'100%' - Former UFC fighter Nate Diaz plans mixed martial arts return after Jake Paul boxing match

Nate Diaz has confirmed that he plans to return to MMA following his fight with Jake Paul on Saturday night.

The 38-year-old is the latest in a long line of crossover fighters who have come from UFC and other MMA franchises, and he meets Paul at the American Airlines Centre in Texas.

It will be Diaz’s first fight outside the UFC, with his last action a win against Tony Ferguson in September.

Diaz cuts a controversial figure at times and he has been outspoken both in the run-up to his clash with Paul, and throughout his MMA career, but he has acknowledged that he now appreciates the way UFC does business.

“Yeah, I'm going to do MMA," Diaz said to the Full Send Podcast for his post-fight career plans.

“100%, I'll box and do MMA, again a bunch of times. I think afterward, after every fight, it's like, after my last fight with Ferguson, I got out. It was like a breath of fresh air.

“I appreciate the UFC more now than when I was in it, you know what I'm saying? I can see different things that I wouldn't even look at when I was in there.

“Like 'Oh, that's why they do that, cool actually'. So, I'm going to get done with this fight, then I'm sure another breath of fresh air.”

Diaz would make one change to the UFC, though, saying he did not like the rules on uniforms.

He added: “That's the biggest promotion in the world, that's the best promotion in the world. They've got the biggest fighter, biggest name fighters and I think the UFC is pretty dope, pretty legit.

“There's things I would change but that's personal, like that uniform rule where everybody looks the same and s*** like that. It's not football, I like to wear whatever I want to wear.

'”But they've got their s*** together and they're doing a great job and I think it's going to stay the best thing for a long time.”

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