Ex-UFC star Nate Diaz to return to octagon for MVP’s MMA debut
Nate Diaz will compete in an MMA combat for the primary time in practically 4 years when he faces BKFC’s “King of Violence” Mike Perry in a 5 spherical welterweight showdown as a part of Most Valuable Promotions’ May 16 MMA occasion on Netflix, headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Caranothe promotion confirmed with ESPN on Monday.
Diaz-Perry joins Rousey-Carano and Francis Ngannou’s heavyweight tilt with Philip Lins to make MVP’s first MMA occasion at Intuit Dome Los Angeles a triple-headliner.
“MVP delivered the most-viewed boxing event since the advent of cable, and now we’re set to break records again with the biggest viewership in MMA history with the addition of Diaz vs Perry to Rousey vs Carano and Ngannou vs Lins,” Nakisa Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, mentioned in an announcement. “Nate Diaz is the Real BMF, and Mike Perry is the King of Violence – this will be a war from the first press conference all the way to the end when one of them has their hand raised.”
The immensely standard Diaz, 40, final competed in MMA in Sept. 2022 when he defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. Since then, he has taken a detour into boxing with a unanimous resolution loss to Jake Paul in 2023 and a majority resolution win over Jorge Masvidal in 2024. Diaz, out of Stockton, Calif., stays probably the most standard figures in fight sports activities with wins over Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone and a star-making rivalry with Conor McGregorwho he famously submitted in 2016. Diaz fought for the UFC’s symbolic ‘BMF’ title in a dropping effort to Jorge Masvidal in 2019. His return to MMA will probably be in opposition to an opponent who fought within the UFC however has had a meteoric rise in naked knuckle boxing.
“Glad to be in action. It’s time,” Diaz mentioned in an announcement. “Don’t forget where this all came from. I got plans on doing a lot more in the next 10 years, no matter where it is. Time to set the bar again, so get ready for a new takeover again and again until the end of time.”
“Platinum” Mike Perry fought within the UFC till 2021 and had a report of 14-8 as a combined martial artist earlier than efficiently transitioned to the world of naked knuckle, the place he’s 6-0 with wins over Michael “Venom” Page, Jeremy StephensLuck Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez. His success earned him the symbolic “King of Violence” championship. Like Diaz, Perry additionally took a detour into boxing and was stopped within the sixth spherical by Jake Paul in July 2024.
“The King of Violence returns to MMA to elbow his opponent in the f–king face,” Perry mentioned in an announcement. “Saturday, May 16th, on Netflix, Nate Diaz is going lights out.”
The combat will probably be contested underneath the Unified Rules of MMA inside a hexagon cage for 5 5-minute rounds.
“It’s an absolutely massive night of fights in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 16th, as we continue building some of the biggest global events in combat sports,” Bidarian continued. “Thank you to Netflix for believing in our vision. The future of MMA is bright.”
