Nick Diaz off suspension, discusses who he might give a shot to

On Monday, UFC welterweight Nick Diaz came off an 18 month suspension for the notorious Performance Enhancing Drug marijuana.

Before the demon PED:

After:

It could have been worse. Diaz was originally suspended for five years for his third marijuana-related suspension. However, Diaz was given three fight night tests, and passed two of them.

“Anti-doping is a very difficult field to 100% comprehend,” said UFC drug czar Jeff Novitzky at the time. “Those commissioners are part time, at best. The Executive Director, Bob Bennett, who runs the anti-doping day to day operations, that’s only a small part of his full time job. I’ve been immersed in anti-doping for 13 years, and I’m still constantly learning and struggling to keep up with the intricacies of it. It’s a difficult topic and area, but it’s one you have to get perfect, and all that being said, they didn’t get this one perfect. They got this one wrong, in my opinion.“

That is the opinion of the most knowledgable figure in the sport, or perhaps anywhere, the man who took down Lance Armstrong.

Diaz, 32, spoke recently with Brett Okamoto for ESPN, and said the suspension was something of a blessing, and he is not in a rush to accept the first fight he is offered.

“There are ups and downs with that, being suspended,” said Diaz. “People don’t understand, I’ve had 37 fights, three to five fights every year, for 17 years. That does something to somebody. These suspensions are the only vacations I’ve ever had. It cost me a lot of money to have a vacation, basically. It’s nice to step back and see there’s more to life. [Prior to the suspension], I didn’t do any hanging out, drinking, meeting people, going to different places — unless it was for a fight.”

However, Nick Diaz may not be interested in war, but war is interested in Nick Diaz. Moments after beating Robbie Lawler on Saturday night, new UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was calling for a fight with Diaz or the theoretically returning former division champion Georges St-Pierre. And the UFC may have a third a option. Diaz knocked out Lawler at UFC 47 in 2004, and a rematch would be highly, highly marketable.

“We’re going to have to see, sit down and have a look at what fans want to see,” said Diaz. “I’m on top right now. I’m on top of this game. There ain’t no ‘giving’ me a shot. I’m giving somebody a shot. If anybody’s getting a shot, somebody’s getting a shot against me, because I’m the guy to beat. These guys aren’t doing any money fighting each other, and until they do some money fighting each other, I’m not interested. I’m looking for the right guy to make the right show, do the right numbers. Then we can talk.

“We’ll see. I have to talk about these things. I’m not trying to do any ‘what I’m going to do, what I’m not going to do’ through the media. I’m just here to say, ‘Look, I’m not suspended no more.’ These guys are talking about me, asking how I feel about it – I could care less. What are you guys gonna do for me? I can’t help you. You can’t help yourself. You need to go help yourself. Maybe after you do that, we can have some sort of deal.”

“I don’t need none of this s***. I walk around, people know who I am. I’ve got friends. I can make ends meet. I grew up around people who have been hustling from the start, so I think I’ve got a bright little future ahead of me — especially if I don’t fight. Why would I want to go out there and fight with somebody, get my face punched and kicked. It’s not my idea of a good time.”

Diaz’s little brother Nate is making millions now fighting Conor McGregor, twice. A quick yes from Nick is going to take a lot of figures.