After three years away from the UFC Octagon, Nate Diaz is set to return against Anthony Pettis at UFC 241.

Whilst speaking on ESPN‘s The Ariel Helwani Show, the younger Diaz brother talked about why he’s coming back now and why Anthony Pettis.

“It was just the best fight. Coming off a good win, and he’s one of the top guys and better guys in the division. He’s one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC. It’s a guy I would actually enjoy watching over the rest of these fighters. It’s getting boring, the fight game. If I’m going to take part in any fights, I would like it to be a fight that is interesting. If I’m a fight fan, I want an interesting fight. I don’t want a boring fight.”

Although Nate didn’t see Pettis’ whole fight against Stephen Thompson at UFC Nashville, he said he saw enough to be impressed.

“I didn’t see the fight with “Wonderboy.” I saw the knockout and saw some jacked-up footage from other places. It’s a good win. That guy just fought for the title with Tyron Woodley. Some good fights — boring fights, but he’s having some good success there. Anthony has been in the game for a while. I’m not into anybody who doesn’t put their time in and [put] good fights on. It’s good to find a worthy opponent.”

When asked about Pettis’ recent comments that he doesn’t like Nate and that this fight is personal for him, Nate said it didn’t make any difference to him.

“It doesn’t make a difference. I don’t care. I like him just fine. Like I said, he has some good wins in the UFC and he’s done a good job. He has some losses but has some entertaining s*** too, so I’m cool with that. Anthony Pettis is the biggest, best fight you can find in the whole lightweight, welterweight divisions. With all due respect to the heavyweights (Daniel Cormier vs Stipe Miocic headline UFC 241), who are great also, [the UFC] can’t have me headlining any cards. They can’t give Nate Diaz [pay-per-view] points, so I have to do it all myself. So this is how we do it.”

While had nothing bad to say about his opponent Pettis, the same couldn’t be said for Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor and the UFC. You can see exactly what he said about these here.

Who do you see winning between Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis?

See also:

Ben Askren Trolls Nate Diaz And Dillon Danis