Nate
Diaz will make his highly-anticipated Octagon return when he
faces Leon
Edwards in the UFC 262 co-main event.
ESPN was first to report the matchup. Both fighters have
verbally agreed to the pairing but contracts have not been signed.
Despite being a non-title affair and not occupying a headlining
slot, the bout will be contested over five rounds. It will be the
first five-round, non-title co-headliner in promotion history.
UFC 262 takes place on May 15 at the Toyota Center in Houston and
is headlined by a showdown for the vacant lightweight strap between
Michael
Chandler and Charles
Oliveira.
Diaz will compete for the first time since losing to Jorge
Masvidal via third-round doctor stoppage for the “BMF” title at
UFC 244 in November 2019. The Stockton, Calif., native has competed
infrequently in recent years, splitting a pair of bouts with
Conor
McGregor in 2016 and besting Anthony
Pettis at UFC 241 in August 2019 before the aforementioned
setback to “Gamebred.”
Edwards came back from a lengthy hiatus at UFC Fight Night 187,
where an accidental eye poke from the Brit ended his headlining
bout against Belal
Muhammad 18 seconds into Round 2 on March 13. Prior to that,
“Rocky” outpoined Rafael dos
Anjos in the UFC on ESPN 4 main event in July 2019. Edwards is
unbeaten in his last nine promotional appearances dating back to
2016.