Nate Diaz returning to the Octagon appears to be an inevitability.
A month ago, Nate Diaz indicated that he wanted to come back. Unlike big brother Nick, his social media accounts suggest he is serious about a return. You will regularly see training clips on his Instagram stories, while Nick is often clubbing until all hours, living his best life.
Eddie Alvarez, Kevin Lee, Cub Swanson and Mairbek Taisumov are among the fighters who threw their hat in the ring to welcome Diaz back. He was reportedly interested in saving UFC 222’s main event after Max Holloway pulled out, but the promotion opted to go with Cyborg.
The big wigs tried to grant Diaz a welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley at UFC 219. However, Diaz declined the offer that was apparently not as lucrative as he was hoping for. Instead, Cyborg was selected for the headliner. Noticing a trend here?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeUKqYtH-uL/?hl=en&taken-by=natediaz209
Revenge?
The fight that looks all but a certainty to happen for the Stockton native is completing the trilogy against Conor McGregor. John Kavanagh’s recent comments suggest that this fight will take some time come together though. Odds are, he will have to wait for that scrap.
If he’s looking to reclaim another loss, the man who handed him his first one in the UFC, Clay Guida, is willing to grant him that request.
“Yo, what’s up 209 bitch? Yeah talking about you, Nate Diaz. We scrapped it out about nine years ago, but maybe it was a fluke. So what do you say we do it one more time for the fans? When you sign on that dotted line before you get in the cage, make sure you get real, REAL high this time so when I spike you on your head and put you in a full nelson like last time, you won’t feel a thing. See you in Chicago, homie.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgHZXKUF_0L/?hl=en&taken-by=clayguida
Ambitious
There’s only one man with it all to gain by taking this fight and it’s not the one who’s been involved in two of the UFC’s most successful ever PPVs.
Guida is no joke. He holds wins over Anthony Pettis, Rafael dos Anjos and of course, Diaz. The latter was a split decision victory in a fight of the night winner at UFC 94 nine years ago. He has also been on a bit of a career resurgence since joining Team Alpha Male. Beating Erik Koch then knocking out Joe Lauzon means he is riding consecutive wins for the first time since 2011.
However, ‘The Carpenter’ is no PPV headliner whereas Diaz could well be the second biggest draw on the UFC’s roster. A loss to an unranked 155 lber like Guida who would have nothing to lose by taking that fight could damage his drawing power. Even if he wanted that loss back, he would be a fool to accept it.
