It’s going to take some diplomacy to get Nate Diaz back in the Octagon.

Without a fight since his rematch with Conor McGregor in August of last year, Diaz has been in no hurry to return to action even with UFC titleholders like Tony Ferguson and Tyron Woodley calling him out. The Stockton star is no stranger to talking trash himself, both in and out of the cage, but his high profile bouts with McGregor have put him in a position where can afford to pick his spots.

Diaz recently appeared on the Outside The Box podcast (h/t Bloody Elbow), where he suggested that his would-be rivals are simply executing the whims of the UFC as opposed to fighting for their own reasons.

“I’m not fighting because I am a fighter. You’re fighting because someone’s telling you to fight,” Diaz said. “I’ll fight whenever the f**k I wanna fight. That’s because I’m a G, n**ga, I’m a fighter myself. I ain’t trying to do what nobody says, I’ll do what I say. And I will fight when I’m approached respectably.”

“I don’t need to fight nobody,” Diaz continued. “I’ll fight anybody, but I don’t need to fight anybody. And the fighters are like, ‘He’s not a fighter,’ I’m like, it sounds like you’re being manipulated into trying to manipulate me into getting into a fight. Guess what? You work for somebody; I work for me. Who’s the fighter now, motherf**er?”

Ferguson, the UFC’s interim lightweight champion, has said that he will hit Diaz with his own signature “Stockton slap” should the two ever fight, and Woodley, the undisputed welterweight champion, recently said that he had accepted a fight with Diaz at UFC 219 on Dec. 30, though that talk eventually fizzled out.

Those mentions were not enough to coax Diaz out of inactivity and he’s waiting for a respectful challenge - and a reasonable paycheck - before making any plans for 2018.

“Ask nicely, motherf**ers. Ask nicely,” Diaz said. “I’m talking about the organization, the fighters. And make it a big deal, because I’m not trying to just sign a contract just because it’s a good idea for you guys.”

As for the oft-discussed trilogy bout with McGregor (the two men each hold a win over the other), Diaz remained as coy as ever.

“Time will tell. I don’t know right now,” Diaz said. “There’s talk. They (the UFC) call me, we talk about things, but I think what’s happening is they want me to ask, and beg, and I don’t need nothing from nobody. I don’t need nothing from anybody.”

See the full interview below: