Nick Diaz Will Return to Fighting, Asks to Face Anderson Silva in the UFC

Nick Diaz is not done with fighting after all.

A tumultuous year that saw Diaz lose an interim UFC welterweight title fight followed by a year long suspension from the sport after a positive drug test for marijuana made the Stockton, Calif. native opt for retirement instead of continuing on with the fight game.

A few months later however according to his manager and trainer Cesar Gracie, Diaz is back in the gym, working hard and will return to fighting when his suspension is up.

“For the last couple of months I’ve watched Nick begin to frequent the gym more and more. He’s training harder now than he has for many of his fights. It was obvious that training and fighting is in his DNA. It is who he is,” Gracie wrote today on his website GracieFighter.com.

“This week we had a great talk and he made it clear to me that he is ready to get back to the cage. Nick Diaz will return.”

Gracie says that they are continuing to deal with the court system to hopefully overturn Diaz’s year long suspension, which would see him out until at least February 2013, and if they can get the result they long for, Diaz would love to return later this year.

“To address the NSAC suspension, I will say that we have appealed to the courts and if things go our way, it will be plausible that Nick could return as early as sometime at the end of this year,” said Gracie.

“For too long NSAC bureaucrats have acted with malicious incompetence towards the fighters. We will challenge them in court.”

Regardless of that pending action, Diaz is already looking ahead at potential opponents and says he only wants fights that ‘matter’.

Diaz’s dream fight would still be against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, but he’s tied up in November with a title fight against Carlos Condit, the man that defeated Diaz back in February.

With that fight out of the realm of possibility, Diaz has turned his attention to the biggest fight he could think of, both literally and figuratively.

“As far as future opponents, Nick has stated that he would like to take fights “that matter”. Since GSP will be fighting Condit, he has to look elsewhere. He will respectfully ask for a fight with Anderson Silva, a fighter he respects and would like to challenge,” Gracie wrote.

“Silva’s camp has been speaking of a fight with GSP, possibly even at a catch weight. Nick will take that fight in a minute but has told me that should Silva decide not to drop at all, he will move up to 185lbs to face the champ.”

Diaz has dabbled at higher weights before picking up wins over both Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith while competing in Strikeforce.

Silva’s managers have both been vocal at their desire for the UFC’s reigning middleweight champion to face only top competition or step into a ‘super fight’ situation against somebody like St-Pierre.

According to Silva’s representatives, the Brazilian legend has little desire to face names like Chris Weidman or Tim Boetsch.

So is Nick Diaz a name that would entice Anderson Silva?

Gracie plans on meeting with UFC President Dana White next week to discuss the possibility.

“I will be meeting with Dana next Monday August 6th to discuss this and other issues,” said Gracie. “If you appreciate Nick’s fighting style, please let Dana know that you want Nick back ASAP.”

http://www.mmaweekly.com/nick-diaz-will-return-to-fighting-asks-to-face-anderson-silva-in-the-ufc

This fight would be insane, you can tell Nick wants that $$$. I think Silva would use too much movement and would be too big for Nick.. but fuck it, if Diaz is happy with the money then I'm happy to watch him fight and freak out while he does so.

Anderson Silva is a better fight than against GSP. GSP would try do a condit and try to outpoint him for a decision instead of actually fighting. Diaz wouldn't be afraid of Anderson either.

Diaz vs. Silva would be sweet. I think Silva would be too much for him but Diaz would not back down. Could get brutal.

If only Anderson had the size of balls Nick has...

AudaxPowder wrote:This fight would be insane, you can tell Nick wants that $$$. I think Silva would use too much movement and would be too big for Nick.. but fuck it, if Diaz is happy with the money then I'm happy to watch him fight and freak out while he does so.

Yeah the movement, reach and speed speaks for Anderson, this is a crazy matchup... Love it!

Cesar Gracie, the trainer and manager for Nick Diaz, made a recent statement that mentioned Diaz moving to middleweight and challenging Anderson Silva. Well, it appears another person is interested in the bout as well.
Ed Soares, Silva's manager, believes the UFC middleweight champion would welcome the challenge of Diaz. Of course, Diaz is currently suspended, but Gracie did say they are working to get him back inside the Octagon before the end of the year.

"I think the idea of (Silva vs. Diaz) is pretty good," Soares posted on his Twitter account. "Let's see what the UFC thinks?"

rooting for nick...

Silva vs Diaz would put asses in the seats and honestly, this is better than anything else in the current 185 landscape.

Bisping is deserving but offers nothing, Lombard blew his chance for the time being, Weidman isn't ready yet, and Boetsch is a boring opponent.

I doubt they'd give Diaz a shot straight a way. In reality, they'd probably want him to have 2 fights first.

Doesn't mean we can't talk about it though.

why are you people talking about "giving Diaz a title shot at MW"??? Nick hasn't fought at MW and lost his last WW fight, everyone and their mothers know he doesn't deserve a title shot. There are people in the UFC who deserve a title shot, but they don't deserve to fight Silva at all.
you wanted so called superfights?? here's one, so stop crying and worrying about the belt, let the UFC worry about that, why should we? we just want to see this fight, right? i don't think Diaz can beat Silva, but at least he has balls and he will bring it and it's the best fight for Silva at the moment excluding LHW.

Fairweather wrote:why are you people talking about "giving Diaz a title shot at MW"??? Nick hasn't fought at MW and lost his last WW fight, everyone and their mothers know he doesn't deserve a title shot. There are people in the UFC who deserve a title shot, but they don't deserve to fight Silva at all.
you wanted so called superfights?? here's one, so stop crying and worrying about the belt, let the UFC worry about that, why should we? we just want to see this fight, right? i don't think Diaz can beat Silva, but at least he has balls and he will bring it and it's the best fight for Silva at the moment excluding LHW.

It's because of how UFC matchmaking works that people talk about it in those terms.

nodogoshi wrote:

Fairweather wrote:why are you people talking about "giving Diaz a title shot at MW"??? Nick hasn't fought at MW and lost his last WW fight, everyone and their mothers know he doesn't deserve a title shot. There are people in the UFC who deserve a title shot, but they don't deserve to fight Silva at all.
you wanted so called superfights?? here's one, so stop crying and worrying about the belt, let the UFC worry about that, why should we? we just want to see this fight, right? i don't think Diaz can beat Silva, but at least he has balls and he will bring it and it's the best fight for Silva at the moment excluding LHW.

It's because of how UFC matchmaking works that people talk about it in those terms.

the ufc will have to change it's boring format sooner or later. none of their champions do non-title fights, and they all have to defend the title even if there are no worthy contenders. anderson has come to a point when there are no exciting fights for him at MW, a guy winning a couple fights in a row does not = title shot, the stakes are now much higher and in order to earn a fight against Silva you have to pretty much beat up everyone else in the division, because people will not be interested in the fight.