Nate Diaz targets fight with Charles Oliveira—with a catch

Nate Diaz wants to fight the UFC’s No. 3-ranked lightweight contender Charles Oliveira—but he wants to fight him at 170 pounds.

Diaz has not fought since November, 2019, when he was stopped by Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight fight. That being said, UFC President Dana White recently divulged that he is working on a lightweight fight for the fan favorite.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of ESPN, the official broadcast partner of the UFC, Diaz expressed interest in fighting Oliveira, but added that he doesn’t want to fight the Brazilian at 155 pounds.

Instead, he wants to fight Oliveira in the 170-pound welterweight division.

The two names at the top of @NateDiaz209's list are Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira.

But Diaz wants them to meet him at 165 or 170 pounds 👀 (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/XlOQlG31Tt

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 9, 2021

“The whole lightweight division has been taking Ls. Every single one of them, except for what’s-his-name who just beat [Tony] Ferguson,” Diaz said, referencing Oliveira. “That’s the guy right there. I’ll fight that guy, that’s who I’ll fight.

“I like the winners,” Diaz added. “I’m a winner. I ain’t lost to nobody.”

Diaz then clarified that, while he wants to fight Oliveira, he has no interest in dropping back to lightweight for the matchup. He also reiterated his interest in fighting Dustin Poirier.

“I ain’t fighting at ’55,” he said, sharing his hopes of fighting lightweight contenders at 170 pounds. “There ain’t nobody at 170. When those guys grow up I’ll fight somebody at 170. The ’55 division has some guys in it. I like the Oliveira fight or the Dustin Poirier fight.

Nate Diaz has not fought in the lightweight division since December of 2015, when he picked up a decision win over Michael Johnson. He’s fought four times since then, with all of those contests occurring at welterweight.

In the first two fights of his recent welterweight run, he went 1-1 with Conor McGregor, winning the first fight by submission and losing the second by decision. He then picked up a decision win over Anthony Pettis before losing to Masvidal in his most recent fight.

Who do you want to see Nate Diaz fight next?