Diaz: I wish I had taken boxing option over UFC
Nick Diaz was on the precipice of a move to boxing as part of his previous contract with Strikeforce. However,…
Nick Diaz was on the precipice of a move to boxing as part of his previous contract with Strikeforce. However, UFC president Dana White convinced him to sign a new deal, and a big deal at that – a shot at Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title at UFC 137.
Diaz notoriously lost the title opportunity by no-showing a press conference, and was relegated to the undercard. Then GSP injured his knee, and Diaz was back as the main event, now facing former training partner BJ Penn at UFC 137 on Saturday.
Just 72 hours before fight time, Diaz voices regret. “If I had my chance to do it over again, I would have gone back to the boxing contract.”
“I would have took my punches, win or lose. Just done my job: fight and get paid.”
“I’m sure [the UFC] would have had me back here, or somewhere. You want to see a pro boxer fight MMA, and then you have yourself a high-level pro boxer that’s coming back. So in my opinion – I don’t really think about it until it’s all over with – but I figure I would have made plenty of money here, and then would have made more money later.
“It definitely would have worked out if I had done what I had set out to do.”
UFC 137 airs Saturday night, live on PPV from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.