Nick Diaz is as complex an individual as we have ever seen in mixed martial arts.
Diaz, who has not fought since 2015 when he faced Anderson Silva at UFC 183, was suspended for testing positive for marijuana. However, that suspension ended long ago after it was shortened from five years to 18 months.
Still, we have yet to see Diaz return to the Octagon.
And he believes that is on the UFC and UFC president Dana White.
Nick Diaz Exclusive Interview With Ariel Helwani
Diaz sat down on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show for ESPN recently to discuss his return, Jorge Masvidal and a number of other subjects over almost 50 minutes.
Masvidal claimed the “BMF” title with a victory over Nate Diaz, the younger brother of Nick Diaz, at UFC 244 recently. That did not sit too well with older brother.
“The BMF… that’s my belt. You just fought my baby brother.”@nickdiaz209 feels the BMF belt was his all along (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/7f1wZTyRQO
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 11, 2019
After the fight, Masvidal remarked that he “baptized” Diaz, which upset Nick Diaz.
“I never had nothing disrespectful to say, but you don’t talk about baptizing my younger brother.”@nickdiaz209 took offense to some of Jorge Masvidal’s words about his brother Nate (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/QnibkWHehi
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 11, 2019
There was also a different side of Nick Diaz shown as he talked about the respect he has for his brother, Nate.
“That means everything to me.”@nickdiaz209 reflected on his brother @NateDiaz209‘s success (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/EIJ98BVqXS
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 11, 2019
The 36-year-old Diaz battled Silva for five rounds four years ago, with the bout originally being declared a decision win for “The Spider.” However, both fighters failed their post-fight drug tests.
It has been over eight years since Diaz last won a bout when he earned a decision over BJ Penn. He lost to Carlos Condit in 2012 via decision for the interim UFC welterweight title.
A year later, Diaz dropped a decision to Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight belt.
Overall, he is 26-9 in his career with two no-contests. That includes wins over Paul Daley, KJ Noons, Frank Shamrock and Robbie Lawler.
Diaz is a former Strikeforce welterweight champion, setting a record with three consecutive title defenses. He also held the WEC welterweight title and has earned two UFC bonuses in his career.
Five times Diaz was in the headline main event for UFC pay-per-view cards. Those five events generated over 2.7 million buys, with his UFC 158 title fight vs. St-Pierre the highest of them at 950,000.