Nate Diaz returning in November. Photo via Getty Images.
One-time UFC lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz is expected to return from suspension in November, GRACIEMAG.com learned on Tuesday.
Mike Kogan, Diaz’s manager, said today that his client, who was recently fined and suspended for using a homophobic slur on Twitter, will be back to fighting in the fall.
The return, according to the schedule of reported fights for November, would land Diaz on either the UFC Fight for the Troops on Nov. 6 or UFC 167 on Nov. 16.
Diaz’s return comes after a $20,000 fine and 90-day suspension for using a slur on his Twitter page in which he was reacting to another fighter’s comments in a recent article. Bryan Caraway, the fighter Diaz was referring to in his tweet, made statements condemning marijuana use and expressed his happiness to collect a fight night bonus from Pat Healy, who lost the bonus after testing positive for marijuana metabolites in a post-fight exam.
“I feel bad for Pat Healy,” Diaz wrote, adding, “they took an innocent man’s money and I think the guy who took the money is the biggest [explicit] in the world.”
In a subsequent defense of Diaz, Kogan relayed comments saying his client’s use of the slur wasn’t directed at homosexuals.
Diaz last competed at UFC on Fox 7 in a match against former Strikeforce lightweight champ Josh Thomson. Diaz suffered the first TKO loss of his career in the fight, falling to Thomson via head kick and punches.
