Nate Diaz plots UFC return, would like to 'f*cking whoop someone's ass there'
Could Nate Diaz seriously be plotting a UFC comeback? He's at least talking like he is.
Diaz (21-13 MMA, 16-11 UFC) amicably parted ways with the UFC after submitting Tony Ferguson in September 2022. He has since boxed Jake Paul and Jorge Masvidal, but is still interested in returning to the octagon.
"I plan on going back to UFC," Diaz said on "The HJR Podcast." "If they'll have me, I would like to go back and f*cking whoop someone's ass there. I'm not fighting at (155 pounds), though. Right now I'm not fighting in there because there's nobody to fight really. It's kind of slow rolling. I don't really have a name in mind right now in the UFC. That's why I'm not there right now."
Completing his trilogy bout with Conor McGregor is always an option for Diaz, but McGregor's future remains unclear. Diaz was the first to hand McGregor a loss in the UFC when he submitted him at UFC 196, but he lost the rematch by majority decision at UFC 202.
"Whenever he's back, I'm sure we're going to fight," Diaz said of McGregor. "Me and him for sure got unfinished (business). Got to happen."
Outside of McGregor, the Diaz-inspired BMF belt is also something of interest for the Stockton star. Diaz lost to Masvidal for the inaugural BMF title by doctor's stoppage TKO at UFC 244, and the belt has since changed hands a couple of times. Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) is the current BMF champion, and he defends his belt against Dustin Poirier in the UFC 318 headliner July 19.
"Those are the guys right there who I would want to fight, like Max Holloway" Diaz said of BMF champions. "I would like to fight the other guy who's really good too, Topuria. He's really good, but he's smaller than me. I'm done with 155. I'm cool off that. It always was (a hard weight cut). When I was 18, it was hard. I'm staying at '70. I'll fight at 185, too."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Media musical chairs are reshaping the sports landscape: Morning Brief
In the words of Bruce Buffer, the voice of the Octagon: "It's time!" Dealmaking is the main event in media world these days. And the fight to secure distribution rights took another turn in a fracturing, precarious, eat-or-be-eaten landscape that's remaking sports and how we consume them. The UFC is the latest sports franchise to change media hosts. On Monday, Paramount (PARA) struck a seven-year $7.7 billion deal to become the exclusive home of all UFC events in the US. The agreement allows Paramount to stream all 13 of the UFC's marquee numbered showcases and 30 "Fight Nights" on its platform, Paramount+. Some of the numbered events will be simulcast on Paramount's sister broadcast network, CBS. Sign up for the Yahoo Finance Morning Brief By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy The announcement comes less than a week after Paramount secured a long-awaited merger with Skydance Media, offering an early victory for the new management team and a culturally influential franchise to bolster its streaming platform. The deal represents a significant pay jump for TKO Group Holdings (TKO), the UFC's parent company. Its previous partnership with Disney's ESPN to distribute UFC fights was valued at about $550 million per year. In another changeup that underscores the UFC's hopes to grow its audience and the viewing dynamics of the streaming world, Paramount+ subscribers won't have to pay extra to watch UFC fights. This is a big deal: TKO and Paramount are moving away from the previous pay-per-view model. And the shift highlights the desire of streaming companies to beef up their offerings with variety, frequency, and recurring events. All this is happening as media companies are splintering and recombining to outlast the demise of the pay-TV bundle, leading to a great re-shuffling of sports licensing. Last week, ESPN reached a landmark deal with the National Football League to acquire NFL Network and other league media properties. Part of the deal, in a blurring of media distributor and sports league, will have the NFL take a 10% stake in ESPN. The NFL also has a content partnership with Skydance, giving it equity in CBS, another rights holder. The tech giants, always on the lookout for new eyeballs, are using their cash piles to push into sports too. In turn, leagues are pressing their advantage to command massive audiences, in what is arguably the last semblance of mass culture, to extract bigger sums for the privilege of showing their content. (Don't sleep on the Love Island viewing parties, though!) Amazon (AMZN), for instance, was happy to oblige the NBA. Prime Video was among the media platforms to score basketball rights after Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) lost a key media deal with the NBA. The soaring cost to air games, which ballooned to an overall package of $77 billion over 11 years, proved a crucial factor to Warner Bros.' loss. The media giant was on a trajectory to break itself up. And now a huge franchise has a new home. In a never-ending merger and spin-off saga, we can expect more sports media shakeups to come. Hamza Shaban is a reporter for Yahoo Finance covering markets and the economy. Follow Hamza on X @hshaban. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Paramount wins exclusive US rights for UFC in $7.7 billion deal
