The fight world sat up and took notice when Nate Diaz was booked in a fight with Anthony Pettis for next weekend at UFC 241.

It’s been three years since we saw Diaz drop a majority decision to Conor McGregor in the pair’s infamous rematch at UFC 202.

Diaz wanted a rematch with McGregor in return for granting his foe one after defeating the Irishman first time round. Especially as the Stockton native believed he should have won their second bout.

That never materialised as McGregor went on to fight Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight belt and then move onto Floyd Mayweather in the boxing world.

Diaz says that situation left him waiting for a fight which made sense for him to return to the Octagon.

“I felt like I won my last fight,” Diaz said to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto recent interview. [Transcript via Sherdog]

“I’m not gonna cry over spilt milk, it’s just what it is, especially in this UFC game because I’ve lost a lot of fights that I didn’t lose and even if, let’s just say more so than I think like, I for sure didn’t lose that fight.

“They treated it like, ‘You lost, go down the list. Get outta here’ type of thing. When [McGregor] lost the first time to me, it was the biggest thing, and he needed his rematch and he’s obsessed with Nate and all this marketing towards how much he needs to get this back and how great he is for actually jumping in there and doing it.

“Hold up. What about all the rematches I’ve always wanted? That’s the s—t what I should have jumped in with my contract, like, ‘Hold up, if I’m gonna do this rematch, I want all my rematches that you guys never gave me.’

“I should have done that, but I’ve lost a lot of good months of my life just sitting there sweating fights I’ve lost I didn’t lose. And I’m like, you guys motherf—-ing paid me way too much to be sitting here playing this stupid-ass game and doing what you guys want me to do, so I’m cool, I’m gonna step it out. Then two years flew by.”

Thankfully, Diaz sees the value in fighting a man like former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.

We get to see how that dream fight goes down at UFC 241 in Anaheim, California, on Saturday at UFC 241.