The rumors are already flying as the press and hype about the Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano fight by Jake Paul's MVP has been very successful. Almost anyone that cares even a little bit is already talking about who could fill in the undercard slots and Nate Diaz' name was one of them.
Nate wasn't always popular, but he was thrust to the point of legendary status when he for some reason, ended up getting some cage time with Conor McGregor in his prime, and also won that fight in a rather commanding fashion. Nobody expected this to happen but not only did Nate win, but he spent at lot of the fight kind of humiliating the loud-mouthed Irishman.
I'll never forget how elated the crowd was where I was watching as several times Nate did his famous "Stockton Slap" which is a move that could have been a punch but the move is meant to anger and humiliate the opponent, not to actually cause any real damage. As far as I know, he is the only fighter to have a move like this in his arsenal, and it is just one more reason to love him.
Other things that are admirable about the dude is that he doesn't kowtow to anyone and that includes his billionaire ex-boss Dana White. While other fighters would do anything they could to get into this man's good graces, Nate was indifferent to his presence and even going out of his way to attempt to piss him off. He still got the big fights and nobody can claim that Nate Diaz ever weaseled his way to the big time. He definitely earned it.
Always a crowd favorite from this point forward, Nate didn't appear to even TRY to renegotiate his contract when it expired in UFC and he left to start his own MMA promotion and open a weed company in California instead.
While turning up for UFC mandatory drug testing, rather than "yes sir, whenever you need sir," that most fighters do, Nate turned up whenever he felt like it, then pissed on the building and Tweeted about how he can do whatever he wants and still get paid (more than uguys and they wont cut me.)
He later would leave UFC rather unceremoniously, and nothing was ever talked about the proposed pay hikes or whatever to try to get Nate to stay.
Since then he has done some exhibitions including facing none other than Jake Paul in boxing.
This, as well as many other things, make Nate a really great prospect for the undercard. To sweeten the pot anymore, Nate has a rather friendly war of words going on with recently retired Dustin Poirier, who is also a bit of a crowd favorite. Can these two get in shape for the fight that is meant to be happening in May of 2026? Well if anyone can it is probably a guy who only just retired (Poirier) and a guy who even while was fighting in MMA does triathlons and Ironmans for fun.
For most of us, doing an Ironman would be a job of intense training and focusing on nothing else. For Nate, this was done at the same time he was training for his fight with Jake Paul because, you now, we gotta fill those weekends with something, right?
Nate is not the best fighter of all time but then again, I don't think Rousey and certainly not Carano are either. This card is going to be a "retirement roundup" spectacle and has the opportunity to be pretty great. I am not Jake Paul fan, but you can't argue that the dude has an amazing eye for business. Now if UFC could just figure that out, the MMA world would be a lot better off.
Now one thing could definitely get in the way of this happening and that is the White House card that is taking place in June. If Nate commits to that, and he is almost certainly wanted, then he can't really do both.... well hell, if anyone could do both of them it would be Nate I guess.