Nate Diaz, Leon Edwards to Meet in Five-Round, Non-Title Co-Main Event at UFC 262

Nate Diaz will make his highly-anticipated Octagon return when he faces Leon Edwards in the UFC 262 co-main event.

ESPN was first to report the matchup. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the pairing but contracts have not been signed. Despite being a non-title affair and not occupying a headlining slot, the bout will be contested over five rounds. It will be the first five-round, non-title co-headliner in promotion history.

UFC 262 takes place on May 15 at the Toyota Center in Houston and is headlined by a showdown for the vacant lightweight strap between Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira.

Diaz will compete for the first time since losing to Jorge Masvidal via third-round doctor stoppage for the “BMF” title at UFC 244 in November 2019. The Stockton, Calif., native has competed infrequently in recent years, splitting a pair of bouts with Conor McGregor in 2016 and besting Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 in August 2019 before the aforementioned setback to “Gamebred.”

Edwards came back from a lengthy hiatus at UFC Fight Night 187, where an accidental eye poke from the Brit ended his headlining bout against Belal Muhammad 18 seconds into Round 2 on March 13. Prior to that, “Rocky” outpoined Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC on ESPN 4 main event in July 2019. Edwards is unbeaten in his last nine promotional appearances dating back to 2016.