Nate Diaz isn’t gone, he’s on assignment.
The longtime UFC welterweight, who parted ways with the promotion back in late 2022, has every intention of making his Octagon comeback at some point in the near future. That’s because “everything changes” with a victory over celebrity boxer Jake Paul, the social media loudmouth with a knack for whooping over-the-hill UFC fighters.
Here’s his Raw Talk conversation with Bradley Martyn, helpfully transcribed by Stephie Haynes:
Bradley Martyn: Will you ever fight again in the UFC?
Nate Diaz: Yeah.
Bradley Martyn: You will?
Nate Diaz: Yeah.
Bradely Martyn: Okay. Do you know when that would be?
Nate Diaz: I’m gonna get this fight done with and then everything changes with every fight. People don’t understand that everything changes with every fight. Every fight that happens its like, how do you say it? It changes the whole bracket. When a fight happens, everything changes.
Bradley Martyn: Even a fight that’s out of the UFC?
Nate Diaz: Out of the UFC—big performances, good performances. People see Jake Paul coming in yelling crazy shit at people. I ain’t gonna lie dude, this guy thinks he’ll beat everyone’s ass and he’s louder than all you fools that are really beating people’s ass. So, now I have to step out the box real quick and whip this motherf-cker’s ass so everyone knows who’s the real asswhipper. You understand what I’m saying?
Bradley Martyn: Absolutely.
That’s assuming Diaz doesn’t get “smoked” in less than four rounds.
Diaz and Paul will headline the Aug. 5 boxing pay-per-view (PPV) from American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, a 10-round affair that could prove detrimental to the career of the loser. Diaz may have more to lose at age 38 (compared to 26 for Paul) and it would likely damage his tough-guy street persona.
That potential outcome could also reignite rumors of a fixed fight.
“They’re telling me that too, they’re like, ‘Tell me you’re not gonna take a fall against Paul,’” Diaz told Martyn. “Everybody says that to me. I’m like are you kidding me? You couldn’t pay me all the money in the world to take a fall on anybody. No, if there was [a fix] … I wish there was, I would tell on him. I ain’t no snitch bro, but I would tell on that b*tch ass.”
Good thing Diaz wasn’t around when $kala was booking fights.