5 reasons why Nate Diaz's next UFC fight may be his last

#2. UFC is saving him for a Conor McGregor trilogy

Beyond punishing Nate Diaz for not obliging, the UFC might also want to extract every drop of value he has to offer before releasing him.

Other than miraculously convincing Khabib Nurmagomedov to end his retirement in pursuit of an unlikely rematch with Conor McGregor, the most lucrative fight the UFC can schedule is a trilogy between Nate and McGregor.

However, Nate's interest in the trilogy rematch is not as high as the UFC's. He finished McGregor via rear-naked choke in their first bout, and firmly believes he was the victim of unfair judging in his decision loss to McGregor in their second fight.

Thus, the 37-year-old has shown little interest in fighting a foe he believes he's already beaten twice. Worse still, McGregor's recent leg break against Dustin Poirier has further diminished Nate's interest in the trilogy fight as the Irishman is in no condition to train without taking cautionary measures.

Given Nate's keenness to get his final UFC fight out of the way as soon as possible, being forced to wait for Conor to fully recover will only sour his already low opinion of the UFC.

---

#1. He has asked for his UFC release

Months ago, Nate Diaz's frustrations with the UFC reached a boiling point. Prevented from pursuing the fights he wanted, the younger Diaz brother took to Twitter to air out his grievances with the UFC.

Ultimately, he requested his release from the company, implying that the UFC is keeping him from accomplishing certain objectives.

If a fighter is brought to such a point where they request to be released from their contractual obligations, it is likely they have no intention of ever fighting again for the promotion in question. Thus, Nate seems to have both feet out the door.