SUMMARY
- Nate Diaz hints at his return to UFC 300 with a long-awaited rematch against UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards.
- But these rumors have now been seemingly put aside by none other than Nate Diaz himself with the tweet he made on December 25.
Nate Diaz is an American mixed artist who has been fighting in the UFC for more than 15 years. However, for over a year now, Diaz has been missing from the UFC arena, as he last made an appearance on September 19, 2022. But recently, the ‘Stockton Slugger’ has tweeted about the company not once but twice.
First, on December 23, Diaz tweeted, “UFC 300 would be tight but there’s nobody to fight”. This made fans wonder what was on Nate’s mind. Many fans suggested Diaz was hinting at fighting the fight that should’ve materialized at UFC 230 against Dustin Poirier.
But these rumors have now been seemingly put aside by none other than Nate Diaz himself with the tweet he made on December 25. The tweet had a short video of Nate and Leon Edwards going at each other from their fight at UFC 263, which resulted in a decision victory for Edwards and captioned it as “300”.
300 pic.twitter.com/MsnrJDB7ND
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) December 26, 2023
The tweet has understandably put UFC fans in a frenzy. Nate hasn’t fought in the UFC since his win against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 on September 10, 2022. In the fight, he put a guillotine choke on Tony to submit him in the 4th round. The 38-year-old then went on to cut ties with the UFC due to dissatisfaction.
Following his departure, he entered the influencer boxing scene and experienced a defeat in his inaugural professional boxing match against Jake Paul on August 5, 2023. On the other hand, Leon Edwards, UFC’s Undisputed Welterweight Champion, recently defended his title for the second time against Colby Covington at UFC 296 on December 16, 2023.
With only 3 confirmed fights at UFC 300, a Diaz vs Edwards rematch marking the Stockton-based fighter’s return to the UFC doesn’t look like a far-fetched idea. One thing is for sure fans do get to see the 2 welterweights fight, it promises to be one hell of a rematch.
Nate Diaz almost finished Leon Edwards at UFC 263
Rarely do fans see fighters endure for the first 4 rounds of the bout and then go out and make their opponents move in the 5th round. But that is exactly what happened when Nate Diaz took on the Birmingham-based Leon Edwards at UFC 263.
This wasn’t the first time they were scheduled to fight, though. As earlier, they were scheduled for UFC 262 in May 2021, but this bout had to be canceled due to a minor undisclosed injury that Nate suffered.
At UFC 263, after enduring the majority of the first 4 rounds, in the 5th round. Nate Diaz managed to land a beautiful right-left combination flush on Edwards’ chin. With 64 seconds on the clock, Diaz decided to go all guns blazing in an attempt to salvage the fight. Diaz managed to rock Edwards to the point where he couldn’t stand up straight.
Last night made me think, just how good is Nate Diaz 🤔 pic.twitter.com/LojagWP6BW
— Aqua 🦆 (@AquaFighting) December 17, 2023
Leon Edwards might have won the 5-round fight thanks to the official decision. But there was little doubt as to how the fight would have ended if Nate Diaz hadn’t “run out of rounds”. The fight stats also paint a similar story, with Diaz leading in total strikes, 130, to Edwards’ 83. Edwards leads in takedowns, 4 to 0, and in significant strikes, 77 to 76.
This adds to the drama surrounding the potential rematch between the two fan-favorite welterweights. A fight between two fighters with a storied history does bring with it a lot of anticipation. It’s yet to be seen if Leon Edwards will reply to Nate’s straightforward invitation to a rematch. But if he does, UFC fans can rejoice at the very prospect of a fight. How do you think this storyline will develop in the coming days? Tell us in the comments below.