Nate Diaz is back.
Diaz, one of the most popular fighters in MMA, will meet Leon Edwards at UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston, sources told ESPN. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight, though the contract is not signed yet.
The fight will serve as a five-round co-main event for the card headlined by Charles Oliveira versus Michael Chandler for the vacant UFC lightweight title, sources said.
This will mark the first five-round, non-title co-main event in UFC history.
Diaz (20-12) hasn’t fought since his November 2019 loss to Jorge Masvidal at Madison Square Garden.
Edwards (18-3, 1 NC) is unbeaten in his past nine fights. He had won eight fights in a row; however, earlier this month, his bout against Belal Muhammad ended in a no contest after he hit Muhammad with an accidental eye poke in the second round, which resulted in Muhammad no longer being able to continue.
Edwards’ last loss was to Kamaru Usman, before Usman became UFC welterweight champion, in December 2015.
The promotion had hoped to book Edwards to face Colby Covington next, but couldn’t get Covington to agree to the fight for undisclosed reasons, sources said. The UFC pivoted to an Edwards-Diaz fight late last week.
UFC 262 will take place at the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto contributed to this report.