http://mmajunkie.com Nate Diaz (11-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is not leaving the lightweight division permanently — he just wants a break.



Diaz, who came up short Monday night in a headlining fight with Gray Maynard (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 20, slammed his performance and said he wants to explore his options a weight class up.



“It’s just a possibility,” Diaz today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’m not going to permanently go, but I could probably jump around. If I want to make (155 pounds) all year long and be starving and miserable for that long, I’d probably want to get paid more. Until I start getting paid more, maybe I should ease up a weight class.”

While Diaz admits the difficulty of competing at 155 pounds, the fiery Stockton, Calif., native said he cut less than 10 pounds in the final weeks before the Monday fight. Nevertheless, Diaz said he felt drained after three rounds.



“I didn’t cut too much weight,” Diaz said. “I went about it just like normal. I just didn’t go strong like I’d been training. I [expletive] on my performance yesterday.



“I can get bigger easier or I can get smaller easier, but I’ve been dieting for the last six years, and I’m getting [expletive] fed up with it, going in there not having enough energy. I’m running off no fuel, going off of vegetables and fruits. It’s hit or miss.”



Diaz, 24, has fought as a lightweight since his professional debut at age 19 and has hinted at a potential move up in weight since this past September.



On his way back to trainer/manager Cesar Gracie’s gym Tuesday, Diaz said it would only take him a week to tip the scales at 190 pounds.



However, Mmaking the move will not based on gaining size with age, as it was in the case of his brother, Nick Diaz, who ruled out future fights below welterweight because he was naturally getting heavier.



“I’m the same size, man,” Nate Diaz said. “But say I make 170 (pounds) for a year. I’ll probably shrink. I’ll probably walk around at 175. When you make the (155) weight class, your body’s starving for food six, seven, eight months out of the year, so any time you get to gorge on some food, you do, and you gain 30 pounds. When you’re not doing that all the time, food’s not as fun any more, and you don’t get so big. You walk around at a lighter weight.”



Options, he said, were just better for his body, not to mention his wallet.



Diaz said he welcomes a meeting with nemesis Tyson Griffin, or even a rematch with Maynard, but had no concrete plans for either. For now, he’ll be waiting for the UFC’s call.



“I’ll still stay at lightweight,” Diaz said. “I’m not going to not be a lightweight. I can be both.

“I don’t know why people have one weight class, anyway. I don’t know why there are not a lot more weight classes in the first place. There should be (a weight class) every five or eight pounds, at least. Boxing’s got a weight class for every five pounds.”



As for his performance on Monday night, Diaz said the trash talk that colored the fight was no different than any other fight — even as Maynard taunted him in return.



“I wasn’t angry at him,” Diaz said. “I was just fighting, doing it.

“I could have been more explosive if I felt better. But I think that was probably his best day, and that was pretty much the worst I could have felt.”

For complete coverage UFC Fight Night 20, including the night’s official results, check out the UFC Events section of MMAjunkie.com.