GOIANIA, BRAZIL
Earlier this week, former UFC welterweight No. 1 contender Nick Diaz was quoted in a story as saying he was ready to return to the Octagon.
The mercurial Diaz told Fighters Only he was only interested in âbig fights.â
That was news to UFC president Dana White, who told FOX Sports on Saturday night that as far as he knew, Diaz was still retired. And that information, he said, was very current. It came from just days ago, when he called Diazâs lawyer and got the same answer.
âThey told me heâs retired,â he said. âI talked to his guy last week. Literally last week. They said heâs retired.â
Later on, White told the media that he actually offered Diaz a specific fight and that is the answer that he got.
The 30-year-old Diaz stepped away from the sport after his five-round unanimous decision loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158 in March but it seems that heâs hellbent on returning on his own terms.
Since then, he promoted his own event, WAR MMA in Stockton, Calif., but hasnât really been heard from much aside from it. That changed this week when the Fighters Only story was released.
In it, Diaz said âIf there is a big fight available, people know where I am,â but also laid out contract demands that he earn between $3-$5 per pay-per-view units sold. Since he still has fights remaining on his current deal, itâs unknown whether the UFC would be interested in renegotiating a new one.
Diaz (26-9, 1 no contest) has dropped his last two fights, including a decision loss to Carlos Condit in Feb. 2012.
