Nick Diaz – Photo via UFC.com (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Following a decision loss to Carlos Condit last February at UFC 143, welterweight fighter Nick Diaz (26-8, 1NC) said that he was done with fighting.
Now comes word from Diaz’s manager Cesar Gracie (@graciefighter.com) that the former Strikeforce champ is ready to return to the cage and he’s hoping to do it against UFC middleweight title holder Anderson Silva.
For the last couple of months I’ve watched Nick begin to frequent the gym more and more. He’s training harder now than he has for many of his fights. It was obvious that training and fighting is in his DNA. It is who he is.
This week we had a great talk and he made it clear to me that he is ready to get back to the cage. Nick Diaz will return.…..
As far as future opponents, Nick has stated that he would like to take fights “that matter”. Since GSP will be fighting Condit, he has to look elsewhere. He will respectfully ask for a fight with Anderson Silva, a fighter he respects and would like to challenge.
Silva’s camp has been speaking of a fight with GSP, possibly even at a catch weight. Nick will take that fight in a minute but has told me that should Silva decide not to drop at all, he will move up to 185lbs to face the Champ.
Diaz is also currently under suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for marijuana metabolites following the loss to Condit. Gracie also addressed this point in his announcement, saying they would challenge the NSAC in the courts to have the suspension overturned. It’s certainly worth a try, but getting the NSAC’s sentence overturned is very unlikely.
To address the NSAC suspension, I will say that we have appealed to the courts and if things go our way, it will be plausible that Nick could return as early as sometime at the end of this year.
For too long NSAC bureaucrats have acted with malicious incompetence towards the fighters. We will challenge them in court.
With Silva’s camp calling for a catchweight fight versus UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, a bout between ‘The Spider’ and Diaz could become one of the biggest fights in UFC history.