At long last, Nate Diaz is set to return to the Octagon. The fan favorite is scheduled to fight former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis in a welterweight showdown at UFC 241 on August 17.
The UFC is already doing its part to promote this dynamite welterweight scrap, having recently published a Nate Diaz highlight reel on social media.
See this Nate Diaz promo below:
It’s a pretty great highlight reel, featuring footage of Diaz’s impressive victories over Michael Johnson, Takanori Gomi, Gray Maynard, and more. But somehow, it seems like the creators of this video skipped over something…
It’s hard to put your finger on it… there just seems to be something missing…
Oh right! Diaz’s two fights with Conor McGregor — his most recent and biggest fights to date.
For whatever reason, the team behind this promo completely ignored the fact that in his last two outings, Nate Diaz engaged in two of the biggest and most exciting fights in MMA history, opposite the sport’s biggest star, winning the first fight and very nearly winning the second.
Nowhere in this video is there footage of Nate Diaz strangling Conor McGregor, forcing him to tap the blood spattered canvas in defeat. Nowhere in this video is there footage of Nate Diaz winning rounds in his rematch with the Irish star, which he ultimately lost by majority decision. But why?
Well, that’s a question we can’t answer, but it’s certainly hard not to wonder if the UFC is attempting to coddle its biggest star. Perhaps even trying to keep him happy as UFC brass negotiate his imminent return to the cage? Wishful thinking, perhaps. Conor McGregor recently injured his arm and probably won’t be able to fight again for some time.
Whatever the case, he and Nate Diaz have plenty of history — history the UFC seems keen to ignore for the moment.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/30/2019.