Nick Diaz threw his own name into the hat when asked who the greatest mixed martial artist of all time is.
The never-ending GOAT debate among MMA fans had more fuel thrown into the fire last weekend following the events of UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena. After a three-year absence from the sport, former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones returned, making quick work of top contender Ciryl Gane to capture the vacant UFC heavyweight championship. ‘Bones’ only needed two minutes to capture gold and reaffirm himself as perhaps the greatest fighter of all time.
In the aftermath, InsideFighting caught up with Nick Diaz to get his take on who is MMA’s GOAT. “It’s me! What’re you talking about, it’s me!” Diaz said whilst laughing. Of course, Diaz wasn’t entirely serious, but he did acknowledge the greatness of Jon Jones and revealed that he once unsuccessfully lobbied to fight ‘Bones’ in 2015.
Nick Diaz is Ready for a Return to the Octagon
At one time, Nick Diaz was one of the hottest names in MMA, albeit sometimes for controversial reasons. That never stopped fans from flocking to the arena to see him in action. Unfortunately, those opportunities have been few and far between over the last decade with Diaz only competing inside the Octagon three times in the last decade. According to the man himself, he’s ready for a return to the cage and is hoping to book a fight sooner rather than later.
“I’m asking to fight as soon as possible,” Diaz said. “Yeah, something like that (Adesanya). That’s fine. I always wanna fight the best.”
Diaz fought for the first time in six years at UFC 266 in September. Competing against former UFC champion Robbie Lawler, Diaz didn’t exactly set the world on fire with his performance, throwing in the towel less than a minute into the third round. It was his third straight loss in the UFC dating back to 2012.
Transcription courtesy of MMA News