Michael Chandler believes Nate Diaz’s post-fight comments signal a return to the UFC: “It goes to show, this is the place to be”

UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler believes Nate Diaz will return to the promotion.

The Stockton native is fresh off his UFC 279 headlining role last Saturday. In that outing, Diaz was originally expected to face Khamzat Chimaev in the main event. However, after ‘Borz’ badly missed weight, Tony Ferguson was bumped to the headliner.

In the main event, the departing welterweight scored a fourth-round submission. Following the victory, Diaz discussed his future plans in a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. It was well known heading into UFC 279 that the fighter’s contract was expiring.

During the post-fight interview, Nate Diaz confirmed he would spend some time away from the octagon. He teased a possible move into boxing, likely to face Jake Paul. However, Diaz also stated that he would return to the UFC to win a world title in the future.

Michael Chandler believes those comments tell fans all they need to know about the UFC. The former Bellator lightweight champion discussed UFC 279 in an interview on The MMA Hour. There, Chandler stated that he believes Diaz will be back.

Furthermore, the Missouri native stated that Nate Diaz’s comments were a sign that the UFC is the place to be. Even despite all the bad blood, the fan favorite signaled that he would return to the octagon.

“Nate’s got a plethora of options. The guy is a huge draw, a big name. He is intriguing. He is interesting,” Chandler said. “People wanna see what he’s gonna do. I’ve heard a couple different takes on what he’s gonna do. Obviously, there’s a couple low-hanging fruits out there, a couple obvious options.” (h/t MMA News)

He continued, “And then also, the greatest thing too — even with the middle fingers to the man and the water bottles thrown, he still said, ‘I’mma come right back here to the UFC.’ Why would Nate say that or want to that? It just goes to show, this is the place to be, this is the big show. So, he’s gonna go out and have a little bit of fun, do some other sports, and we’ll see Nate Diaz back in the UFC down the line.”

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