Nate Diaz will leave UFC following his next fight and face YouTube star Jake Paul in a lucrative boxing match.
That's according to one of Diaz's former opponents, who believes the promotion cult hero is ready to step up to Paul.
The YouTube star is set to fight Tommy Fury in December and Josh Thomson thinks Diaz will be next up after Fury.
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"He's leaving the UFC, he's fighting Jake Paul. Just stop, OK," Thompson said on the Weighing In Podcast.
"This is his last fight, he's not fighting in the UFC anymore. He's going to leave and he's going to fight Jake Paul.
"He's just trying to get a fight to get out the door, he's done with MMA. He knows that fight is going to make him double then he'd make [against Conor McGregor]."
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Diaz is regarded as one of Conor McGregor's greatest rivals inside the Octagon and their pair have won one fight apiece against each other.
Thomson, who defeated Diaz back in 2013, thinks a trilogy bout with McGregor in UFC has now lost its appeal after the Irishman's losses to Dustin Poirier.
He continued: "Conor's not that draw anymore that he once was. Conor can't get out of his contract, he's on an eight or ten fight deal I believe.
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"So he's stuck with the UFC forever. Speaking from a Nate point of view, I think Nate's going to leave and end up fighting Jake Paul in boxing.
"I know he can make any more from between $10 to $15 million to do that one fight versus him having to fight Conor and make $2 million, maybe $4 million.
"Why? When he can fight one time in boxing against somebody who he's got a lot more experience against and against somebody his brother knows."
Thomson then suggests if a trilogy fight was to happen between Diaz and McGregor, the third fight would be in a boxing ring.
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"If Nate goes and beats Jake Paul, then I can see Dana saying, 'OK, let's fight Nate in boxing'. I couldn't see him doing it before, he has to beat Jake Paul first," the 43-year-old suggested.
"If he beats Jake Paul I can see him riding Conor in to be like, 'Nate and [Conor] in boxing makes sense'. It's a trilogy fight but not a trilogy fight because it's in boxing not in MMA."
UFC president Dana White recently addressed the rumours Diaz could be leaving the company.
"He's got one more fight. We're working on a fight for him. Tony wasn't one of the guys we're working on, but we're working on a fight for Nate now. He's got one more fight left," White explained per Bloody Elbow.
Topics: Conor Mcgregor, Nate Diaz, Boxing, Jake Paul, UFC
