Nick Diaz to fight NSAC ruling in court, wants Anderson Silva bout in UFC return

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

After losing a decision to Carlos Condit in February, a frustrated Nick Diaz stated in the cage that he was done with MMA and would be walking away from the sport. Few expected that "retirement" to stick, and indeed a rematch with Condit was proposed.

Then Diaz had to deal with an entirely different set of issues, as he tested positive for marijuana metabolites, a failed test that set off months of back and forth, legal finagling, and ultimately led to a year long suspension and one of the biggest fines in the history of the sport from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

With his future in limbo, he's been relatively quiet, but his manager Cesar Gracie released a big update on Diaz's future at GracieFighter.com. In that statement, Gracie revealed that Diaz is currently going through the Nevada court system to fight his year long suspension and fine, and said unequivocally that Diaz will fight again.

"This week we had a great talk and he made it clear to me that he is ready to get back to the cage. Nick Diaz will return," Gracie wrote. "To address the NSAC suspension, I will say that we have appealed to the courts and if things go our way, it will be plausible that Nick could return as early as sometime at the end of this year."

"For too long NSAC bureaucrats have acted with malicious incompetence towards the fighters. We will challenge them in court."

Whenever he's able to return, Diaz hopes to step right into big fights. With Georges St-Pierre currently locked in for a bout against Condit, Diaz is looking out of his division for his next challenge.

"As far as future opponents, Nick has stated that he would like to take fights 'that matter.' Since GSP will be fighting Condit, he has to look elsewhere," Gracie wrote. "He will respectfully ask for a fight with Anderson Silva, a fighter he respects and would like to challenge."

"Silva's camp has been speaking of a fight with GSP, possibly even at a catch weight," Gracie continued. "Nick will take that fight in a minute but has told me that should Silva decide not to drop at all, he will move up to 185 lbs to face the Champ."

"I will be meeting with Dana next Monday August 6 to discuss this and other issues. If you appreciate Nick’s fighting style, please let Dana know that you want Nick back ASAP."

Penick's Analysis: A Diaz-Silva fight would be interesting, that's for sure, but I don't know that Diaz matches up well with the greatest fighter in UFC history. His return to action isn't surprising, nor is his decision to fight the NSAC's ruling in court. It was a farcical procedure that they put him through, and with them standing as judge, jury, and executioner with minds made up before his arguments were made, he may have a case if he gets to bring it to court. If that happens, there is a potential for him to return before February of next year, and depending on how the timing works out the UFC may be more interested in Diaz fighting Silva than some of the other options. That's not necessarily true, but it's a possibility. At any rate, Diaz will be back in the Octagon at some point in the future.

[Nick Diaz art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13960.shtml

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