UFC’s Nate Diaz Hints at Next Move? ‘Training for War’

Nate Diaz

Getty Nate Diaz leaves the Octagon after his majority-decision loss to Conor McGregor in their welterweight rematch at the UFC 202 event at T-Mobile Arena on August 20, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

One of the biggest stars in MMA confused Twitter users on Saturday night.

Nate Diaz last fought in November 2019 when he took on Jorge Masvidal for the “BMF” title at UFC 244, losing the fight via doctor’s stoppage. After taking more than a year hiatus from speaking to the media, Diaz was interviewed by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in February.

They spoke about Diaz’s fighting future, and he revealed his plans to return to the Octagon sooner rather than later. Diaz told Helwani that he hopes to fight multiple times in 2021. He also mentioned he intends to fight at 170 pounds, calling out top lightweight fighters Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira to move up.

However, Diaz took to Twitter after UFC 259 on March 7. He shared a picture of himself and MMA fighter Nick Maximov training, presumably at the Nick Diaz Academy in Stockton, California. Maximov is a 6-0 heavyweight who last competed in November on Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 4, Week 10, defeating Oscar Cota by unanimous decision. The victory didn’t earn Maximov a contract with the promotion, however fans may see him on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.

It wasn’t the picture that captured the attention of fight fans, however.  “Training for war 185lbs @nickmax15,” Diaz tweeted.

It’s unclear if Diaz is targeting a fight at middleweight or if he meant Maximov is planning to drop down to 185 pounds. Diaz has never competed at middleweight in the UFC and Maximov weighed in at 209 pounds for his last heavyweight bout. He has also competed at light heavyweight.

One fan wrote, “Nate beats [Israel] Adesanya at 185 lbs.” Interestingly, Diaz posted the tweet a few hours after Adesanya’s failed bid to secure light heavyweight gold at UFC 259.

Another asked Diaz, “Are you coming up?”

Many others were confused if Diaz meant himself or Maximov, pointing out that Diaz competed at 155 pounds for years.

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