Nick Diaz on His Fighting Future: “I Don’t Want to Hurt Nobody”

The last time Nick Diaz stepped foot in the UFC‘s Octagon, the landscape of the company was a much different one than it is today. Jon Jones had just defeated Daniel Cormier for the first time, Ronda Rousey still ruled as a dominant force in the women’s bantamweight division, and Conor McGregor had yet to lay a hand on gold in the UFC.

Following his unanimous decision loss to Anderson Silva in the main-event of UFC 183 (decision that was later overturned into a no-contest after both participants tested positive for banned substances), the elder of the Diaz family was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for five years and handed a 165,000$ fine for testing positive for marijuana. Diaz would appeal the ruling and see his suspension dropped to 18 months and 100,000$ four months later. His ban was lifted on August 1^st, 2016.

Diaz would again be suspended, this time by USADA, for failing to to report his whereabouts to the anti-doping agency on three separate occasions. After serving a one-year ban, he would again be eligible to fight on April 9^th, 2018.

Since then, many rumored comeback fights floated around for the Stockton fighter, with current welterweight king Tyron Woodley calling him out on several occasions. It was rumored, and somewhat confirmed by president Dana White, that Diaz would return to the Octagon to face Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235, but Diaz quickly shot down the fight, claiming the MMA promotion was trying to low-ball him on his salary.

On Monday, Nick took to Instagram and posted a lengthy message addressing his fighting future and the possibility of returning to the UFC, claiming that he “didn’t want to hurt no one” and “just wanted to party” You can read the full statement below.

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I’m no role model, I’m 35 years old, but I definitely wouldn’t advise anybody to take a fight for less than their worth or fight for free. Which is practically what I would be doing at this point in taking a fight with some of these guys that are not on my level. Nor would I be within my moral ethics to even do that aside from you not painting me as a role model. If there was an offer I couldn’t refuse, things would be different. Until they are – I’d like to continue to think I’ve been fighting to make the world a better place, but until I can continue to do that: “I don’t want to hurt nobody, I just want to party.” ???? Cc: @ufc @nick_diaz_academy @natediaz209 @riokid @thefloridaboy @bellatormma @tmz_tv @mmajunkiedotcom @mariolopez @arielhelwani @foursigmatic

A post shared by nickdiaz209 (@nickdiaz209) on Feb 18, 2019 at 12:44am PST

Diaz has never been shy about his distaste for fighting, claiming on multiple occasions that he did so only for the salary, and not because he loved the sport. At this stage in his career, Nick Diaz is not willing to “fight for free” as he puts it, and will only consider a return to the Octagon if the offer on the dotted line is worth his time.