UFC legend and former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz is eyeing a return to fighting, according to a report from ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
On Sunday night, Helwani shared a recent video of Diaz who weighed around 165 to 175 pounds. Diaz’s manager Kevin Mubenga told the journalist that the fighter just finished a 14-week diet and training program. As per Helwani, the manager said that this was the first time Diaz had cut weight in four years.
This is Nick Diaz earlier today. He weighs in the 175-165 pound range, per his manager Kevin Mubenga.
He just completed a 14-week diet and training regimen. This is the first time he cuts weight in approximately four years, Mubenga said. Diaz wanted to do a test cut because … pic.twitter.com/5A8EvyLeUn— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 7, 2020
… he is keeping a close eye on the big welterweight fights coming up. He is “100%” planning on fighting again, per Mubenga, and is targeting an early 2021 return. (📽 @elfrogito)
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 7, 2020
It’s been close to six years since Nick Diaz has stepped inside the Octagon. The last time we saw Nick Diaz compete was in January of 2015 when he faced and lost to Anderson Silva – only for the Middleweight legend to pop for a failed drug test and for Nick Diaz to test positive for marijuana.
After failing a test in September 2015, Nick Diaz was suspended for five years and fined $165,000 – a sentence that was reduced to 18 months and a $100,000 fine. It was deemed as the most ridiculous suspension given out since it was only for Marijuana.
From April 2017 to April 2018, Nick Diaz had faced another suspension after failing to notify USADA of his whereabouts. In his time away from the sport it was said that Diaz was retired from mixed martial arts, but that no longer seems to be the case. His last win was against B.J. Penn back in 2011.
Nick Diaz: Future Welterweight Champion?
This is not the first time Diaz has been linked to a return to competition. In an interview with the aforementioned Helwani, Diaz spoke about his desire to come back against fellow welterweight standout, Jorge Masvidal right after his fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 244.
A fight between Diaz and Masvidal was allegedly supposed to happen at UFC 235, but it did not come together after talks between Diaz and the UFC brass fell apart. A few months later, Nate and Masvidal signed up to fight each other for the one and only BMF) title.
It will certainly be interesting to see where Nick Diaz will stand in the Welterweight division, but perhaps the return after 5 years is to take a few big-money fights and then call it quits rather than facing the young guns of the division and attempting to capture a Championship. Time will tell how Nick Diaz will fare, but there’s certainly going to be a lot of buzz about his return fight.
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