Nate Diaz is officially a free agent after he was removed from the UFC roster.
The move comes after Diaz fought out his contract with his win over Tony Ferguson in September, but the one-time UFC title challenger didn’t actually get removed from the active roster until this week. UFC officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
Diaz’s representative Zach Rosenfield also confirmed to MMA Fighting that the Stockton, Calif. native was officially out of his contract with the UFC.
A 27-fight veteran of the UFC, Diaz made it known that he planned on testing free agency following the end of his most recent contract with the promotion.
He was originally slated to face Khamzat Chimaev in the main event at UFC 279 but the Chechen wrestler badly missed weight, which led to a change at the top of the card. Diaz ultimately faced Ferguson instead before finishing the fight in the fourth round with a guillotine choke submission.
Afterwards, UFC president Dana White praised Diaz for all the fights he had in the UFC while declaring that he would gladly welcome him back if he ever wanted to return one day.
“Whatever he moves on to do, I wish him nothing but the best,” White said. “He’s starting his own organization or getting into promoting or doing something else, I wish him nothing but the best of luck. It’s been awesome having him here.”
With his UFC contract concluded, Diaz now becomes one of the most sought after free agents in mixed martial arts history.
Diaz has already flirted with the idea of crossing over to boxing with a potential fight against Jake Paul as one possible option for his next move. He’ll undoubtedly receive interest from other MMA organizations as well thanks to Diaz’s star power and massive fan base.
He’s also starting his own promotion — Real Fight Inc. — where Diaz plans to promote fights across boxing, MMA and grappling.
Guilherme Cruz contributed to this report