Fan favorite Nate Diaz made his highly anticipated return to the Octagon at November’s UFC 244 event for a welterweight bout with Jorge Masvidal.

The pay-per-view event headliner was so big that the promotion even decided to introduce a new BMF belt for the contests winner. In addition, the new silver hardware would be present by Hollywood Celebrity Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

Unfortunately for fans of the Stockton Native, Nate Diaz ultimately suffered a TKO loss to Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 244 main event.

The bout was called off due to multiple lacerations located near the eyes of Diaz. It was an underwhelming ending to a thrilling fight that ‘Gamebred’ was clearly getting the better of.

Prior to his loss to Masvidal, ‘The Stockton Slugger’ was coming off a unanimous decision victory over former lightweight title holder Anthony Pettis in a welterweight bout at UFC 241.

While the fighting future of Nate Diaz remains unclear at this time, the California staple wants some credit for putting the fight game back in gear this past year.

Diaz took to Twitter moments ago with the following message.

Don’t act like I didn’t kick this whole fight shit back in gear…

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) January 5, 2020

“Don’t act like I didn’t kick this whole fight shit back in gear…”

Nate Diaz does have some potential options for his next bout, this if he chooses to fight again. He could get rebooked for a fight with Dustin Poirier, which unfortunately fell apart in 2018.

Another obvious option for Diaz would be to finally settle the score with Conor McGregor. The Stockton native and the Irishman have competed against each other twice in the past, with both men taking home a win respectively.

Who would you like to see Nate Diaz fight next if he does in fact decide to return to the Octagon? Sound off in the comments section Penn Nation!

This article first appeared on bjpenn.com January 5, 2020