Fans might be seeing Nick Diaz back in the UFC Octagon sooner than later.
Some observers were wondering why Nick Diaz was in the building at UFC 261 on Saturday. Apparently, he was meeting with the boss Dana White to discuss his Octagon return.
White himself confirmed it during the UFC 261 post-fight press conference.
“Yeah, Nick Diaz wants to fight. He’s waiting for me in the back right now, I’m gonna go talk to him.”
As it’s customary during these pressers, reports play their little matchmaking games and run it with White, who normally doesn’t have definite answers. But when The Schmo asked if it would be too “crazy” to throw in Khamzat Chimaev’s name as a potential opponent for Diaz, White simply responded with a “No.”
White’s statements on Saturday were a full 180-degree turn from his sentiments in December when he said this:
I don’t think anybody should want to see Nick Diaz fight. Nick Diaz has been in a lot of wars, he’s accomplished a lot of great things in his career, he’s made a lot of money, he’s obviously super-famous. He’s gotten everything you could hope to get out of fighting. I just don’t know why, when I see his Instagram, why he would want to come back.
Diaz looks to be in great shape now, but in reality, he’s now 37-years-old and hasn’t stepped inside the UFC cage since his 2015 bout with Anderson Silva. His last win was a decade ago in 2011, over B.J. Penn.