4 Potential Opponents for Nate Diaz's Next Fight

Nate Diaz, one of the most popular fighters in MMA, hasn't fought since November 2019, when he was walloped to a stoppage loss in a welterweight fight with Jorge Masvidal. According to UFC President Dana White, that could soon change.

Speaking to TheMacLife in mid-January, the UFC boss divulged that he and his team are currently working on a fight for Diaz. While he didn't specify who he's hoping to match Diaz up with, he did reveal that he'd like the fan favorite to return to the lightweight division. That detail from White was well-received among fans,  as Diaz has had mixed results at welterweight, often coming up short against the weight class' bigger, stronger fighters. 

While Diaz has always been picky in terms of his opponents and could remain on the sidelines despite White's best efforts to coax him back into the Octagon, it's impossible not to wonder whom he might be matched up with if he does indeed fight again.

The uncertainty has been killing us, so we've decided to sift through the options for Diaz's next fight and see if we can identify the best of the bunch.

Without further ado, here are four fights we think make sense for the returning Diaz. 

Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor have a score to settle.

The two stars are tied 1-1 across two previous fights, both of which occurred in the welterweight division.

They first met in March 2016. McGregor, then the featherweight champion, had been slated to challenge reigning lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in a bid to become a two-division champion. When Dos Anjos was forced out of the matchup with a foot injury, however, McGregor was matched up with Diaz in a short-notice welterweight fight. Despite entering as a significant favorite, he wound up losing via second-round submission. 

The pair then met in an immediate rematch in August of the same year. McGregor sought to prove that he had simply had an off night in the first fight, while Diaz looked to prove his submission victory over the Irishman was more than just a fluke. In the end, it was McGregor who succeeded on his mission, evening the score with Diaz with a hard-fought majority-decision win. 

The groundwork for a trilogy fight between the two stars has been laid ever since, but the UFC still hasn't put it together. Today, with Diaz looking to rebound from his loss to Masvidal, McGregor eager to erase the memory of his UFC 257 stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier and Dana White hoping to keep both men in the lightweight division, the tiebreaker makes all the sense in the world.

We'll start by addressing the obvious: At this stage, a fight between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz makes no sense from a rankings perspective. Poirier has established himself as the top lightweight in the sport not named Khabib Nurmagomedov, whereas Diaz is riding a stoppage loss in another division. The reality is that Diaz doesn't deserve this fight.

Having said that, can you imagine how fun it would be?

Not only are Diaz and Poirier two of the most consistently entertaining fighters in MMA, but they've got some history. 

The pair were briefly scheduled to collide at UFC 230 in 2018. Unfortunately, the fight fell through.

Initially, it was Poirier who took the blame for the matchup's disintegration, as reports suggested he had sustained an injury. At several points since then, however, Poirier has claimed that he only pulled out of the planned fight when Diaz began giving the UFC trouble at the negotiation table. 

Whatever the case, the two action stars are clearly at odds, and neither man has made a secret of his desire to meet the other in the Octagon. 

After knocking out Conor McGregor at UFC 257, Poirier quickly pointed to Diaz as a potential opponent for his next fight. 

"Nate Diaz got away and likes to talk a lot online," Poirier said during the post-fight press conference. "We'll see."

Diaz was quick to return to the favor by vowing to "whoop" Poirier in his next Octagon appearance.

Suffice it to say that there's plenty of reason to book this fight, even if it doesn't make sense as far as the rankings are concerned.

While a fight with Dustin Poirier doesn't make a ton of sense for Nate Diaz from a rankings perspective, a fight with Tony Ferguson does.

Ferguson stood out as one of the UFC's very best lightweights for many years, and until recently he was on a jaw-dropping 12-fight win streak. In 2020, however, his luck ran out. 

The man once regarded as the lightweight bogeyman experienced his first loss in years in the main event of UFC 249 in May, when he was battered to in a fifth-round TKO loss at the hands of Justin Gaethje. To make matters worse, he then experienced a second consecutive loss at UFC 256 in December, when he was out-grappled to a lopsided, unanimous-decision loss against Charles Oliveira. 

With two losses in the rearview, it's time for Ferguson to take a slight step down in competition. Contrary to his status as one of the sport's biggest stars, Diaz would be just that, as he hasn't picked up a lightweight win since he beat Michael Johnson by decision in 2015. Despite his habit of shot-calling, he is in no position to be picking and choosing his opposition at lightweight and should frankly be grateful to be matched up with an opponent ranked as highly as Ferguson.

UFC President Dana White recently said Ferguson won't be the man to welcome Diaz back to the cage, but he's gone back on his word before and would likely do so again if fans express an appetite for the fight.

As we've already covered, Nate Diaz tends to be pretty choosey when it comes to the matchups he accepts, generally turning down anybody he doesn't view as a big name or compelling challenge. Based on that, it's hard to say whether he'd accept a fight with Paul Felder, the UFC's No. 9-ranked lightweight.

That being said, this looks like a tremendous fight on paper, as both men have a predilection for unforgettable fights. It also makes sense from a rankings perspective, as it's a lot easier to justify matching the long-absent Diaz up with a contender on the fringes of the lightweight top 10 than it is to put him against somebody like Poirier or Ferguson. 

Perhaps the biggest reason to book this fight, though, is that Felder deserves it.

The Irish Dragon has had mixed results of late, but he recently cemented himself as one of the sport's most reliable lightweights when he put off his retirement plans to fight the division's former champion, Rafael dos Anjos, on a ridiculously meager five days' notice. While Felder didn't win, he battled dos Anjos tooth and nail for five fun rounds in a split-decision loss, earning the respect of viewers everywhere in the process.

Because he lost, Felder didn't earn himself a title shot or even a top-five foe, but by God, he earned something. He deserves some sort of reward for agreeing to fight Dos Anjos with so little time to prepare, and a fight with a huge name like Diaz would be just that.

If Diaz is willing to accept a fight with a guy who's a little less known than McGregor or Poirier, this might just be the best option available for him.