Nate Diaz explains why he passed on Conor McGregor to fight Mike Perry: ‘It’s not the time for that’

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 15: Nate Diaz attends Rousey vs. Carano NYC Press Conference at The Palladium on April 15, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix) | Getty Images for Netflix

Nate Diaz is a man that marches to the beat of his own drum, even if he’s offered millions to march to someone else’s.

There’s many examples of this throughout the younger Diaz brother’s career, but a recent one is Nate’s decision to turn down an offer to return to the UFC where he could have faced Conor McGregor for what would have to be the biggest paycheck of his career. Diaz said no, and now he’s set to face Mike Perry in the third headline fight on MVP’s first MMA card this Saturday May 16th.

That’s a fun fight, don’t get us wrong. But the McGregor trilogy fight blows it out of the water. So why did Diaz pass on that and a return to UFC?

“One hundred percent I did [consider going back to UFC],” Diaz told Ariel Helwani. “I was pretty close because they’ve always been great since I left too, and they met up with me and talked to me and we had some talks and it was good to see them and good to be back. And wheels were spinning just for an MMA fight, an MMA return, and getting back to what I do. And I know that they wanted the Conor fight right now and that’s not what I’m [about].”

“I’m like, I’m not trying to be a comeback story for Conor,” he continued. “I want Conor, back. And then I want him to be f–king showing people he’s whipping ass. Then that’s the guy I want. I don’t wanna be fighting a guy that they don’t know about, because I know he’s gonna come back and do good. I don’t need him to do it on me.”

Diaz is also about re-signing with the UFC, where he spent a lot of time on the bench as he clashed with execs over opponents.