If Nick Diaz is truly ready to come out of retirement, Dana White would love to see him move up to 185 pounds and challenge Michael Bisping.
On Monday, the UFC President expressed serious interest in the potential bout on Twitter.
Talk about a possible showdown between Diaz and Bisping, who is recovering from an eye injury, began circulating in the MMA circles on Monday, after Bisping challenged Diaz to a fight on Twitter.
The post came immediately after MMAFighting.com reported that Gilbert Melendez, Diaz’s teammate, said Diaz would end his retirement for the right opportunity during a media luncheon for UFC 166.
It has only been seven months since Diaz announced his retirement from MMA, but according to a report from Fighters Only, the former Strikeforce welterweight champ might be itching for another fight.
“I don’t mind taking fights if it’s a big fight that people are going to make a big deal out of. If not, then it’s not really worth it to me,” Diaz said in an exclusive interview with Fighters Only.
Is anyone really surprised?
Diaz has been competing in MMA for over a decade, but in recent years he really seems to have finally hit his stride. It makes little sense for a 30-year-old to retire in the prime of his career, especially when he’s finally in a position for lucrative fights.
Still, Diaz is anything but normal when it comes to public perception and reading him can be about as difficult as attempting to solve a Rubik’s Cube blindfolded.
It just seems like Diaz was acting on pure emotion when he announced his retirement after losing to UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre in March. It was the second consecutive time he had contemplated hanging up his four ounce gloves.
He was defeated by Carlos Condit prior to the St-Pierre bout, and after losing he complained about Condit’s fighting style and hinted at riding off into the sunset.
The problem for Diaz has always been the evolution of MMA and the direction the sport is currently headed. Even though he expressed interest in a return, Diaz admitted to Fighters Only that he was still turned off by today’s sport, and he wants to be careful not to jump back in too fast:
It’s kind of hard to retire from MMA, there’s always something to do. I am always going to be around it, like my brother is in training camp right now because he has a fight coming up so I am training with him. … I’m not trying to do too much right now. I don’t know if I like the way the sport is turning into something different from when I got started. And I think it’s a good time for me to take it slow as well.
It looks like Diaz didn’t have to wait long for his “big fight.” Now all he has to do is say yes.
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