Sometimes fighters need to be protected from themselves. This is one of those times.
Nick Diaz returned to the UFC after six years away in September of last year. It was for a rematch with Robbie Lawler in which Robbie got his revenge for a loss to Diaz way back in 2004 at UFC 47. It was a poor performance from Nick this time around in which he was left beaten and bloodied. This is primarily the reason for the head scratching going on after Diaz called for a fight with current pound for pound number one and welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Diaz has not won a fight since 2011 when he took BJ Penn to a decision which would make a case for a bout with Usman extremely weak.
Speaking about his likely return, Diaz told TMZ Sports (via MMAmania):
Working on end of the year. I’m just focused on my training right now. If I’m going to fight, I want to fight for the title. They want to say that I want to fight a bunch of guys and stuff like that. Well, you know what? It’s a bigger fight. Just skip all the mess. I don’t need to go in there and get my ass whooped by one of the young guys, anyway and it’s not that I won’t win. It’s just not motivating to fight somebody that’s – I want to fight for the title. I’m 38 years old. I think I’ll beat him. I would love it if they gave me a shot.
What are the odds he could land a shot at Usman and beat him?