Nate Diaz has been booked to make his long-awaited return to the octagon against Anthony Pettis this summer.
Diaz (19-11 MMA, 14-9 UFC), who hasn’t fought since his loss to Conor McGregor in their August 2016 rematch, has verbally agreed to fight Pettis (22-8 MMA, 9-7 UFC) in a welterweight fight at UFC 241 in August.
A person close to the situation confirmed to MMA Junkie that the matchup has been agreed to following an initial report from Yahoo! Sports. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to formally announce the fight.
UFC 241 takes place Aug. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Diaz was supposed to make his comeback last November in a matchup with Dustin Poirier at UFC 230. However, just weeks prior to the event, Poirier suffered an injury and was unable to compete. Diaz was never rescheduled against a new opponent for the card. UFC president Dana White repeatedly has said that he didn’t believe Diaz would ever return to the octagon.
Now, though, Diaz will fight ex-UFC and WEC titleholder Pettis, who made a thrilling welterweight debut in March. After a difficult run at lightweight, “Showtime” moved up to 170 pounds and scored a highlight-reel knockout of Stephen Thompson at UFC on ESPN+ 6.
The latest UFC 241 lineup now includes:
- Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic – for heavyweight title
- Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis
- Paulo Costa vs. Yoel Romero
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