Nick Diaz has no interest in returning to the Octagon unless he gets his wish.
Diaz hasn’t competed since Jan. 2015 when he took on Anderson Silva. The Stockton native initially lost the bout via unanimous decision. The bout result was overturned when Silva failed his drug test. Diaz also failed his test for marijuana use and he was initially suspended for five years by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That suspension was greatly reduced after heavy criticism, but it certainly played a part in why Diaz soured on the fight game.
Don’t Expect Nick Diaz To Return To MMA Competition, Unless …
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani spoke to Diaz following UFC 244, where his brother Nate suffered a TKO loss to Jorge Masvidal. When asked if he’s interested in returning, Diaz’s answer was clear.
“Absolutely not. It’s not up to me though. That’s what I’m saying. I’m like, ‘do you want some? Do you want some?’ Cause you can get it. I mean generally, I go in and I f*cking show somebody their life. It’s up to them whether or not they wanna deal with [it]. That’s just what I do. It’s my f*cking job. It’s been that way because I’ve been doing it to people since I was 15 years old.”
Diaz went on to say that he’s the reason why adjustments have been made to the drug-testing system.
“I took it hard and like I did everything right. And now that you have this legalization and you have all these things happen during what I was going through on a count of like, step-by-step I’m getting the bar raised up in this. Now fighters even smoke weed all the way till like the day before or the day of because you got the nanogram level raised so high.”
Editor’s Note: In the same interview with Ariel Helwani, Nick Diaz also dropped hints about wanting to face Jorge Masvidal in AT&T Stadium. His team later confirmed to Helwani that it’s the one fight he’d be willing to accept for the spring 2020.
