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Nick Diaz will stay retired from UFC unless he gets 'an offer I couldn't refuse'

Nick Diaz last fought four years ago, and he intends to stay out of the Octagon in the future. (Getty Images)
Nick Diaz last fought four years ago, and he intends to stay out of the Octagon in the future. (Getty Images)

Nick Diaz seems pretty determined to stay retired from the UFC.

Diaz, the 35-year-old MMA fighter and brother of Nate Diaz, hasn’t fought in the Octagon in four years, and he intends to keep it that way for the time being. He posted a confirmation on his Instagram early Monday morning.

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.”

Diaz’s post is in response to several attempts by UFC president Dana White and fellow MMA fighter Anderson Silva to tempt Diaz back into the cage. In November, White announced that Diaz would fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235 in March. But Diaz told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that he hadn’t agreed to fight Masvidal — or anyone else.

“I think it’s rude of the UFC to try and lowball me and expect me to negotiate a deal while I’m training for a fight,” Diaz said via text message. “It’s not gonna go down like that. If anybody wants to fight me they know where to find me. I’m not a hard guy to find. Come get some.”

And that was that until early February. Even though Diaz’s longtime friend and teammate Gilbert Melendez recently confirmed that Diaz was happily retired and involved in several businesses, Silva called Diaz out after his fight at UFC 234, seeking a rematch that was four years in the making. Via MMAJunkie:

“I think it’s a very interesting fight,” Silva told reporters, including MMAjunkie, post-fight at UFC 234. “I talked to Nick’s manager a couple months ago, and Nick said, ‘OK, let’s go do it. Let’s talk to Dana (White).’ I’m just waiting for Dana.”

Silva and Diaz fought at UFC 183 in January 2015, Diaz’s final fight. Diaz lost via unanimous decision, but it was later changed to a no-contest when it was discovered that Diaz had tested positive for marijuana in his post-fight drug test, and Silva had tested positive for several performance enhancing drugs.

Diaz won’t be tempted, though. Not by Dana White, Jorge Masvidal or Anderson Silva. If Diaz comes back to the UFC, it’ll be on his own terms. Until that time comes, he’s made his mission clear: “I don’t want to hurt nobody, I just want to party.”

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