Nate Diaz returns to the cage at UFC 263 on June 12, 2021, against Leon Edwards, and to get everyone hyped for that five-round Welterweight showdown, UFC is giving us quite the free fight to watch: Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis.
UFC 241, which took placed in Aug. 2019, marked the first time we’d seen Diaz in three years, with his last fight being a razor thin decision loss to Conor McGregor in their second fight. After pocketing big bucks for both the initial short notice win over McGregor and then the immediate rematch, it was a real question mark as to whether we’d ever see Nate fight in the Octagon again.
But, Diaz did return, and in fine form, too. Many consider this fight against Anthony Pettis to be one of the best of his career. It certainly turned out better than his bout against Jorge Masvidal a mere 2.5 months later ... barely enough time for the serious cut Nate received in the Pettis bout to heal.
Diaz will need to dig deep and provide every ounce of scrap he’s got to defeat Leon Edwards at UFC 263. Edwards is the -450 favorite coming into the fight to Diaz’s +300 dog, some pretty lopsided odds indeed. But, one thing we’ve learned when it comes to Nate Diaz is you can never count him out. And 1.5 years removed from the Masvidal fight, who knows what new tricks he might show up with.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 263 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 263: “Adesanya vs. Vettori 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
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