At the beginning of this year, Nick Diaz looked at his freshly minted UFC contract and saw that he was being made ready for the big time. The payday he craved and moaned about for so long and fight against welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre was just around the corner.
But thanks to a couple of missed press conferences, a loss to Carlos Condit and a suspension for marijuana use, the Stockton native is now virtually a forgotten man in the UFC.
He’s still riding out his suspension, which doesn’t expire until February 2013. Meanwhile, GSP is likely to fight Anderson Silva, putting the entire division on hold, and Johny Hendricks is now the No. 1 contender.