Nick Diaz is set to make a return to the ring according to his long-time coach Cesar Gracie, who told his fans to expect to see the MMA legend back in action later this year.
It appears Diaz, a former Stikerforce champion and UFC fan favourite, will be back in the Octagon in 2022 – the same time of the year his younger brother, Nate Diaz, has been touted to fight Conor McGregor for a third time before exiting the UFC.
The coach wrote on his social media: “Look for Nick Diaz to fight by the end of the year,”
The fighter has been relatively quiet since suffering defeat against Robbie Lawler at UFC 226.
The 38-year-old ended his six-year lay-off from the sport in September 2021 to take on ‘Ruthless’ in a rematch 17 years in the making.
Diaz and Lawler previously fought in 2004, with Diaz scoring an epic one-punch knockout win after two rounds of war.
It was a different story at UFC 266, where, despite giving a good account of himself and heading into the bout as powerplay.com’s favourite, he looked somewhat off the pace and was ultimately stopped by Lawler in the third frame.
The end of the fight was not something you’d expect to see from the usually tough Diaz, as he dropped to the floor and refused to fight on, resulting in the referee waving the bout off.
It’s now been more than 10 years since the California native last tasted victory, when he picked up a decision win over fight legend B.J. Penn at UFC 137 in 2011.
Since then, he’s suffered a series of defeats at the hands of Carlos Condit, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva (which was later overturned to a no contest), and Lawler.
Diaz has expressed his desire to fight again since losing to Lawler, but Dana White doesn’t appear to be keen on the idea.
The UFC boss may have had a change of heart as he is set to lose one-half of the famous Diaz Brothers.
Nate currently has just one fight left on his contract and has shown no interest in re-signing with the MMA leader.
Diaz is keen to get his last fight in as soon as possible in order to explore lucrative options in free agency, such as a fight with social media star turned boxer, Jake Paul.
However, the UFC have so far refused or been unable to schedule a fight for Diaz. It appears they are lining him up as a possible comeback opponent for Conor McGregor, who is expected to return as an under-dog with odds to BetOn this summer.
‘Notorious’ and Diaz have fought twice already.
In their first fight, Diaz scored a monumental upset when he became the first person to beat McGregor in the UFC back in 2016.
After weathering an early storm at UFC 196, Diaz rocked the Irishman before locking up a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
McGregor got his revenge when the duo rematched at UFC 202 less than a year later.
Both men went to war over five rounds, but it was ‘Mystic Mac’ who ultimately emerged victorious by way of a majority decision verdict.
