Nate Diaz wants one more MMA fight before calling it a career.
During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Diaz continued his calls for a fight with Dustin Poirier before adding that he will walk away from the fight game afterward.
“I would like to fight Dustin Poirier. Like now. Like I’ve been trying to. If there’s any mix-up it’s him, and them, and the game,” Diaz said.
“I want the fight now. What’s up Dana White? Let’s get this retirement fight cracking so I can get out of this fight game. I’m done with it.”
Diaz hasn’t fought since suffering a unanimous decision defeat against Leon Edwards at UFC 263. The UFC fan favourite was outclassed for large parts of the bout but almost scored a KO win in the fifth and final frame when he badly wobbled ‘Rocky’.
The Stockton, California native has just one fight left on his deal which technically expired at the end of 2021. Diaz opted to extend the contract to get his final UFC fight in but seems uninterested in inking a new deal with MMA’s premier promotion. It appeared he would become a free agent in 2022 and potentially fight Jake Paul but now Diaz seems intent on retiring.
Poirier recently suffered his second UFC title loss. ‘The Diamond’ first fought for the undisputed lightweight title in 2019, suffering a third-round defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier got his second shot at UFC 269 in December and again lost by submission in the third round, this time against Charles Oliveira.
Since then, the 33-year-old has revealed that the only fight that really interests him is a matchup against Diaz, the pair were supposed to face off in 2018 but due to multiple issues that fight never went ahead.