UFC Commentator Believes Nate Diaz Will Fight In 2018
Nate Diaz’s fighting future is highly unclear at the moment.
The Stockton native hasn’t competed since dropping a majority decision loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 202 in August 2016, although he did imply earlier this year that his return was on the horizon. UFC President Dana White, however, has continued to say that Diaz has been turning down fights.
With that being said, it’s hard to know what to expect, but UFC commentator Jon Anik feels as if there’s a good chance that we’ll see Diaz in the Octagon sometime this year:
“I do think you’ll see Nate Diaz at least once here in 2018, and we’ll pray to the masses that it happens,” Anik told MMAjunkie.
As far as Nate’s brother Nick goes, Anik isn’t sure if we’ll see the elder Diaz brother make a return to fighting, but he is confident that fans will see Nate again. The commentator also said that he feels as if the younger Diaz brother can be a legitimate pay-per-view (PPV) draw on his own regardless of an opponent:
“I’m not sure we’re going to see Nick again, but I definitely think we are going to see Nate Diaz. I think it’s interesting when you talk about him as a pay-per-view draw. What do the internal metrics say about how much Nate Diaz moves that needle relative to his opponent (in his first two pay-per-view main events), Conor McGregor? … I think Nate Diaz can carry a pay-per-view and do 400,000-plus pay-per-view buys on his own. I really do. Even in a non-championship situation. I don’t know if my bosses agree, but I’d love to see him be afforded that opportunity.”
Aside from UFC 202, Diaz also headlined UFC 196 in March 2016 with both events landing amongst the UFC’s best selling pay-per-views of all-time.
Do you think Diaz would sell as well without McGregor standing across from him?
