All athletes strive to get to free agency," Reyes says. "And he's done it. It's an amazing thing, because it's very, very rare [in MMA] -- if ever -- that anybody has been able to build their brand and then be able to go, 'Now I want to be able to move the way I want to move.'" I don't care how the fight was going. This is war. We're fighting for f----ing cities and families and b------. Your city, family and b------ are all mine. I just killed you. And that's the champ." In Diaz's mind, Edwards followed what had become a pattern. For three of Diaz's past four opponents, their next fight was for a title: McGregor, Masvidal and Edwards. Diaz believes the UFC is setting Chimaev up for that very thing -- a chance at the belt -- if he can beat Diaz. I saw the market," Diaz said. "You're a G, I'm a G. I can make a gangster fight out of that. I'll do it off the Pettis fight. Follow the blueprint, motherf---er. It's right here." While Diaz has never won a UFC title, he is one of the more accomplished fighters in the promotion's history. (Source: ESPN Stats & Info.) Stat

How can I not create my own organization?" Diaz said, who added he went into the Masvidal fight with a torn meniscus. "I created all this s---. I made the Conor fight. I made the biggest thing out of the Masvidal fight. The president was there. That was all done by me. I don't care what nobody says. The UFC and people can promote it like I'm a hater. No, no, no. I made all that happen. I'll write my own organization. I'll write my own story then." Diaz finds it ironic that McGregor took a gig that was first offered to Diaz, considering how their careers have intersected. Diaz believes he was the catalyst for McGregor achieving superstardom as the biggest money-drawing star in UFC history. Diaz choked out McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016, raising his profile exponentially. In the rematch five months later, McGregor won by a very close majority decision, with one judge calling it a draw. For his next fight after Chimaev, Diaz would like to compete in mixed martial arts, not boxing, under his promotional banner. But, Diaz said, if history is any indication, everything changes for him after every fight. So, nothing can be made definite until after Saturday.That's enough for me," Diaz said, referring to his fight with Edwards. "If you get your ass whipped, you're the loser; I'm the winner. The only thing that happened in that fight with me and him was [the big fifth-round punch]. Butcher did well initially but had trouble with Diaz's pace and body shots as the rounds wore on, a situation not foreign to past Diaz opponents. ESPN Daily podcast Diaz returned in August 2019, beating Anthony Pettis, which set up the mythical "BMF title" fight with Masvidal at New York's Madison Square Garden. The massive UFC event, attended by then-President Donald Trump, was the first time a sitting U.S. president had ever attended an MMA fight. Early in this camp, Diaz and company traveled to Belgrade, Montana, to train with Brazilian jiu-jitsu royalty Kron Gracie. About three weeks from the fight, Diaz, his brother and his teammates competed in a triathlon in Lake Tahoe. Sometimes, they all go downstate to Los Angeles to train with coach Ernie Reyes Jr., a lifelong martial artist with a bevy of Hollywood acting credits.

On Saturday, Diaz will fight up-and-coming star Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC 279 in Las Vegas ( 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV). It will be the final fight on Diaz's UFC contract, as he is poised to do something that has never been done before in MMA: depart the UFC voluntarily at the height of his fame. Diaz vs. Chimaev is a polarizing matchup that analysts and even other UFC fighters have blasted. Chimaev is 28 years old and one of the hottest rising stars in the UFC, a dominant wrestler from Chechnya via Sweden with a 5-0 UFC record and four finishes. He is very likely on the cusp of a title shot. Diaz, meanwhile, is nine years older, has 14 more years of pro-MMA wear and tear, and has lost three of four. In 2022, Diaz says maybe he'll fight McGregor while being out of contract with the UFC, and White will have to make a deal for the trilogy bout with Diaz's own promotional company. Diaz said one of his counteroffers to the UFC was the promotion had to sign five of his teammates. Diaz is exceptionally close with his team, and with the future staked to Real Fight Inc., the name of his new promotion, he can bring them along for the ride.When there's a cool guy who comes in and beats all these fools up and he becomes champion, that's when I want to fight in the UFC because he's actually a cool guy," Diaz said. "And he's not there now. But when he does [get there], you'll know it. Because I'm gonna say, 'What's up now, motherf---er?' Marijuana is a regular presence in Nate Diaz's camp, whether at home or in the gym weeks before a main event fight against Khamzat Chimaev. Marc Raimondi/ESPN It makes perfect sense, because they want him to have a title fight," Diaz said. "So who do they have him fight? I'm the champion. Anybody I fight gets the f---ing title fight. I'm the guy." The UFC's reason for making the fight is transparent: Before Diaz departs, the promotion wants to use his star power to build the profile of Chimaev. It's an old pro wrestling business strategy applied when wrestlers were on their way out of the region -- they first were made to lose to that territory's next big star. Chimaev is a -1100 betting favorite, while Diaz is a +700 underdog, per Caesars Sportsbook. None of this is lost on Diaz, who referred to the fight as something of a "punishment." Diaz initially turned down the Chimaev fight last winter, causing the UFC to extend his contract. But after Chimaev beat Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in April, Diaz's team told the UFC that Diaz was willing to fight anyone to fulfill the final fight on his deal. The UFC again offered Chimaev, and Diaz accepted.

With his knowledge of Hollywood and marketability, Reyes sees a bright future for Diaz in whatever he does next. Diaz said this moment is simply the "halftime show," now that he will have the freedom to do whatever he wants after this fight. The list of actors whom Diaz would let beat up his character in a movie is short but headlined, he said, by Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Editor's note: Khamzat Chimaev missed weight and Nate Diaz fought Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279. He submitted Ferguson in the fourth round. ( Watch on ESPN+) If Diaz can be involved in all that for the UFC and some of the other prominent stars in the sport, he believes he might as well control his destiny and start something new as a free agent.I don't want to not fight in the UFC, because that's where all the best fighters are in the world. But I do not want to fight in UFC for a while, because while I'm here I'm either doing nothing or I have to fight some f---ing lame ass and build him up for him to fight somebody, for somebody to be somebody for me to fight. Does that make sense, though, or no? It's f---ing completely logical, I believe." White will be cageside Saturday night, watching one of the stars of his company perhaps make the final walk. He understands what a Diaz departure might mean for the UFC. If I fight Jake Paul, he ain't paying me, I'm paying him," Diaz says. "I don't want or need to fight Jake Paul. He needs and wants to fight me." Then, in August 2017, McGregor leveraged his stardom into a boxing match with Mayweather, which stands as the second biggest pay-per-view event of all time, just behind Mayweather's 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. Diaz said McGregor getting the Mayweather fight made him "f---ing hot," because it's one of the fights Diaz wanted, as someone who has been boxing since he was a kid and has sparred with the likes of boxing Hall of Famer Andre Ward. Diaz is fiercely loyal to his friends and teammates, whom he regularly flies out on private jets to fights, seminars and vacations. They smoke, train and party together, and have what appears to be an inseparable bond.