Nate Diaz is officially a free agent.
In the lead-up to UFC 279, it was clear Diaz was fighting out his contract and he was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev. But, after the Swede missed weight, Diaz ended up fighting Tony Ferguson and scored a submission win.
Although it was the last fight on his deal, the UFC had an exclusive negotiation period with Diaz until December 9, 2022. His manager Zach Rosenfield, however, revealed the UFC waived the negotiation period. The news was first reported by MMAFighting.
What About Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor 3?
According to Rosenfield, although Diaz is a free agent, he isn’t ruling out a return to the UFC for the Stockton, California native. A big part of that is due to the Conor McGregor trilogy, which is a fight Diaz wants.
“Nate is going to be looking at the biggest fights possible,” Rosenfield told MMA Junkie. “He has stated that completing the trilogy with Conor McGregor is something that interests him, and that has not changed.”
Diaz’s manager also said good discussions have happened with the UFC, but the sweepstakes for Diaz is on. Along with that, the plan for Diaz is to be active in 2023 and will likely include a boxing fight.
“You will see Nate competing multiple times in 2023, and that will include boxing,” Rosenfield said.
The UFC Career of Nate Diaz
Diaz (21-13) snapped his two-fight losing skid last time out as he beat Ferguson by fourth-round submission. Prior to that, he suffered a five-round decision loss to Leon Edwards and lost to Jorge Masvidal by TKO for the BMF title.
Diaz has been in the UFC since 2007 as he won The Ultimate Fighter 5 at lightweight with a TKO win over Manvel Gamburyan. Before getting on TUF, he lost by submission to Hermes Franca for the WEC lightweight title. In the UFC, he went 16-11 with notable wins over McGregor, Donald Cerrone, Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, and Gray Maynard among others.
