Nate Diaz explains why he followed Conor McGregor’s lead and applied for a boxing licence

Nate Diaz is starting to make a habit of following in Conor McGregor's footsteps.

When "the Notorious" shocked the world with that infamous "thanks for the cheese" tweet, Diaz followed suit by supposedly announcing his own retirement on Twitter too. https://twitter.com/NateDiaz209/status/722514064576917505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw After scoring that history-making knockout over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, McGregor claimed in the post-fight press conference that he may be taking up to 10 months off from the hurting game while he awaits the arrival of his first child and for the promotion's new owners to reach out to him. Again, Diaz decided to get in on the act and notify the world that he was planning a break too. https://twitter.com/NateDiaz209/status/806624418101268481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Then when McGregor drenched the Floyd Mayweather crossover superfight rumours with gasoline by applying for a boxing licence in the state of California, the Stockton native did likewise for Nevada. McGregor secured his, while Diaz is looking extremely likely to land that valuable piece of paper that would allow him to box in the only state Mayweatehr has fought in for over a decade. His boxing skills are some of the most vaunted in all of MMA, with two-weight world champion Andre Ward admitting in 2014 that he could make it as a professional pugilist, after being impressed by his skill-set after drafting him in as a sparring partner.

There is a method to Diaz's madness. He isn't just applying for a licence for the sake of it, as he explained to Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. That idea came together when he grew weary of the matchmakers' inability to find him a suitable opponent after his back-to-back PPV smash hit headliners against McGregor.

"I know what this is: I’m being put on the shelf. That’s why I’m trying to get a boxing license.” "No one in MMA wants it. No one says they want a big-deal fight against me. If someone wants to fight, then let’s make a big deal.”

Don't worry, Nate. Considering how much moolah the first two fights made for the promotion, that trilogy will likely be completed sooner rather than later.