UFC News: Dana White discusses McGregor and Masvidal as future Diaz opponents

What's the story?

Nate Diaz is well and truly back. The ever-popular California-based fighter returned from a 3-year absence last night with a victory over Anthony Pettis at UFC 241.

With Diaz' name dominating all the headlines this weekend, it hasn't taken long for the MMA world to begin speculation on what is next for Diaz.

During the post-fight press conference, Dana White made the following comments on what could be in line for Nate Diaz' future after being asked if there had been a message sent from Conor McGregor following the win for Diaz...

“I bet there is. I haven’t looked at my phone. I don’t know if Conor text me or didn’t text me."

“If you would have asked before tonight do I think he will call out Masvidal he would have been the last person I thought he would call out. But he did and it’s kind of fun. “I don’t think anybody would disagree that they would want to see that fight. We will see. I know that Masvidal feels he should get the next shot. If he wanted to take that fight it would be fun and I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

In case you didn't know...

Diaz earned himself a stunning unanimous decision victory over Anthony Pettis last night and overcame all fears that he may be rusty after his lengthy stint away from MMA.

Immediately after the fight, Diaz let the world know that he has eyes only for Jorge Masvidal for his next fight. As mouth-watering a prospect it is to see Masvidal and Diaz face off next, fight fans around the world seem like they will not rest easy until the Diaz-McGregor trilogy reaches its long-awaited conclusion.

The heart of the matter...

Nate Diaz is determined to blaze his own trail in the UFC and is far from dependant on Conor McGregor to draw eyes to his fights. The reaction to Diaz upon his return has been feverish and has proven with no uncertainty that the Stockton based fighter is one of the top names in the sport who will be calling his own shots from now on.

What's next?

The welterweight division is bursting at the seams with world-class talent right now and it previously looked likely that Jorge Masvidal would be facing off with Leon Edwards in his next fight.

Now it seems that the successful return of one of the UFC's biggest stars has completely shaken the division up - the UFC matchmakers will have some seriously difficult decisions to make in the coming weeks as the UFC welterweight title picture hots up even more.