Nate Diaz recently reunited with an opponent that he went to war with in 2015.
With Diaz looking to stay active in combat sports going forward, it looks like we might not have seen the last of the fan favorite inside the Octagon.
The 40-year-old has been a beloved figure in the sport from an early point in his career, which was helped by his older brother being Nick Diaz.
Of course, impressive and entertaining performances are another key part of achieving this level of star status.
Diaz has some incredibly memorable wins under his belt, including a fight of the night bout against an opponent that he recently crossed paths with.
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Nate Diaz and Michael Johnson reunite nearly a decade on from their UFC fight
Michael Johnson has faced some of the best lightweights in UFC history during his long tenure in the promotion.
While Johnson is continuing to secure wins inside the Octagon at 39 years old, in December of 2015 in Orlando, Florida, he was convincingly beaten by Nate Diaz.
This was Diaz’s first fight back in over a year following a one-sided loss to Rafael dos Anjos which exposed some of the biggest weaknesses in his game.
Despite Johnson doing his best to replicate some of RDA’s success, the iconic boxing and pressure of his opponent got the better of him over a fight of the night winning three-round bout.
Diaz followed this signature win up with his now iconic callout of Conor McGregor that would eventually lead to two of the biggest fights in UFC history.
In a recent Instagram post detailing his trips to New York City and Miami, Diaz showed that he had reunited with Johnson nearly a decade on from their meeting inside the Octagon.
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Fans at the time declared that Nate Diaz was back to his best following his win over Michael Johnson
A Reddit thread posted immediately after Nate Diaz’s win over Michael Johnson shows just how excited people were by his performance.
It wasn’t just another win for the fan favorite, he had returned from a devastating loss and arguably looked better than ever.
‘Nate is back!’
‘Nate couldn’t miss with that one two down the middle. Classic Diaz, couldn’t be happier to see it. Just waiting on that uncensored post fight now.’
‘Nate’s murdered Johnson. He couldn’t even get close without eating a mouthful of jabs.’
Other fans, who had no idea what they were going to see in the following years, responded to Diaz surprisingly calling out Conor McGregor, who was still a featherweight at the time.
‘Conor vs Nate would be a sick fight, that’s for damn sure.’