Nate Diaz is returning to MMA, but not with UFC. And that might become an issue if he wanted to make that return someday. 

It was announced on Monday that Diaz would be returning to the sport with a fight against fellow UFC alum and Jake Paul boxing opponent, Mike Perry, and that was something that more than excited the die-hard Diaz fans that wanted to see him return. 

Continuously since he departed UFC had there been calls for him to be brought back, and Ariel Helwani reported after his return was announced that the promotion was interested in doing so. 

“I can tell you the UFC was interested in bringing Nate Diaz back,” he said. “But at the end of the day, this was a no-brainer for Nate. I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to say this could be the most-watched MMA card of all time, because it’s on the biggest platform in the world.” 

Helwani continued to say that Diaz winning could raise his asking price, believing the competition to be “great for the fighters and the health of the sport.” 

Not just this, but the way I heard it, Diaz taking this fight closes the door on a UFC return completely. So whatever Diaz is making or planning for future fights, he’s doing so knowing there’s no UFC homecoming possible now. https://t.co/CXYKKl0BOv

— Luke Thomas🏋️‍♀️ (@lthomasnews) March 16, 2026

Luke Thomas added to Helwani’s statement that Diaz “taking this fight closes the door on a UFC return completely.” Meaning that Diaz had likely secured a payday he was confident in shutting that door in favor of.

Following up on that, Thomas said that there was disappointment from UFC’s side that he had taken the Jake Paul fight to turn them down, and in signing with MVP for this upcoming fight appears to have rejected them again.