Nate Diaz Says That Lightweight Is “In the Past Now”

With his octagon return set, Nate Diaz explains why he’s done with Lightweight and dismisses a potential rubber match with Conor McGregor.

With his return fight set to take place at 170 lbs, Nate Diaz has seemingly completed his career’s Lightweight chapter. 

In an interview with ESPN’s ‘Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,’ Diaz bid farewell to his prior weight class, officially moving on as he finally steps back into the octagon. “I’m just done with the 155 thing, that’s in the past now so I think it’s time to start fighting at a more comfortable weight class. There’s nothing for me there, I already did everything, beat everybody. I feel I’m the king of that division any-ways. I mean I am the king of that division so I’m gonna just leave it where it’s at.”

Some may question that logic but Diaz breaks it down quite simply, especially when it comes to UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. “Khabib, I already slapped him in his face,” Diaz recalled. “And I beat Conor beforehand. Quicker than him, easier than him and then he’s just gonna ignore that . . . he’s a little big headed right now so I don’t need to fight him anyway, because I’ve already got a victory over him.”

Diaz is referencing his publicized interaction with Nurmagomedov at WSOF 22. That occurred in August 2015 but Diaz’s memory of it is clear. “The reason why he got slapped was because he was not humble and not this nice guy. He was sitting there with his friends trying to get a fight with me, taking a picture with me, making fun of me. So I capitalized and told him, ‘f**k you’. And I slapped him in his face, and he’s spooked for his life. His whole team was, nobody did s**t.

“I had Kron Gracie with me, and we were standing there two on f**king 15. And that whole Russian team thought they were hard to everyone else, but they were scared for their lives when that happened.”

Well, with Nurmagomedov out of the way, Diaz is seemingly happy to reside at Welterweight now. Speaking of such, that’s the weight which Diaz competed at in his last two fights, famously going 1-1 with Conor McGregor. Ranked as a top contender at 155 lbs, McGregor is likely to eventually return at Lightweight but Diaz isn’t interested regardless. “I’m not interested in it at all. I’m interested in winners,” Diaz told Helwani.

“He lost his last fight, and I won my last fight. You think I’m trying to fight someone who just got his ass beat all over the place? I’m a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. That s**t wouldn’t happen to me. Real jiu jitsu, Gracie jiu jitsu.”

Nonetheless, Diaz is focused on Anthony Pettis right now, taking on ‘Showtime’ at UFC 241.

For Helwani’s full interview with Diaz, click here.