Eddie Alvarez and Kevin Lee answer Nate Diaz’s call

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Earlier this week Nate Diaz took to social media to declare that he was ready for a return to the Octagon this summer. Almost immediately, this news was met with a response from both Eddie Alvarez and Kevin Lee.

Both fighters would make intriguing match ups for Diaz. That said, from a fans perspective Alvarez would likely provide the more entertaining match up of the two options given his tendency to stand and trade with his opponents.

Alvarez took to twitter to press his case for the match up, retweeting a number of posts about a potential match up between the self proclaimed most violent fighter in the UFC and Diaz. He then followed up with a pair of tweets accusing Diaz of ducking the fight.

Should Alvarez’s claim that Diaz isn’t interested in fighting him due to his losing to Conor McGregor in the past be true, it could ultimately put the brakes on what had the potential to be an outstanding stand up battle between the two veterans.

Diaz would likely prefer a third tilt with McGregor which would be significantly more lucrative for him from a financial point of view. That fight, for now, seems to be firmly on the back burner with the UFC lightweight title picture already somewhat of a mess.

It isn’t the first time there have been calls for Alvarez and Diaz to meet each other in the cage. Back in 2015 the pair exchanged words backstage at UFC 188 following Alvarez’s narrow split decision victory over Gilbert Melendez, a friend and team mate of Diaz. Despite there being significant interest in putting the two together for a fight, nothing materialised with each fighter turning down the other. Now though, with Alvarez coming off a KO victory against the previously unbeaten Justin Gaethje and Diaz being inactive since losing a decision to Conor McGregor back in 2016, the time might be right for the two to finally settle things.