For all of the many fight fans out there hoping for a Nick Diaz comeback, now could be the time to give that up.
Of course, Diaz was linked to an anticipated comeback fight against Jorge Masvidal at next month’s UFC 235 from Las Vegas. But after confirming that in December, UFC President Dana White admitted it wasn’t happening. All you needed to do was look at Diaz’ social media posts to see he wasn’t training to fight, White said.
Today, more perhaps concrete confirmation came from one of Diaz’ longtime friends and teammates. Former Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez revealed on Chael Sonnen’s “You’re Welcome” podcast (via MMAjunkie) that Diaz was indeed retired:
“I would love to see him come back, but last time I checked, he’s retired.”
Nate Isn’t Done
As for Nate Diaz, the door isn’t shut on his UFC return just yet. Melendez said he’s staying in shape. He’s also doing extremely well from his connections in the cannabis industry:
“He’s training hard. His brand is huge. He’s so dang famous; the guy’s an A-lister now. Everyone knows him where I go.
“He’s big in the cannabis game out there and hanging out with celebrities, doing appearances. Being a real businessman out there. He has his specialties, and he’s doing good. He’s training all the time, living a good lifestyle.”
Many feel Diaz is living too good a lifestyle to actually come back and fight in the Octagon. He was set to do so against Dustin Poirier at last November’s UFC 230 until ‘The Diamond’ withdrew due to injury. He’s now been out of action since 2016. But Melendez thinks that if anyone could come back after such a long layoff, it’s Nate Diaz:
“If anyone could come back and do
Jumping back to Nick Diaz, Melendez cleared up any doubts about the oldest Diaz’ ability to come back if he wanted. He said USADA issues and his recent arrest, for which charges were eventually dropped, aren’t holding him back. It’s simply an issue of if he wants to or not:
“I don’t think there’s anything holding him back, except just his decision whether he wants to come back or not,” Melendez said. “He’s in shape. He’s in dang shape. … I think he’s always running and staying ready. He’s a ninja. He’s always ready.”
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