UFC middleweight Nick Diaz believes he could’ve been a double-champion if things hadn’t gone awry.
The fan-favorite has been out of action since his rematch with Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021. In that outing, Diaz had some early success with the striking, even winning round one. However, ‘Ruthless’ wound up scoring a third-round stoppage after dropping the Stockton native.
Since then, the former Strikeforce champion and his team have clarified that he was fighting with multiple injuries in his return. For his next fight, Diaz has called out former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. While that matchup isn’t likely to be made next, the 39-year-old still clearly believes he’s championship-caliber.
However, Nick Diaz also believes he’s always been championship-caliber. In fact, he believes he would’ve been a double champion in his career if hadn’t been screwed over. Diaz made the comments in an Instagram story, also stating that other fighters were lucky.
“These motherf**kers are lucky. I got fu**ked over my whole career,” Diaz wrote in the Instagram Story discussing his double-champion possibilities. “Otherwise I have the UFC belt by now maybe both of them.” (h/t MMA News)
Nick Diaz didn’t have the greatest relationship with the UFC, as well as with athletic commissions in his career. He faced several suspensions, and fines over the years related to post-fight drug test failures due to marijuana. Diaz even had his monumental submission win over Takanori Gomi in PRIDE overturned for the same reason.
Furthermore, he was notably suspended for five years and fined $165,000 following his loss to Anderson Silva in 2015. While that was later shortened to an 18-month suspension, Diaz later faced repercussions from USADA in 2018 for whereabouts violations. As a result, he was suspended for a year.
What do you make of these comments? Do you agree with Nick Diaz? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!
