Nate Diaz Paid His NSAC Fine and Applied for a Boxing License

According to a report on ESPN.com, the outspoken Stockton native paid his $50000 fine for his missile melee with Conor McGregor at the pre-fight press conference for UFC 202 and looked to securing a boxing license with the NSAC.

Bob Bennett, executive director of the NSAC, claimed that the UFC fighter will be granted a license when he produces the necessary documentation required.

"Nate paid his fine and has requested a boxing license," said Bennett. "Upon his submission of the required licensing information, we expect to approve his license as of this date.

"We welcome Nate and his older brother, Nick, to fight in Las Vegas, whether it's with the UFC or a boxing promoter."

The news comes on the back of public offers being made by Dana White and Floyd Mayweather to secure the mooted 'Mayweather vs. McGregor' boxing event. Before the offers were put on the table, the matchup seemed to be a fantasy bout that was reached for each time McGregor went to the negotiating table with UFC. However, with such outward interest coming from White and Mayweather, it seems that both parties are willing to work towards making the fight happen.

Diaz is thought to be an option for McGregor's next fight. Having fought in two bouts that both made the promotion's list of 'Top Ten Fights in 2016', a deciding trilogy fight could garner a lot of interest in 2017. With Mayweather being the only name mentioned as a potential next opponent for McGregor at the moment, Diaz could be threatening to explore another sport to gain leverage with the UFC.

Interestingly, when the news of Mayweather and McGregor began to gain momentum last summer, Diaz lambasted the talk of the crossover clash as a "publicity stunt."

"I hear all this Mayweather-McGregor shit and I feel like that's just a big old publicity stunt to hide the fact that he got his ass whooped," said Diaz after McGregor was pulled from the UFC 200 card due to his failure to travel to the States for a press conference.

"It's rumors somebody is letting out because they're both benefitting off each other's fan bases and they're both building off it.

"They don't care if it happens or not, they're both winning right now from the talk even happening. That's the truth about what's really going on. The media is working their way. They're loving it. They're probably having dinner together every night."

Interesting, just after his offered McGregor $15 million to fight him on ESPN's First Take, Mayweather spoke about Diaz inquiring about avenues into boxing when the spoke recently.

"When I talked to Nate Diaz, he told me (the UFC) had put him on the shelf," Mayweather said. "He said, 'Since the second fight with Conor McGregor, they put me on the shelf. I'm ready to stay busy, stay active.'

"Nate Diaz even talked to me about coming to box."

Both Nate and brother Nick have been brought into two-weight boxing champion's Andre Ward's camp in the past. The older of the infamous Diaz brothers seemed like he was very close to completing a bout agreement with another former two-weight world champion, Jeff 'Left Hook' Lacy, back in 2011. The fight was so close to being confirmed that Lacy's manager even revealed the purse and TV rights for the fight.

Despite Nick being the closer of two brothers to getting a boxing bout in the past, it is worth noting that Ward stated that Nate was the more "skillful" pugilist of the two when he was interviewed shortly ahead of UFC 196. He also highlighted that both Diaz brothers were capable of holding their own in the pro ranks.

Ward said: "Nick is more, 'hit me with your best shot, and I'm coming with my best shot.' Nate's a little bit more of a skillful volume puncher, different angles and stuff like that. He was one of my main guys when I fought Chad Dawson.

"Those guys got great stand up and they'd be able to compete… I don't know how far they'd go in the pro ranks, but those guys could compete in boxing."

Although that Diaz is far from securing a boxing matchup even with the NSAC license, it will be interesting to see how UFC will react to the TUF winner's revelations. With a name like Mayweather's being unlikely to push themselves forward for a bout with Diaz, it's hard to know how much momentum the fan favorite will gain behind his proposed transition to a new sport.