Nate Diaz may be happy to have secured his release from the UFC in order to box Jake Paul, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's done with competing inside the Octagon.
Diaz and Paul faced off at the official kickoff press conference ahead of their August 5 boxing bout in Dallas, Texas, and after the fighters had stepped down from the stage, Diaz chatted with reporters in a media scrum, where he revealed his hope to one day return to the Octagon – assuming the fight is big enough to lure him back.
"That's an option, the UFC," said Diaz.
"I would like to (come back). At the end of the day, I'd like to go back and fight for a world title. If not, I'm going to have (to) make my own world title and make the best come to me. I would like to be back in the UFC or fight the belt holders in boxers, also."
Diaz, who fought on Season 5 of The Ultimate Fighter, competed 27 times in the UFC, with his last bout seeing him claim a fourth-round submission of Tony Ferguson in the late-replacement main event of UFC 279 in September 2022 before he departed the promotion.
Now he's set to face YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Paul in a bout that looks set to earn 38-year-old Diaz a bumper payday. But, win, lose, or draw, Diaz thinks a return to the Octagon will be on the table after the bout is done. Despite leaving the promotion, he said his relationship with the UFC, and president Dana White, remains on good terms.
"Cool. Our relationship has always been cool," he said.