(Reuters) -Paramount, days after finalizing its merger with production studio Skydance, said Monday it will pay $7.7 billion for exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for seven years — the first major strategic move by the combined company. "The addition of UFC's year-round must-watch events to our platforms is a major win," said Paramount CEO David Ellison, former CEO of Skydance, calling the mixed martial arts franchise a "global sports powerhouse". Under the agreement with UFC owner TKO Group Holdings, streaming service Paramount+ will from next year carry the complete U.S. slate of 13 numbered UFC events and 30 "Fight Nights." Paramount+ and Paramount's CBS broadcast network will also simulcast select numbered cards, the companies said. Numbered cards have historically been pay-per-view events featuring top-ranked fighters and championship bouts but now will come at no extra cost to viewers. Ellison, who oversaw Skydance's run of Hollywood action blockbusters and TV series, committed to increasing Paramount's investment in high-quality exclusive content, which he has called the "single biggest driver of subscriber growth". As cord-cutting accelerates, live sports have emerged as one of the few formats still drawing mass audiences in real time. Rivals Netflix and Disney preceded Paramount in locking down major sports deals. Netflix secured a $5 billion, 10-year global deal for WWE Raw wrestling and added two Christmas Day NFL football games. Disney's ESPN extended rights with U.S. professional football, hockey and baseball leagues and the College Football Playoff invitational tournament. TKO Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer said conversations had been taking place with Paramount since June, though the process dramatically accelerated last week after Paramount completed its drawn-out $8.4 billion merger with Skydance. "Once the merger closed, we were off to the races," said Schleimer. Paramount will pay an average of $1.1 billion a year to TKO Group and shift away from UFC's traditional pay-per-view model. It may seek UFC rights in other markets as they come up for bidding. "They are not playing for near-term earnings outperformance, they are trying to create a long-term imprint on the future of the media industry to 'win,'" LightShed Partners analysts said. UFC stages about 43 live events a year, reaching roughly 100 million U.S. fans and nearly 950 million households globally. The appealing demographics of UFC's audience, which is diverse but skews toward young men, made bidding competitive, said UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein. Epstein said UFC chose Paramount for its financial strength, CBS' broad television reach and Ellison's focus on technology and long time horizon.
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Paramount acquires UFC rights in 7-year, $7.7 billion deal with TKO Group
Paramount will become the new home to all Ultimate Fighting Championship events in the U.S. under a seven-year agreement with TKO Group announced on Monday. Under the deal, Paramount will exclusively distribute the UFC's full slate of its 13 marquee numbered events and 30 "Fight Nights" on its streaming platform Paramount+ — with select numbered events also set to simulcast on CBS — starting in 2026. In an interview with CBS Sports, UFC CEO Dana White said his company is talking with the Trump administration about hosting a fight at the White House on July 4, 2026, to mark the nation's 250th anniversary. "Imagine a massive fight on the lawn of the White House on CBS," White said. A White House source familiar with the matter said such an event is anticipated next July 4. The 7-year deal marks a shift away from the UFC's existing pay-per-view model, which Paramount and TKO say will allow the mixed martial arts programming reach more consumers nationwide. "Paramount's advantage lies in the expansive reach of our linear and streaming platforms," David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said in a statement. "Live sports continue to be a cornerstone of our broader strategy — driving engagement, subscriber growth, and long-term loyalty, and the addition of UFC's year-round must-watch events to our platforms is a major win." Mark Shapiro, president and COO of TKO, added that the deal will mean "deeper engagement for UFC's passionate fan base" and that its athletes "will love this new stage." The seven-year deal has an average annual value of $1.1 billion, or $7.7 billion over the length of the contract, the companies said Monday. Paramount, the parent company of CBS News and Paramount+ and now owned by Skydance, also said it intends to explore UFC rights outside the U.S. "as they become available in the future." Shares of TKO — which, in addition to the UFC, also houses the WWE — jumped more than 10% in Monday trading.
