of fighting, but Dana White is hopeful of seeing him back in the octagon.
White stated he doesn’t have any concrete plans for the fan favourite in Diaz. Ideally, that will change sometime in 2021, but he knows with Diaz’s unpredictable personality, nothing is certain
“I hope he fights this year,” White said during a recent ESPN+ fan Q&A with Laura Sanko. “I hope so. I’d like to see him fight. I’m not counting on it, but I’d like to see him fight.”
Diaz hasn’t competed since losing the ‘BMF’ title fight to Jorge Masvidal at the end of 2019. Before that, Diaz earned a comfortable win over former champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 241.
But Who Would Diaz Face?
Conor McGregor
The Conor McGregor trilogy could potentially be an option, with both parties forever saying that it will happen eventually. Off course this all depends on the outcome of McGregor v Poirier II. If Poirier can find a way to beat the Irishman, the Nate Diaz trilogy seems like a logical bout for McGregor to fall back on.
However, White was asked if we could see Diaz make a return for an anticipated trilogy bout with rival Conor McGregor but didn’t express much promise that it unfolds inside the next year.
Jorge Masvidal
There were brief discussions on the potential rematch between Diaz and Masvidal in early 2021, but the UFC seemed to move away from that idea.
Jorge is still yet to compete after his title loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 251, and nobody knows where his heads at or his plans for the future. With Dana White suggesting recently that the ‘BMF’ title could be defended this year. I feel this bout could be highly likely to occur once again.
Tony Ferguson
Could you imagine the violence in a matchup between Nate Diaz v Tony Ferguson? This is a bout that would have fight fans worldwide on the edge of their seats.
Two of the toughest men in the game, going toe to toe, what’s not to love about this fight? This may be unlikely compared to the bouts with McGregor and Masvidal, however, we’ve seen strange things happen in the UFC.
Losing his last two, Tony Ferguson will look at this fight as an opportunity to jump back into the win column, but won’t underestimate the toughness and durability of Diaz. We know Tony loves being in fights that the fans scream for and this is certainly one of them.
The other question is, would Nate Diaz drop the weight to compete at 155lb?
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