Nate
Diaz is officially free to pursue career options outside the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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Diaz completed his contract with the promotion at UFC 279, where he
submitted Tony
Ferguson in the fourth round of their bout on Sept. 10. Though
his contract ended, the UFC still maintained exclusive negotiating
rights with Diaz until recently, when it waived the rest of the
negotiating period.
MMAFighting.com was first to report the news of Diaz becoming a
free agent.
Diaz’s manager, Zach Rosenfield, told
MMAjunkie.com that a return to the UFC is not out of the
question, particularly for a Conor
McGregor trilogy.
“Nate is going to be looking at the biggest fights possible,”
Rosenfield said. “He has stated that completing the trilogy with
Conor
McGregor is something that interests him, and that has not
changed.”
Rosenfield added that Diaz plans to compete “multiple times” in
2023 with a combat sports schedule that “will include boxing.” Diaz
also recently
launched his own combat sports promotion, Real Fight, Inc.,
which is expected to include MMA, boxing and jiu-jitsu.
Diaz emerged as one of the UFC’s biggest stars over the course of
promotional tenure that began in 2007 after he won “The Ultimate
Fighter 5.” He compiled a 16-11 mark in the Octagon and reached the
pinnacle of his star power when he submitted McGregor at UFC
196.