By: Stephen Hardy-Delaney
Could it be? Nick Diaz making a comeback next year.
Well, it certainly seems that way after an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Nick Diaz made his return after being a recluse for years, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him make a return to the public spotlight in a one on one interview.
Diaz had a lot to get off his chest and some of the things that were talked about were his comeback and Jorge Masvidal.
“I’ll fight anybody,” Diaz said during the interview. “This guy [Masvidal] can do anything he wants to do right now to make the most money possible.”
Diaz stated, “I’m like, you know, do the damn thing. … I’m doing my part, you do yours. They can do their part and then the show could go on.”
He further stated, “The BMF…that’s my belt. But I’m not gonna get in my brothers’ way of taking it, you know what I mean? But as far as I’m concerned that’s my belt. You just fought my baby brother.”
According to Helwani, Kevin Mubenga, Diaz’s manager, stated they are targeting a return to fighting in the spring. Mubenga said a Masvidal fight at the Dallas Cowboys’ home, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is their ideal choice.
“You know, it’s on you Dana,” Diaz said, referring to UFC President Dana White. “It’s on you, UFC. … that’s on them. It’s in your hands now. Cowboy Stadium.”
Coincidentally, the UFC actually tried to book Masvidal vs. Nick Diaz, but talks with Diaz never seriously materialized. Diaz voiced his disapproval of the UFC putting him on a poster with Masvidal and was thrown off when his team was coming up to tell him that the UFC had booked him with Masvidal and actually put him on a poster with Masvidal, but Diaz was displeased as he stated, “Well, no one talked me.”
“When they put me up on that poster with that guy, I’m like I have no business in that man’s life right now and he don’t have no business in mine.”
But as Diaz stated his opinion on the UFC 244 fight and stated that the commission shouldn’t have stopped the fight, but also said that since it’s his brother it was necessary; Diaz took offense with Masvidal saying he wanted to “baptize” Nate, which is a term Masvidal uses for knocking people out or putting people to sleep.
“You want to talk about baptizing my younger brother?” Nick said. “That’s on you. Like, you don’t talk about baptizing my younger brother, so you’re already in a f—ed position if you fight with me. You don’t f—ing talk about baptizing someone’s younger brother. That’s my baby brother. You don’t talk like that to nobody.”
Nick Diaz hasn’t been in action since Jan. 31st, 2015, a non-title main event at UFC 183 against the former UFC middleweight king, Anderson Silva, a fight where both fighters made their long-awaited comeback to the octagon. Diaz would go onto test positive for marijuana metabolites while Silva tested positive for drostanolone and androsterone, therefore the fight was ruled a no-contest. This was the third time Nick Diaz had failed a drug test via marijuana. He was suspended for 18 months but was initially suspended for 5 years.
Diaz has kept a low profile over the years since his fight at UFC 183, occasionally being interviewed by TMZ and appearing at his brothers fights against Conor McGregor especially at the famous “bottle throwing” press conference for UFC 202, but Diaz is focused on giving back to the people such as building gyms in bigger cities most notably in Los Angeles and in Dallas, where Diaz used to live.
During his interview with Helwani, Diaz was asked if he wants to continue fighting to which Diaz replied, “Absolutely not. It’s not up to me though. That’s what I’m saying like, I’m like do…you…want some? Do you want some?”
Earlier in the interview, Diaz said that he had to distance himself from MMA, “After a while you realize there’s more to life, but you don’t realize it until they take the gun out of your face and then you can go ahead and start to think like a normal person. I had a good couple of times off. I don’t know to be hateful or grateful for the suspension I went through because I served it anyways. The verdict was I’m not the bad guy in the end.”
“I needed a little bit of separation before I could get a clear picture. But I did what I was supposed to have done and supposed to be doing, just the way I should’ve been doing it at the exact right time. Looking back, I made no mistakes. I never have.”
Diaz stated he doesn’t want to see his younger brother, Nate fight anymore either, but likes to leave it up to people making their own decisions. Diaz stated that he doesn’t want to fight but has to fight.
“I had to start fighting because I wasn’t cutting it in school, you know what I mean? I wasn’t no, I was no prom date to be had, you know what I mean?” Diaz said.
Diaz stated a couple of times that he’s been having a tough week since his brothers fight at UFC 244. Diaz was asked late in the interview by Helwani:
AH: “Are you happy, Nick? Are you happy in life? Is life good?”
ND: “No…no. My brother just got kicked in his f—ing face and I’ve been having a really hard week and I could fight; I mean I could fight.”
Diaz’s interview was interesting, to say the least, but it was good to see him back and good to hear him get things off his chest and now to potentially see him make his long-awaited return to the UFC octagon. Only time will tell, but as of now Masvidal is chasing after a boxing showdown against Canelo Alvarez, but the offer is on the table.
Catch the whole interview here courtesy of ESPN MMA:
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