Nate Diaz will be returning to the Octagon soon.
UFC president, Dana White recently revealed they are working on a fight for Diaz at lightweight against a top-ranked opponent. Immediately, many thought it would be Tony Ferguson or Paul Felder, however, according to Felder, he is not the mystery opponent.
“I’ve had so many people tag me saying, ‘UFC in the works: Paul Felder vs. Nate Diaz,’” Felder told reporters during a media availability (via MMAJunkie). “I’m like, ‘When are they going to call me and tell me about that?’ You want to talk about motivation and getting excited? I would absolutely love that fight.
“Like (Dan) Hooker even said, I would fight him at ’85, at 205 – it doesn’t matter. That’s a fight you take. Nate’s a legend at this point. I would love that fight. But now, it’s not me. I wish it was me.”
As of right now, the opponent is still not known. Perhaps it is the trilogy with Conor McGregor, but for Felder, he has a hunch it is Justin Gaethje.
“I know (Charles) Oliveira said he didn’t want to fight Gaethje, right? He said he wants to wait,” Felder said. “Maybe Justin? I have no inside information on this, by the way. I don’t know who it would be. I’m thinking Justin, but if he slips on a banana peel and can’t do it, I’d be down.”
For now, Paul Felder is focused on commenting and hopes to fight again soon. However, for “The Irish Dragon” he makes it clear, he won’t be calling any top-five guy out and knows he just needs to win his next fight.
“I need to go out there and perform in my next fight,” Felder said. “Not worried about getting a top-two guy, a top-three guy. It’s not going to happen. I need somebody that’s in a similar position, where they’ve got to go out and perform, and one of us will move forward and one will take a step back.”
