UFC 266: The Enigma That Is Nick Diaz Comes To Light Again

Nick Diaz is as unique of a fighter as you will find in the sport.

Diaz returns to the Octagon this Saturday night when he faces Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. The bout is set to be contested in the middleweight division now live on pay-per-view.

In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto this week, Diaz made some interesting comments regarding himself and his career.

However, for anyone that has followed both Diaz and his brother, Nate, for a while now, they know this is to be expected.

When asked about returning after so long away from the fight game, Diaz offered up his reasoning.

“It’s just what I do,” Diaz said (thanks to ESPN for the quotes). “I tried to get away from it, but really, it’s just kind of inevitable.”

Diaz explained that he looked to open a gym, travel and do other things non-fight-related. But all those plans fell through and he took the UFC’s offer to face Lawler. 

Even that sparked an intriguing response. Asked about facing Lawler for a second time, Diaz turned the attention to reigning champion Kamaru Usman. 

“I think I’ll beat the (expletive) out of Usman,” Diaz said. “I’ll have a better shot against Usman than I do Lawler, just because I already beat Lawler. This doesn’t make sense for me to go in and fight Robbie Lawler again. I don’t know why I’m doing this.

“This should not happen. Whoever set this up is an idiot. I don’t know why I’m doing this. I don’t know why this happened. I should be fighting Kamaru Usman – and that’s it.”