Nick Diaz seeks to return to UFC, wants to challenge Anderson Silva
Posted on July 28, 2012, 12:19 PM by Mike Searson
According to a post on graciefighter.com by Cesar Gracie, Nick Diaz (27-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) wants to return to the Octagon and may have his eyes set on facing UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.
Diaz has not fought since his loss in February to Carlos Condit at UFC 143 for the interim Welterweight title. After his loss by decision, Diaz announced his retirement from the UFC. A few days later, he was suspended for a year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, because he tested positive for marijuana, his second offense in Nevada.
Gracie wrote: "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. 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. I will be meeting with Dana (White) next Monday August 6th to discuss this and other issues. If you appreciate Nick’s fighting style, please let Dana know that you want Nick back ASAP."
Diaz was supposed to fight Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 137. However, he was pulled from the fight for missing press conferences in advance of the bout. He was replaced by Carlos Condit. After St. Pierre was hurt again, Condit faced Diaz at UFC 143. Apparently, neither a rematch with Condit or a fight against St. Pierre is on Diaz's mind: "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. Silva’s camp has been speaking of a fight with GSP, possibly even at a catchweight. 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."
Gracie said that Diaz is planning to challenge his suspension in court with the hope of getting it reduced: "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. For too long NSAC bureaucrats have acted with malicious incompetence towards the fighters. We will challenge them in court."
Diaz is currently eligible to reapply for a license to fight in Nevada on February 4, 2013.
Comments
Hahhaahahahahah....he is on crack now right?
I actually would pay the pay per view to see that fight !
Diaz would probably try to taunt Silva during the fight or even before, but Silva is the King at Taunting and humiliating his poor inferior opponent , he would teach Respect to the bad boy Nick Diaz and Knock Him out with a seagal crazy kick . ahhahaha
LOL!!!!!!
"Both fighters drop their hands and walk to the centre of the ring to talk it out"
ya he was high when he said it lol!
u must be new to the sport and have just seen the soap opera of the last couple years...but your talking about a guy never been KOed,. boxing
is fast accurate, ground game is one of the best in the world,. wrestling is so so but come on it would be Silva........he hasnt been ranked in the top 5 for last 7-8yrs cause he is lucky,.. hasnt fought a guy that wasnt ranked in the top 10 since like 02' he is a DOUCHE but a great fighter and for him just to make sure he is in shape not have to worry about weight..mannn would be a fun fight to watch.,,
Actually, Nick Diaz was knocked out earlier in his career. By Jeremy the Rapist Jackson. He came back and did the same to Jackson in another fight. But he was KO'd.
Whoa....since everyone seems to want a piece of the CHAMP as of late, maybe Urijah Faber should get in line for a title shot as well.
nicks distant jabs , walking straight toward opponent, and lack of real power, stand no chance against Silva.
Hell...thats even if he showed up for the fight.
I agree...the Diaz brothers have great boxing, but part of the reason they are able to pick apart a lot of their opponents with straight punches is because they almost always have the reach advantage. Diaz would definitely not have that against Silva...and we all know who's really the better striker in this matchup.
Diaz has a fantastic ground game, but he doesn't have great takedowns. That, along with Silva's substantial size advantage would make it extremely difficult to get the fight to the ground.
Diaz is tough and would come to fight, and he would do his best to take it to Silva, but he does not have a realistic chance of winning this fight. I know he can take a lot of punishment, but Silva's size athleticism, and amazing striking skills are going to result in more punishment than any man can take, and Diaz WILL be stopped in this fight.
I thought that Diaz would be dismantled and destroyed before he fought Shamrock; and we all know how that worked out. Shamrock is no Silva, but it is one I'd pay to see! Silva wouldn't run and gun! This would be a real toe to toe fight!
ya 1st time he droped his hands ad talked shit in the ring he would get blasted hard and quick
To be fair, Silva drops his hands too.
but silva has head movement.
