Nick Diaz needs to feed his family that he can hopefully someday acquire if he survives this s–t.
That’s the simple answer to the question of what a victory would mean for Nick Diaz, the former Strikeforce welterweight champion and evergreen MMA fan darling. It’s been a long road full of suspensions and retirement, but now we’re here, with Nick Diaz looking across the cage from Anderson Silva. How did we get to this matchup that seems like it was created by an immaculate glitch in a videogame?
In February of 2012, Nick Diaz was searching for his smile by the time he stepped into the Octagon against Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title at UFC 143, which would soon be known as UFC 143: Diaz 1, 2, 5. Diaz had a purpose then. Momentum. And he had to ride that momentum towards UFC gold.
But he lost and then the dagger was twisted. Retirement was imminent.
Even if Diaz had defeated Carlos Condit and had become the UFC welterweight champion, it wouldn’t have mattered. Diaz would test positive for marijuana metabolites and we would watch Nick mean mug into the smoky night, banned from the sport for a year.
Then Nick Diaz would come back in March of 2013 to play mind games on GSP, lose convincingly to the GOAT, then retire minutes after the the judge’s unanimous scorecards were read. Again.
In retrospect, there’s nothing wrong with ending a decade-long 36-fight career on the heels of two back-to-back losses. But we all knew Diaz would be back if the circumstances were correct and his hometown of Stockton aligned perfectly with the third full moon of the year.
Has Nick Diaz found what he’s looking for over the last two years away from the sport? Was it that classic Diaz Smile™? Does it matter? Nick Diaz is back and he’s getting what he wants: big fights that equal big money. A win or a loss won’t change that desire.
What does a victory mean for Nick Diaz? Does it mean he’ll get his smile back? Is his smile back? Does his smile need to be returned and why are we even worrying about turning his perpetual frown upside down?
Nick Diaz hates fighting. He’s said it himself:
“Fighting is not something I enjoy doing. Fighting is something I feel I have to do, and that’s just the way it is.”
“I don’t get excited to fight. I don’t use that word in this sport. I use that word [excited] like maybe I’m starving and food is showing up. That’s the kind of excitement I get. I get excited to have a couple of days off.
“I think people are confused with that term when it comes to fighting,” he said.
A victory for Nick Diaz means a payday for doing what Nick does best, moving to a weight class he hasn’t fought near since he subbed Scott Smith in the summer of 2009, months after beating up Frank Shamrock at 179 pounds.
A victory for Nick Diaz means a win over one of the greatest middleweights ever. A victory means a bigger payday. A victory means Nick Diaz didn’t have his consciousness taken from him by Anderson Silva.
“Would you enjoy fighting Anderson Silva?” Nick Diaz would ask at a recent presser. “Definitely not.”
A victory for Nick Diaz means he can feed his family that he can hopefully someday acquire if he survives this s–t.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com