When Is Nate and Nick Diaz Fighting Again\\\\\\\
LAS VEGAS -- The return of Nick Diaz is complicated.
I've been talking to professional person fighters since 2009, just I accept never had an interview go the manner my conversation with Diaz went this week. Diaz, 38, returns from a half dozen-year absence on Sat, against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. He has done very footling media in the buildup to this event -- and ane tin can encounter why, given the interview he did grant to ESPN.
Merely four days away from the fight, Diaz somberly admitted he really doesn't want to do it. He said he tried to get away from fighting over the concluding 6 years, but information technology inevitably pulled him back because it's the only thing he can do for himself and those around him. When asked if there was fifty-fifty a single aspect of this comeback he could savour, he instantly responded, "No. Nothing."
Diaz says he feels this way before every fight. He says he never feels confident, nor does he look frontward to a fight in the way we're used to hearing so many fighters draw. A common phrase in MMA is, "Camp is the work, the fight is the fun function." None of it is fun for Diaz, and it never has been. He'south felt this way his entire career.
There's a different weight to all of this now though, compared to earlier in Diaz's career. And a lot of people are feeling that weight backside the scenes, equally well every bit those watching it unfold from the outside.
On one mitt, Diaz returning to MMA is cause for celebration. He was suspended from the sport for 18 months in 2015, afterwards testing positive for traces of marijuana. In hindsight, that suspension -- which was originally for five years simply reduced on appeal -- was unfair. UFC athletes aren't tested for marijuana in 2021, and earlier this year USADA "essentially" removed marijuana apply every bit a punishable offense. UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky stated that its use "doesn't accept whatever consequence on their ability to fight."
This sport owes something to Diaz. He'due south a pioneer of MMA, and a cult favorite with its fans. People love him. He's had a tortured human relationship with fighting, and in sharing that, he appears more human, more than relatable. There are two championship fights headlining UFC 266, but the main draw for Saturday'due south consequence is unquestionably Diaz.
Even Lawler, who has reason to not be happy with Diaz afterward Diaz requested a weight change to their tour this calendar week, speaks glowingly of him.
"I have a lot of respect for Nick and everything he'due south achieved, and who he is," Lawler said. "He kind of marches to the beat of his own drum, which I frickin' respect. He doesn't accept crap. He is who he is, and I take respect for that."
But on the other hand, no one can picket the candid interview Diaz gave Wednesday night and not wonder if this comeback is a practiced idea. During his six years away, Diaz did not await like someone who missed fighting. In fact, he looked content in simply being left solitary.
In a meandering interview with ESPN in 2019, Diaz was asked if he wished to resume his fighting career. "Admittedly non," he responded. He was eligible to return to the sport much sooner than now, but never did.
Layered on acme of all of this is the success of Diaz's younger blood brother, Nate. Over the last five years, Nate Diaz has become one of the sport'due south biggest stars and 1 of its highest paid. Of form, Nick is happy for his younger brother, simply it begs the question of whether there's nonetheless time for him to cash in besides. Afterwards years of the grind, Nate got the sport to pay him back, in a manner it has nonetheless to do so for Nick. When Nate fought Conor McGregor at UFC 202, his disclosed bag for that consequence was $2 one thousand thousand. Nick'southward top disclosed handbag, his fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 183, was a quarter of that.
So here Diaz is, headed into a fight he doesn't want. He says the final thing that goes through his listen equally he walks to the Octagon is, "Why am I doing this?" And that feeling will be two-fold on Sat, following this lengthy interruption from MMA.
Should Diaz even be fighting? With a unmarried look at Diaz'due south life -- the emergence from the streets of Stockton, the success of his own MMA academy, the fame and admiration from UFC success -- it'southward easy to see all the proficient fighting has done. But then hearing him talk virtually it makes information technology seem like he should never do it once again.
You lot can be excited nearly Nick Diaz'southward return. You can want to encounter him fight Lawler this weekend, and even desire to see him fight across that. You can want him to collect a handful of paydays and eventually walk away from this sport with financial security to fall dorsum on.
But once you understand some of the torment he goes through, it'southward impossible to experience 100% great about information technology. And that'south why this comeback, and Nick Diaz, is so complicated.
Source: https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/32264368/ufc-266-complicated-return-nick-diaz
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