Nick Diaz has been out of action since losing a UFC interim title fight to Carlos Condit in February, but plenty of questions remain about his future.
Not about his immediate future. We know what that holds. He’s suspended until January 2013, at least for the time being. He’ll eventually go in front of the inept Nevada State Athletic Commission for a hearing regarding his marijuana metabolite failure. But we don’t know when that’s going to happen, despite Diaz and his team making their best efforts to establish a hearing date sooner rather than later.
There’s a good chance Diaz might see his suspension cut from 12 months to six or nine months. After all, that whole medicinal marijuana card throws a wrench into things. Diaz was not, in fact, under the influence of marijuana on the night of his fight. The drug is not banned out of competition, and that’s where Diaz was using.
But even if his suspension is reduced, brother Nathan Diaz says Nick may not return to fighting at all.
“He’s busy right now. He’s got triathlon season,” the younger Diaz told media members during a UFC on FOX conference call. “I don’t think he’s really that interested in fighting. So as of right now, no.”
No matter how many times I hear Nick or Nathan reiterate that the elder Diaz is retired from fighting, I still don’t believe it. There’s nothing in the world that will convince me that once his suspension is retired—and if he’s offered a comeback fight against the winner of the proposed November bout between Condit and Georges St-Pierre—that Diaz will not return to the cage for another big payday.
It would be a shame to see Diaz actually walk away from fighting for the world of competitive triathlons. Competitive triathlons? Yeah, it takes a ton of endurance and heart, and kudos goes out to Diaz for even being able to compete in those things, but I cannot imagine anything more boring.
What I want to see is Diaz, back in the cage, throwing bungalows and generally being the entertaining dude he’s been over the past five years.
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