Nate Diaz is a free agent and his latest Twitter post has set a few tongues wagging. The UFC veteran shared a photo of the Rizin logo with his 2.1 million followers.
It is not clear whether Diaz has signed with the Japanese promotion, is in negotiations with them or simply likes the logo. But the timing of the tweet feels fairly deliberate.
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) January 5, 2023
Social media star
It comes just a few hours after Jake Paul announced he has signed with the PFL and wanted to fight Diaz. The YouTuber turned boxer is set to make his MMA debut with the American promotion.
The social media sensation wants to fight Nate Diaz in both boxing and MMA and called on the experienced mixed martial artist to make it happen,
“I’m so dedicated do this that I offered Nate Diaz a two fight deal. First we box then we fight MMA in the PFL cage.”
It doesn’t sound like Diaz has responded yet but he is clearly the top name on Jake Paul’s list,
“Nate Diaz I’m down to fight you in your own damn sport. Let’s make it happen.”
Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Welcome to the Professional Fighters League @jakepaul pic.twitter.com/pgMDUprK6S
— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 5, 2023
Big deal
Diaz is coming off a submission win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. It made him the most sought after free agent in the sport with Conor McGregor already calling for a trilogy bout with the 37 year old.
The fact that the PFL wants to sign Diaz and match him with Jake Paul will only strengthen the UFC’s desire to get the fighter to agree to a new deal. He has been on the roster since winning The Ultimate Fighter 5 in 2007.
But Rizin has been making some big moves too with Floyd Mayweather competing in two exhibition boxing matches. Manny Pacquiao has already agreed to do one of these bouts in 2023.
“I would love to fight him for a third time.”
Nate’s interested in a trilogy after seeing Conor’s tweet 👀 #UFC279
(via @TheNotoriousMMA, 🎥 @CCLegaspi) pic.twitter.com/GAkJuzQrRD
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 11, 2022
All out
Mayweather and Pacquiao are nearly 20lbs smaller than Diaz while Jake Paul is nearly 15lbs bigger. So none of these are obvious matchups but the YouTuber must have had a weight class in mind before calling out the UFC veteran.
Diaz was booked to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 in what many saw as being an unwinnable matchup for him. But the Swedish star came in massively overweight and instead he found himself facing Ferguson, another veteran on a poor run of form.
It allowed Diaz to walk away from the UFC on a high note, something the promotion definitely doesn’t like any fighter to do particularly a proven pay per view star. So he will definitely not be short of offers and while the PFL might be going all out to sign him he is hinting that Rizin are the current frontrunners.
