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Always a favourite with hardcore fight fans,
Diaz shot to wider fame when he humbled superstar McGregor,
handing him his first UFC defeat in March 2016.
The rematch in August of the same year was an instant classic
and a huge pay-per-view draw in which McGregor won a narrow
decision victory.
But instead of making the most of his new-found fame, Diaz has
not fought since, blaming the UFC for his three-year absence
from the octagon.
"I beat the best guy, and you guys (the UFC) are just treating
me like, vanished," Diaz said in a recent interview with ESPN.
Having banked millions for the two McGregor fights, the
34-year-old claims that the UFC never offered him the right
money or opponent to entice him to get back in the cage.
Diaz has kept busy by competing in triathlons and opening a
business selling cannabidiol (CBD) products with his older
brother and fellow UFC fighter Nick, before finally finding a
worthy comeback opponent in Anthony "Showtime" Pettis.
"They (the UFC) have been trying to degrade me the whole time
I've been out, they're trying to put me low on the card against
not very big names," he explained at a recent open workout.
"It don't matter. I believe I'm the main event in any even they
got," he added.
That is true of Saturday night's card, where the heavyweight
title rematch between Cormier and Miocic is barely causing a
ripple on social media in comparison to the return of Diaz in a
welterweight bout against Pettis in the co-main event.
"I'm here as a businessman and a natural-born killer. I'm here
to get the job done, and he (Pettis) is the guy to do it on," he
said.
Like Diaz, Pettis has had some epic and bloody battles in the
past, and with both men keen to fight off the front foot, the
crowd at the Honda Arena in Anaheim will be expecting some
fireworks.
The possibility of a trilogy fight against former two-weight
champ McGregor, who hasn't fought since losing his lightweight
belt to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October last year, still looms
large over Diaz's career, but the Californian is remaining
tight-lipped.
"I'm gonna fight this weekend, and time will tell on all that
stuff," he said.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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