It seems like Diaz is excited to fight Pettis this weekend, as Pettis is an opponent that motivates him to compete.
“I was like, ‘All right, you know what, Pettis is knocking out Thompson and doing all this cool (expletive) when he fights,’ and I’m like, ‘Man, that’s an eligible opponent, and I dig that,'” Diaz said to Brett Okamoto of ESPN (via Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie). “I don’t need to be signing up for fights just because I want to punch someone in the face. That’s not cool. I want a fight that’s going to motivate me to fight. Good fighters and good fights.”
Diaz hasn’t competed since UFC 202, where he suffered a controversial decision loss to Conor McGregor.
The Stockton native also believes that a bout with Pettis is keeping him away from fighting some lame opponents.
“This fight is keeping me away from all the lame fighters that aren’t doing (expletive), getting love, then not doing anything with it,” Diaz said. “I would have a go. I’d be like, ‘I’m going to do this; I’m going to fight this guy and do my best to win, and when I win, I’m going to do something with that.’ Mics are on, you better make something happen.”
UFC 241 takes place on Saturday, August 17 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California with Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