Yeah that's nice
Diaz has some of the best boxing ever seen in MMA but his style is too break and wear fighters down, something that has proved to be almost impossible to finish Anderson with.
The only tiny hope of beating Anderson in striking is with a huge 1 hit KO, in Vitor and Hendo style, the problem for Nick is he doesn't possess that kind of punching power.
Another problem in Nick's style, for this fight, is that he tends to take a lot of damage and that is suicide against Anderson.
Another fact to consider is that the first time Diaz fought someone who he àdddda have a reach advantage against, Condit, he got outstruck.
Even the much smaller BJ Penn managed to pick Diaz apart, in the first
round, before he gassed.
Considering these things and then taking in to account Anderson would have a reach advantage, along with being the most accurate striker in UFC history and being a guy who doesn't tire or break, I would bet the house onAAnderson winning via strikes (most likely in the first or second round).
Sorry for the long ass comment but my bus trip home from work sucks ass
"The only tiny hope of beating Anderson in striking is with a huge 1 hit KO, in Vitor and Hendo style" But that never happened, there's no reason to assume that the fight will be limited to striking. The only "hope" of beating Anderson is by submission. That has happened before a couple of times and Nick can pull sick submissions.
Totally agree man, his style of talking sh.it could work before the fight, thats about all he has going for him, if he drops his hands and starts the slapping his own face and talking sh.it in the cage, standard diaz behaviour, it will be a short fight. The BJ fight really opened my eyes on Diaz, his boxing isn't great like freddie roach says, he has little to no foot movement and he has little head movement, and he has no angles that he moves in and out of. However he makes up for this with crazy accurate hands, great combos, great conditioning which he uses to put pressure on fighters like no other until they gas and crumble, and the last thing is his superman like chin. In the BJ fight BJ was getting the better of Diaz in round 1, then he did the typical gassing. The list of pros for Diaz is bettered by Silva, except maybe the conditioning, and Jits. Silva has better footwork, better hands, better accuracy, better head movement, and a whole lot more variety in attacks, knees, elbows, kicks. Quick night for the spider.
Don't worry Keith, all your posts are long ass answers. We're used to it. ;-)
Probably Keith, but it would be some of the most action packed, 1 or two rounds in UFC history bud!
I said "the only tiny hope of beating him in Striking", meaning the only way he can get beat via strikes. IMO Anderson will never be beaten in the striking department but I gave my opinion of the only slim chance of doing it there.
I would say the best chance of beating Silva is by a heavy top control ground game. Submissions are possible too but the only guys likely to sub Silva would probably be KO'd before they had a chance, if they could even get him down anyway.
I don't think Diaz is strong enough to maintain top control on the Spider for any amount of time. But I think it makes for an interesting matchup. 180 pound non title catchweight fight.
IMO, the only way to beat Spider is to beat him exactly on the feet..
Nick was never KO'd , so either Nick will KO Anderson, or Silva will Ko Diaz.
Either way it's going to be something we still didn't see
I've heard some people say it will get really interesting if it his the ground. The only way I see it hitting the ground is Nick getting dropped.
Diaz is infamous for his poor wrestling game (for top level MMA), Okami couldn't get Silva down and even Sonnen struggled in their last fight, therefore I give Diaz basically no chance of taking him down.
Silva is a good technical wrestler and has great grappling in the clinch, his weakness is a huge power double leg, something that Diaz doesn't own.
I would give Diaz the submission grappling advantage but if hits the ground I wouldn't be too worried about Silva, he is a legit high level blackbelt.
Even though Travis Lutter may have been exhausted, Silva tapping him out and even sweeping him when mounted shows how badass his ground game is.
In the end I wouldn't take the ground game in to account for this match, the only reason it goes down is if Diaz goes down.
silva vs diaz wont happen. i wanna see diaz in with a top WW and if he wins finally set up GSP fight. GSP still wants it and im pretty sure a lot of fans still want it
I still want that fight bad as well Griff.
Wow, that caught me off guard.Ive often wondered what his power shots to the body would feel like at 185.
