While Diaz hasn’t been seen inside the cage since his 2016 rematch with Conor McGregor, he’s kept his Instagram account active with call-outs of the lightweight elite.
It’s no secret that the top of the lightweight division has been a mess for some time now. Going all the way back to 2016, Conor McGregor is the only lightweight to challenge a sitting lightweight champion — having been stripped of the belt following an extended period of inactivity, only to return and fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, who beat Al Iaquinta for his vacated belt.
Fighters like Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier, and Edson Barboza have found themselves picking one another off, waiting for the moment when they might get a chance at non-interim UFC gold. One man, however, has been sitting on the sidelines, seemingly biding his time; staying away from the endless game of lightweight musical chairs. That man is Nate Diaz. And it seems like he might be finally ready to make his move.
Diaz was briefly connected to a fight with Dustin Poirier back in November of last year. However Poirier was removed from the bout due to injury, and Diaz immediately announced he was “going back out on tour till the game mans up.” It sounds like that tour may be over.
In a post on Instagram, Diaz called out Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, and Dustin Poirier.
“Kabibs hiding scared cause I slapped the shit out of him,” Diaz wrote. “Conor already got his ass beat twice Where the fuck you at kabib? Ps poirier is a pussy”
Of course, calling people out is a lot different than taking fights, and Diaz will likely still have to convince Dana White that he’s actually interested in getting booked again.
“He wanted a fight, we made a fight, we announced the fight. Immediately he starts saying he’s not fighting,” White said in an interview back in October, after the Poirier/Diaz booking fell apart.
“I’m not interested in making a Nate Diaz fight until Diaz is just dying to fight,” White added. “We’ll offer him fights, we always offer him fights. We probably offered this kid 50 fights since he fought Conor. When he’s ready to fight, he’ll let us know.”
Hopefully both parties can find some common ground on a potential opponent this time around. Otherwise fans may just be in for a lot more teased bouts and not a lot of action.