MMA

Nick Diaz Suspension Finally Over, He Reveals Who He Wants To Fight

MMA


He’s baaaaaaack.




That’s right folks, everyone’s favorite fighter coming out of Stockton California (except for Nate Diaz, maybe), Nick Diaz, is back! The former Strikeforce champ, defeater of Robbie Lawler, part-time promoter and greatest mover of wolf tickets has returned to the UFC’s active roster.

It’s long overdue and the ending to what has been an epic battle between the forces of good (the Diaz Bros.) and the forces of evil (the Nevada State Athletic Commission). And with that in mind, Diaz already has his next mark in mind. Speaking with TMZ, he revealed who he’s eyeballing next for his return fight. Check out the video:

Too long? Here are the quotes:

“I’m over here, look at me right now. I don’t need nothing. I don’t owe nobody nothing. I don’t owe anybody sh*t. I haven’t been fanatical about fighting since I was 15 or 14, since I was eight years ago…Once I turned pro, I was like okay, this is not fun and games now. This is me. I’m going to come and I work on karma. I’m not going to go after somebody if I don’t have a reason behind it, so as soon as there is some sort of a reason for me to do something that I need to do, then I’ll do it. Nobody’s done what I’ve done in this sh*t. It just hasn’t happened yet.”

“I want to fight the best guy. You know what, I always want to fight the best guy, but the thing is I’m on top. I’m the one on top. They’re dropping my name. I don’t need no fake-ass piece of plastic. F*ck that. I could fight and we could do a catchweight too. Everybody wants to do a fight with me, champions at 170, champions at 185. I said we can meet halfway. I don’t owe nobody nothing. I’m a pay-per-view without a title. I don’t need that fake-ass plastic to beat somebody.”

The “best guy” that Diaz is referring to is Tyron Woodley. The Strikeforce product surprised fans at UFC 201 by knocking Robbie Lawler out cold and capturing the UFC welterweight title. Even though he isn’t a known name and even though he cut the contender line to get that title shot, he immediately dismissed the idea of fighting anything other than “money fights”. And by money fights, he means Nick Diaz or Georges St-Pierre.

Tyron Woodley looked like a monster at UFC 201, cold-cocking Robbie Lawler in the first round. Screen grab by us.

Tyron Woodley looked like a monster at UFC 201, cold-cocking Robbie Lawler in the first round. Screen grab by us.

It doesn’t feel likely that Diaz will be able to go right from an eighteen-month hiatus directly into a title fight. On top of that fact is how he hasn’t actually won a fight since 2011, losing to Carlos Condit at UFC 143 (then getting suspended), losing to GSP at UFC 158 (then retiring), and losing to Anderson Silva at UFC 183 (then getting suspended again).

Still, the good news is that Diaz is free!

He's back. Deal with it. Thanks to Reddit for this!

He’s back. Deal with it. Thanks to Reddit for this!

He was suspended unfairly by the NSAC in September 2015 due to a failed drug test at UFC 183. While it’s no secret that Diaz loves weed, there were serious questions about the legitimacy of his failed test as he was tested three times after his bout with Silva with the first and third samples being tested at a WADA-accredited lab and coming back clean, with the second test going to a lesser lab and coming back flagged. Despite that, the commission grossly abused their power by suspending him for five years and fining him $165,000. By comparison his opponent, Anderson Silva, failed a drug test for multiple steroids and two other banned substances and was suspended for just one year.

SERIOUSLY HOW AWESOME IS NICK DIAZ?!?! Photo off Youtube.

SERIOUSLY HOW AWESOME IS NICK DIAZ?!?! Photo off Youtube.

All that aside, the future is still bright for Diaz.

He looks happy and healthy, and he returns to a UFC where big money fights are becoming the norm and he has the ability to sit out and wait for a payday if it comes. It’s so good to see that this ugly chapter of his life is in the past.


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