Yahoo Sports Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis confirmed for UFC 241 in August
UFC 241 got a blockbuster co-main event on Saturday, when a welterweight bout between Nate Diaz and former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis was added to the card that will be held on Aug. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The fight will be the first for Diaz in nearly three years. His last fight came on Aug. 20, 2016, in Las Vegas when he lost a decision to Conor McGregor. That was a rematch of their bout earlier that year when Diaz choked out McGregor at the MGM Grand Garden on March 5, 2016.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to Yahoo Sports.
Diaz was supposed to fight Dustin Poirier, now the UFC’s interim lightweight champion, last year at UFC 230 in New York, but Poirier pulled out of the bout with an injury. None of the other fights the UFC offered interested him until the bout with Pettis came along.
Pettis rejuvenated his career when he moved to lightweight to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 229 on Oct. 6, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Though Ferguson won by second round knockout when Pettis was injured and his corner wouldn’t let him go out for the third round, it was a spectacular match that had the sell-out crowd on its feet roaring.
Pettis showed that was no fluke by coming back on March 23, in Nashville when he knocked out Stephen Thompson in the second round.
A Diaz-Pettis fight will be highly intriguing because both men have outstanding submission games and great stand-up.
A rematch for the heavyweight title between Daniel Cormier and former champion Stipe Miocic will serve as the main event of UFC 241.
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