Full Contact Fighter Database

Home

>

News

>

Article

Media

Wednesday, Dec 19, 2018

Nick Diaz Back in the Octagon?

Nick Diaz (photo via UFC)

In his heyday, Nick Diaz was a very popular MMA fighter. A succession of 11 wins from 2008 through 2011, brought the 35-year old fighter to the pinnacle of the sport. His efforts included holding and maintaining the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship and earning “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC 137 for his unanimous decision win against former champion B.J. Penn.

Adding to his flare in the ring, Diaz has also shown a knack for getting involved in controversy. Well, Diaz is back in the news with a possible return to the ring. For current MMA odds, please see the Sportpesa review.

An initial announcement from UFC president Dana White last month set the MMA community on fire when he claimed that Diaz had agreed to a fight against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235 on March 2 in Las Vegas.

The fight would have been Diaz’s first fight since a controversial “no-contest” outcome versus Anderson Silva in January 2015 at UFC 183. That fight was originally awarded to Silva with a unanimous decision. However, the fight result was overturned when both fighters tested positive for foreign substances. It was the second time Diaz tested positive for marijuana.

In spite of all the excitement White’s announcement create, it turns out Diaz sees things very differently. In fact, Diaz told ESPN that he had never agreed in principle or otherwise to fight anyone.

Here was his response to the ESPN reporter via text:

“I think it’s rude of the UFC to try and lowball me and expect me to negotiate a deal while I’m training for a fight. It’s not gonna go down like that. If anybody wants to fight me, they know where to find me. I’m not a hard guy to find. Come get some.”

“I have a lot going on trying to manage a few different businesses. Once things make sense for everybody in that they actually have some fighters that they respect, and I respect, we can try and come to a deal and do a show. That’s how I feel.”

During that same string of text messages, Diaz wanted to make it clear he no issues with Masvidal. It was simply a matter on someone trying to put the cart ahead of the horse. It’s worth noting that sources on Masvidal’s side claim the veteran fighter has already signed to fight Diaz, though that seems to be news to the Diaz camp.

Diaz added, “As soon as I am in a good place with what I’m working on and things look the way it should, I’ll be happy to give the fans what they need. But I think they will be OK for now with what’s out there. There aren’t any fights for me until someone stands out.”

“I’ll fight if they can be more reasonable, but, really, I didn’t even talk about what it would or could [take]. They are the one’s tripping.”

Tags: ,

posted by FCF Staff @ 10:53 am
Have a comment about this story? Please share with us by filling out the fields below.

Comments are closed.