{"id":485470,"date":"2026-02-17T09:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T09:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/485470\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T09:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T09:41:09","slug":"nate-diaz-names-trio-of-possible-opponents-for-next-fight-ready-to-get-back-in-real-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/485470\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Diaz names trio of possible opponents for next fight: \u2018Ready to get back in real action\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">It\u2019s been 18 months since Nate Diaz last competed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Back in 2022, the Stockton slugger famously fought out his UFC contract by finishing Tony Ferguson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/2022\/9\/11\/23346836\/despite-best-efforts-execute-nate-diaz-stockton-got-last-laugh-ufc-279-khamzat-mma\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">(not Khamzat)<\/a> to earn his freedom. He\u2019s only made use of his free agency twice, however, securing the very high-profile and lucrative Jake Paul boxing match before then earning revenge over Jorge Masvidal back in July 2024. Since then, Diaz\u2019s time has been spent on the sidelines, though he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/boxing\/400640\/thanks-but-no-thanks-nate-diaz-accepts-last-minute-fight-against-jake-paul-but-it-isnt-meant-to-be\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">did accept a short-notice Paul rematch<\/a> that didn\u2019t come to fruition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">All told, it\u2019s not a ton of action for the longtime UFC veteran, who is now open to returning to the Octagon having secured a couple boxing paydays. Speaking with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/02\/16\/nate-diaz-hopes-for-ufc-return-wants-white-house-card\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TMZ<\/a>, the 40-year-old scrapper named three opponents as possibilities for his next fight \u2026 wherever that may take place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI\u2019m ready to get back in real action,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cI want to fight either McGregor 3, maybe Dustin Poirier if he stops being such a p\u2014sy, and then maybe Mike Perry. We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">There are significant obstacles to consider with two of the three names listed. Both McGregor and Poirier remain under UFC contract, and therefore Diaz has to get back on good terms with the UFC in order for either fight to happen. Also, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/2025\/7\/25\/24474436\/did-diamond-retire-too-soon-head-coach-believes-dustin-poirier-stepped-away-at-right-time-at-ufc-318\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Poirier retired last year<\/a>, and McGregor has been effectively retired for five years despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-white-house-2026-fight-card-start-time-full-results-dana-white-conor-mcgregor-cbs-mma\/422484\/bait-switch-conor-mcgregor-not-fighting-ufc-white-house-using-him-promote-it\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">constant chatter about a potential comeback<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Poirier, at least, did respond to the man he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/2018\/10\/9\/17958218\/ufc-dustin-poirier-forced-out-nate-diaz-fight-ufc-230-with-an-injury-mma\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">supposed to fight<\/a> all the way back in 2018 with a simple \u201cbelt to ass\u201d promise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Perry is a much more feasible option. Though he\u2019s the face of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), Perry has been allowed to go off and compete for other organizations in the past. Even if Diaz wants to box Perry while wearing gloves, that feels easier to get done than the other two names mentioned, particularly since Perry has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/2020\/6\/30\/21309396\/mike-perry-nate-diaz-ufc-fight-wont-hit-me-hard-salt-and-pepper-punches-espn-mma\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">calling to face Diaz for six years now<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been 18 months since Nate Diaz last competed. Back in 2022, the Stockton slugger famously fought out&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396],"class_list":["post-485470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}