UFC News: Dana White reveals how the UFC convinced Nate Diaz to return to the Octagon
What's the story?
In a recent interview with ESPN, UFC President Dana White opened up about his thoughts on the return of top Lightweight contender Nate Diaz and how the UFC management convinced the Stockton superstar to compete in a fight after an absence of two years.
In case you didn't know...
Nate Diaz's last fight in the Octagon took way back in 2016 when he lost to his arch-rival Conor McGregor via a five-round decision fight at UFC 202. This was the rematch between McGregor and Diaz, after the two men previously squared-off at UFC 196 when the latter choked out the 'The Notorious One' to hand him his first defeat in the Octagon.
However, since Diaz's loss to McGregor at UFC 202, he hasn't been seen in Octagon competition for almost two years now.
The heart of the matter
After an absence of almost over two years, Nate Diaz is now all set to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 223, after it was announced that the 33-year-old will be squaring off against top Lightweight contender Dustin Poirier, who is currently fresh-off a win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC Calgary.
However, while speaking with ESPN, UFC President Dana White revealed how the UFC finally convinced Nate Diaz to return to the Octagon at UFC 223. According to White, it was apparently one of UFC's top officials', who is a huge fan of Diaz, worked very hard in order to bring back Nate Diaz to the promotion. (H/T: Express)
"One of our guys, who's a big Nate Diaz fan, worked on this fight very hard and believed that it was time and Nate was ready to fight. So he went after it and got it done. This is one of those fights; people have been waiting for Nate Diaz to come back. He's back taking a legitimate fight against Poirier who just looked incredible in his last fight. It's awesome, I'm happy about it." - Dana White told ESPN.
What's next?
UFC 230 is currently a very stacked card with eight of the very best Middleweight fighters featuring on the card, such as the likes Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman, who are both former UFC Middleweight Champions.
In addition to it, Nate Diaz will also go toe-to-toe with Dustin Poirier at UFC 230, which takes place on the 3rd of November, 2018 at the Madison Square Garden.