Nate Diaz Returns, Faces Rafael Dos Anjos in December

Nate Diaz has broken his self-imposed MMA exile.
The iconoclastic lightweight, who engaged in a public back-and-forth battle with the UFC over fighter pay, will return to the cage December 13, where he is scheduled to face top lightweight Rafael Dos An…

Nate Diaz has broken his self-imposed MMA exile.

The iconoclastic lightweight, who engaged in a public back-and-forth battle with the UFC over fighter pay, will return to the cage December 13, where he is scheduled to face top lightweight Rafael Dos Anjos in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 13.

The contest, which was first reported by MMA Junkie, will be Diaz‘s first in more than a year. Diaz (17-9) has been on the sidelines since his Nov. 13 TKO defeat of Gray Maynard. 

 

 

In April of this year, Diaz lashed out at the UFC for what he perceives is inappropriately low fighter pay. He called UFC fighter pay “chump change,” especially when compared to the massive contracts received by top boxers.

This set of a tit-for-tat dispute which saw, among other things, the UFC pull Diaz from their official rankings for “inactivity.”

But everything appears to be settled now, at last if this fight announcement is any indication. The reclusive Diaz has not yet offered any public reaction to the announcement.

Diaz (17-9) has ridden an aggressive street-fighting style in the cage and an acerbic and plain-spoken style outside of it to a status as one of the UFC’s most well-known anti-heroes. Along with his brother Nick, Nate Diaz is regularly embroiled in some conflict, be it with UFC brass or other fighters.

But he has also seen solid results of late. After returning to lightweight after a stint at welterweight, Diaz won three in a row before losing to then-champion Benson Henderson and Josh Thomson. He returned to the win column with his knockout over Maynard.

His opponent, Dos Anjos, may be one of the most feared (and underrated) competitors in the division, and possibly the entire UFC. The Brazilian (22-7) has won seven of his last eight, with wins coming over the likes of Henderson and Donald Cerrone, and his lone defeat coming to uber-phenom Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is currently injured but purportedly at the top of the division’s crowded contender list.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com