It’s been nearly four years since Nate Diaz had a professional MMA fight, but that will all change on May 16 when he fights Mike Perry for the MVP organization founded by Jake Paul and his business partner Nakisa Bidarian. 

Diaz recently opened up about how he does eventually want to go back to the UFC, and even got some big offers to return this year but the opponents that were offered to him weren’t right for him, implying that a trilogy fight with Conor McGregor was one of those fights. MVP’s Bidarian recently spoke with “Bloody Elbow” to not only confirm that MVP offered Diaz less money than the UFC, but it was their mentality as a promotion that swayed Diaz towards them.

“[UFC] really tried to sign Nate Diaz…When they said there’s an offer that Nate got that he couldn’t refuse, Nate was honest. We offered him less money than the UFC offered him, but we gave him a fighter-first mentality and a promise to work with him closely to be the best platform for him in his career.” Bidarian also noted that despite Diaz acting as a co-promoter on the MVP card where he fought Paul in a boxing match, Diaz will not be the co-promoter of the upcoming MMA card. However, Bidarian reiterated that he and Paul will be working with Diaz closely in the future.

Diaz has recently called out Paul for a rematch from their initial 2023 boxing match, this time wanting Paul to face him in an MMA fight. Bidarian did acknowledge this, but confirmed that Paul is currently sidelined with an injury, meaning that Diaz will have to be a little more patient before he gets his rematch.

Please credit “Bloody Elbow” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.