5 potential Nate Diaz fights that have likely passed us by

#2 Nate Diaz vs. Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman (left) and Nate Diaz (right)

Nate Diaz has been competing in the welterweight division for almost nine years now. It is surprising that a big draw like him has never fought for a world championship title in the division. This is likely due to the fact that he failed to put together a run of wins that could earn him a title shot.

His star power, however, almost earned him a crack at the title against reigning champ Kamaru Usman. Following Usman's emphatic knockout victory over Jorge Masvidal in their rematch at UFC 261, the Stockton native challenged 'The Nigerian Nightmare' to a fight.

Diaz jibed at Usman for calling out Colby Covington for a rematch after beating Masvidal, claiming that the 35-year-old had already finished 'Chaos' in their first fight.

In response, Usman claimed he'd be more than willing to share the octagon with Diaz and asked the Stockton native to talk to UFC matchmaker Hunter Campbell if he was serious about the fight.

The back-and-forth continued for a while on Twitter but the speculation surrounding a fight between the pair died down when Dana White confirmed that Usman would indeed fight Covington in a rematch at UFC 268.

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#1 Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier

Dustin Poirier (left) and Nate Diaz (right)

Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier were initially booked to fight at UFC 230 back in 2018. The fight, however, didn't come to fruition as the Louisianan pulled out due to an injury he required to undergo surgery for.

Earlier this year, with both men looking for an opponent to fight, they decided to go up against each other. Diaz and Poirier indulged in several back-and-forths on Twitter and seemed to verbally agree to fight one another. The Stockton native said he wanted to fight Poirier and subsequently retire from MMA.

Poirier too seemed game to fight Diaz and fans were hyped to see two of their favorite fighters share the octagon but the UFC brass played spoilsport. Diaz revealed that the UFC apparently isn't interested in booking a matchup between him and 'The Diamond'.

"I just talked to the ufc I said wassup with the Dp fight I wanna fight asap but they said dustin sucks and they don’t want it sorry Dustin you suck hope to fight asap tho let’s do this Ps Olivera you suck too."

Whatever be the reason for the promotion rejecting the idea of a potential scrap between Poirier and Diaz, fight fans were denied of what would have been an intriguing fight between two elite fighters.