Win, lose or draw, Nate Diaz expects a title shot to come his way no matter the result of his upcoming fight with Leon Edwards.
Diaz is set to fight for the first time since 2019 at UFC 263 on Saturday night. His bout with Edwards is the first of its kind in the UFC – a five-round non-title, non-main event contest – as the promotion stops by Glendale, Arizona’s Gila River Arena.
The last time we saw Diaz in the cage was when he contested the “BMF” title in a losing effort against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244 in November 2019. The BMF title was an idea he came up with during his post-fight interview after victory over Anthony Pettis three months earlier.
In Edwards, Diaz has a big test ahead of him, but he believes what will come after Saturday night’s bout will be even bigger.
“I don’t care if I lose, I’m [still] fighting for the title,” Diaz told Rolling Stone. “The plan is win here and then we’ll see who’s next for me.
“I’m rolling with the punches right now, but whatever I’m going to do it’s going to be bigger than anything anybody is going to do.”
Despite what he said, victory is clearly on Diaz’s mind ahead of UFC 263.
Edwards is unbeaten in his last nine Octagon outings and in a rare instance, that run from “Rocky” has drawn praise from the Stockton, California native.
“He’s the top guy, he’s the guy who has been beating everybody, so why wouldn’t I fight the best guy?” Diaz said. “It’s impressive when somebody can win that many times in a row in the big show
“He knows how to win and he knows how to get it done, so it’s going to be a serious, but not serious fight. I gotta kill the motherf**ker.”
