Nate Diaz picked up a massive win over former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis tonight in Anaheim.
The Stockton native was returning to action for the first time in three years in this evenings co-main event against ‘Showtime’.
Diaz had most previously competed at UFC 202 in July of 2016, where he suffered a controversial majority decision loss to Conor McGregor.
During his three year break from the Octagon, Diaz had “allegedly” turned down several potential fights as he was waiting for an exciting opportunity. That exciting prospect turned out to be Anthony Pettis.
“Showtime” had made his welterweight debut at March’s UFC Nashville event, where he scored a spectacular KO victory of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Like Diaz, Pettis has an extensive fight history spanning over a decade.
Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis put on a show for fight fans this evening in Anaheim. The fan favorites went back and forth for fifteen straight minutes in tonight’s co-main event.
At the end of the third round it was clear that Diaz had done enough to earn a unanimous decision victory, which was ultimately awarded by the judges in attendance.
The “Stockton Slugger” reacted to the victory during tonight’s post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
“It’s Nick Diaz army mother f*ckers,” said Nate Diaz. “The reason that I was off is because everybody sucks. There was nobody to fight. But, with this belt, I want to defend it against… Jorge Masvidal had a good last fight. A good last fight. All respect to the man. But there aren’t no gangsters in this game anymore. There’s nobody that does it right but me and him. So I know my mans a gangster but, he ain’t no west coast gangster. You know what I’m saying?”
With tonight’s win, Nate Diaz improves to 3-1 over his past four Octagon appearances.
Following his loss to “The Stockton Slugger” at tonight’s UFC 241 event, Anthony Pettis falls to 22-9 overall in his illustrious career.
Would you like to see that UFC book a fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz next? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com August 18, 2019