Watch the Scott Smith fight. He was actually still relevant then too.
We already know Dana will throw him in the octagon as soon as humanly possible. Nick = good ratings.
A.S would smash Nick Diaz , I'd pay to see that.
The walkouts would last longer than the fight. Kudos to Diaz for wanting the best though
At the end of the fight with Condit Diaz got him to the ground by latching onto his hips and swinging behind him to drag him down. He might pull that off against Silva as well. Probably not but maybe. I would definitely have Silva in the picks but I don't think this fight is as ridiculous as a lot of you seem to. Diaz has fought as heavy as 180lbs before so he should be able to make 185 and although he would be small so is Cung Le and he has done very well at that wt. As for how good a fight he is likely to give Silva, well I will personally guarantee that it will be at least as good as the fight Vitor Belfort gave him LOL.
Good point Choke! He beat the brakes off of both Smith and Shamrock in that weight class! Silva is on a differant level though, but the fight would still be better than the Vitor fight, I would think.
If Diaz moves to 185 it makes more sense for him to fight Chael sonnen they are both coming off a loss and if Diaz can beat Chael well maybe he has a claim to a 185 title shot
Best boxing in MMA vs. best striking in MMA. I'd pay 70 dollars to see that fight on PPV.
70 bucks easily!
"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"..
Very respectable...You don't want to come down, I'll come to you.
damn!! will be exciting for nick to be back
I can't wait to see him back either! Don't matter who he fights.
thats a lil somethin for all tha diaz haters to hate on tho...seems how nobody has anything better to do than jus hate!!! i dont care who he fights i jus think it will be exciting to have him back...he gets ****ed off all the time while on the other hand urijah faber gets a title shot anytime he wants
That's my Homie... I can guarantee you that Nick Diaz won't to the ridicules spinning back fist, The American TRT Sonnen did.. So War Diaz For The Win.
Yet The Spider Muay Thai Skills will be the key for victory. One awesome fight... Dana make it happen...
Anderson will destroy him. And he did not look that hot against Condit. I do like him, but he is only dominant if the opponent plays his game. I do not see that happening with Silva.
GSP and Silva at a catch weight for all the glory .... now there's a fight for the ages!!!
get er done Dana
so much for nick being scared of mayhem.
Mayhem almost submitted Jake Shields who is likely an equal or better ground fighter than Nick. Nick definitely wasn't worried about getting hurt but he may have been concerned about what a loss to Miller could have done to his career.
and right so beacause mayhem wasn't relevant at that time. everything can happen during a fight but it's unlikely that mayhem would (have) beat(en) nick OR jake by submission...let alone at stand up (that goes for nick).
Diaz isn't a boring wrestler or a scared to stand up BJJ fighter so this would definitely be a better than some of Andersons previous fights. That reason alone makes it worth watching!
Well, most of these points have already been covered, but anyways:
1. Nick will not out strike AS.
2. Nick doesn't have the KO power that AS has.
3. It doesn't matter how good his ground game is, he has no take downs.
4. Nick is smaller than AS.
5. The only reason why he wants this fight is because it will be the biggest paycheck of his career, even if he loses (think ppv). We all know that his main concern has always been the amount he gets paid.
6. Nobody even thought he would beat the no. 2 p4p fighter (GSP), and there's no reason to believe he would beat the no. 1 p4p fighter.
I actually think that Nicks style makes him psychologically difficult for GSP and gives him an edge. That said, yeah, he isn't beating Silva.
Oh my bad, I didn't mean to be so negative, always good to point out a fighters strengths, as well as their weaknesses. So Nick's strengths in this fight:
1. He won't gas.
2. He's not afraid of anyone, so he'll just charge right in (promising us a spectacular KO, delivered by AS)
3. He will out shit-talk AS.
4. All the blunt force trauma to the head combined with the THC in his system will give him some of the most spectacular hallucinations ever!
Doese Silva need a Fight like that? No
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