Nate Diaz was gone for three years, but he didn’t miss a beat at UFC 241.
The Stockton, Calif., native battered Anthony Pettis in close quarters and outgrappled the former lightweight champion en route to a unanimous decision victory on Saturday night. Diaz nearly secured the finish in Round 3, when he unloaded with a series of knees against the fence that had his opponent reeling. While Pettis survived, Diaz had done more than enough to earn a victory in his first Octagon appearance since Aug. 20, 2016.
“I wasn’t sure if there would be some rust or not so I just treated it like there might be and just went, you know?