What comes next in the UFC for Conor McGregor, Francis Ngannou and Nate Diaz?

Conor McGregor is the biggest star in combat sports. Francis Ngannou is the baddest man on the planet. Nate Diaz is one of the UFC’s most beloved needle movers.

Every time one of them steps into the Octagon, fans get excited. But right now, all of their UFC futures are in limbo.

McGregor, the former two-division UFC champion, is recovering from a broken leg suffered last July, leaving the timing of his return in question. Ngannou, the UFC heavyweight champion and a breathtaking knockout artist, has fought out his contract and might not return to the UFC cage at all. And Diaz has just one fight left on his deal — how can the UFC make the most of it?

Marc Raimondi and Brett Okamoto look into the future and try to sort out what’s next for these three UFC mainstays.

How did Nate Diaz and the UFC get to this point?

Raimondi: Diaz cashed in big after submitting McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016. He signed a massive five-fight deal with the UFC ahead of the McGregor rematch at UFC 202 in August of that same year. Diaz lost that fight to McGregor via majority decision, but the bad boy from Stockton, California, only rose in popularity. The more screen time Diaz has received over the past several years, the brighter his star has shined — regardless of the result.

On this five-fight contract, Diaz is 1-3 leading into the final fight of his deal. One of those fights was a blockbuster at Madison Square Garden against Jorge Masvidal for the mythical BMF title, which followed his win over former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. He nearly finished top welterweight Leon Edwards in his most recent bout at UFC 263, but outside of that moment, Edwards dominated and the bout resulted in a unanimous…