Is Nick Diaz getting ready to fight again? It certainly looks like it based on a recent video the elusive 40-year-old posted to his Instagram.
Diaz has been firmly out of the UFC matchmaking conversation for nearly half a year. The last time we heard anything was when it looked like Nick might appear in a UFC Fight Pass Invitational superfight against Georges St-Pierre. Both Diaz and St-Pierre reportedly got injured, scrapping the rumored December booking. Since then: crickets from Nick.
Now Nick has shared a video where he’s working on a heavy bag, peppering it with strikes and kicks.
“Somebody is gonna pay very soon,” the caption ominously reads.
As if that wasn’t mysterious enough, another caption from Diaz on the Reels version of the video reads “This is the muthaf—in’ thanks I get? OK.”
The last time Nick fought was a September 2021 bout against Robbie Lawler. Diaz — who requested a last-minute weightclass change from welterweight to middleweight — looked slow and was unable to keep up with Lawler as the fight progressed. By the third round he seemed exhausted, and the ref waved the fight off after he sat down and refused to continue (watch the highlights here).
We would later learn that Nick was suffering from two ruptured discs in his neck. He vowed to return soon to get rid of the bad taste that loss left him with, but it’s been two and a half years without any indication of another MMA fight.
If Diaz brothers legs were as good as their hands they would be near unstoppable.
NDA’s gonna wear some red panties tonight
The UFC will stick him in there with someone like Shavkat lol instead of doing a logical fan favorite fight like Strickland.
This
He looked slow and unable to progress? He hit the record for most strikes thrown in a single round after a what 7 year lay off? The stoppage was more of a “fuck this, they don’t pay me enough” than an actual TKO
Had to fine tune this a little bit.
- set up a fight.
- give him something to be pissed about.
- no weed leading up to the fight.
Fight night - angry Nick.
It’s not known whether Diaz’s post was referring to him making a UFC return or if he plans to follow in his brother Nate’s footsteps and return to professional boxing. Diaz won a four-round unanimous decision over Alfonso Rocha in April 2005 in his pro boxing debut.
Nate lost via 10-round unanimous decision to Jake Paul last August in his pro boxing debut. He’s scheduled to fight former UFC veteran Jorge Masvidal on June 1 in a 10-round light heavyweight bout in Los Angeles.
The 40-year-old Diaz hasn’t fought since a TKO loss to Robbie Lawler (30-16-1) at UFC 266 in September 2021. Lawler caught Diaz with a right hook followed by a left uppercut that sent him crumbling to the canvas. He refused to get up and lost the bout by retirement 44 seconds into the third round.
Diaz lost three of his last four fights to Lawler, Georges St. Pierre (26-2) and Carlos Condit (32-14), the latter two were for the UFC Welterweight Championship.