 Diaz faced former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7.He lost the fight via TKO due to a head kick and punches, during which Nate's brother, Nick Diaz physically threw a towel into the octagon, in an attempt to signal the referee to end the bout.On May 16, 2013, Diaz was suspended by the UFC for violating the UFC's code of conduct by using a homophobic slur on his Twitter page.