Following a decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, and a subsequent suspension until February 4, 2013 for testing positive to marijuana metabolites, Nick Diaz declared he was done with MMA.
Yesterday, his trainer, manager, and mentor Cesar Gracie said there would be an announcement today at 7:00.
There was:
•Diaz is back;
•He wants Anderson Silva; and,
•He will be taking the CSAC to court over his suspension, and hopes to fight this year.
Future of Nick Diaz
It’s been a trying time these last 4 months as I have been faced with the prospect that one of our team’s most talented fighters had decided to leave the sport. As a fan I’ve always admired what both of the Diaz’s brought to the cage; a combination of technical brilliance and raw violence.
Nate Diaz has finally put his game together and found the formula to propel him to the top of the 155lbs division. To see Nick leave at the top of his game was difficult.
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.
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.
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 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.
I will be meeting with Dana 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.
Thank you and best regards,
Cesar Gracie
In an interview with MiddleEasy Cesar clarified that Diaz is not angling for a title fight, but rather was a super fight.
“It’s not about the title,” said Gracie. “We don’t want a title. If it were to be at 185 we don’t want the title. Nick isn’t trying to be disrespectful to all the great middleweights out there. Our camp doesn’t want that. There’s a lot of great middleweights out there that are in line for a title shot. This is about fighting… a superfight.”
Anderson Silva’s camp was positive:
Ed Soares @edblackhouse
I think the idea of @SpiderAnderson vs @nickdiaz209 is pretty good. Let’s see what the @ufc thinks?
