Nate Diaz eyeing UFC return after Mike Perry, lays out plans for a Conor McGregor trilogy fight

"I figured people would follow the blueprint, but I figured that years ago when I was talking a bunch of s*** and I could fight,” Diaz said. “I used to say stuff, like, ’If I was the champ and had the belt, I would say this and this, and it would go however the f*** I want.’ Then I was like, ‘F*** a belt,’ and just started doing that. But imagine if I had a belt.

"Anyway, I thought people would lead by example, but people don't pay attention to s***. I watched everything everybody does. I watched [Quinton] 'Rampage' [Jackson] do everything, I watched Chael Sonnen do everything, Conor, and everybody who did anything. I watched every f***ing blueprint on how and what they did. I'll f***ing lock it in and do better.

"When I got out and did the boxing with Jake [Paul], I did the boxing with [Jorge] Masvidal; there were no dance partners out here,” Diaz continued. “There's nobody to squabble with on the outside. That's why we got Perry now — I'm like, well, f***, before I go back to the UFC [we may as well do this fight]. I'm going to go back [to the UFC], and once I get locked in, I'm going to be locked in the whole time for the next forever. You ain't getting out of those contracts. I've already been in them. The thing is, especially being out and knowing too, get out so we can dance. Nobody's doing it."

In a way, Diaz, 41, has his own mental checklist for names he’d like to compete against. The problem with the UFC though, at least in Diaz’s mind, is the company’s lack of single-fight deals. More often than not, fighters get stuck with lengthy contracts before they can get back to exploring their overall options on the open market.

“If there was three fights that I wanted right now, I'd be right back in there like bam, bam, bam,” he said. “But it was hard to jump back in because I tried hard for so many years to get out. I can't just jump right back in. At least with Perry, I can get this done, so I've done everything on the outside before going back in."

A win over Perry on Saturday could go a very long way for Diaz. His ambitions haven’t wavered, at least regarding the level of opposition he wants to be matched with.

Ideally, the BMF title is still a prize Diaz wants to hold after fighting for the inaugural strap against Masvidal in November 2019. Right now, the belt’s owner is former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, making him Diaz’s top target in a potential UFC return.

"I would like to fight the best fighters in the world, and they're in the UFC right now,” Diaz said.

"Oliveira out of everybody, that's what I wanted. I was like, alright, I'm going to go back and get that belt, fight this motherf***er. [UFC] weren't interested and wanted to give me Conor. I want to fight Conor, but right now, it's not the time. Everything's about timing. It's not the time for that.

"[Diaz vs. McGregor 3 is] big wherever the f*** it's at. Whatever happens, by any means, the plan is to fight him. When the time is right, it's going to be right."

Nate Diaz makes his MMA return this Saturday on Netflix.

(Sarah Stier via Getty Images)

Throughout his career, Diaz has fought the majority of the notable names he’d be expected to over a 15-year window. Though if one fight can be labeled as a miss for him, it was 2018’s Dustin Poirier bout that was scheduled for UFC 230. Ultimately a hip injury forced Poirier to withdraw and the fight never materialized again.

Poirier retired last June, but has since noted that if he were to come back for anyone, it would be Diaz. That ship, however, has sailed in Diaz’s mind.

"He got emotional when he fought somebody, and he's like, 'I'm retired. This was so great,'“ Diaz said. “Little lady moment when he needed to talk about his feelings and then went, 'What the f*** did I do?' You were being a b**** in your post-fight interview and put your gloves down and shedded a tear. Then two weeks later, he's like, 'I want to fight Nate. I'll come back for Nate.' You didn't even leave, stupid. You f***ing p***ed out. Don't involve me in that s***. You're a p****. Get back in the game and start squabbling.

"I'm not trying to fight somebody that's done. I'm trying to fight the welterweight champ."