Diaz (photo) wants another chance to fight for the UFC title. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The novel between Nick Diaz and the UFC gained another chapter this week. Almost a year after his last fight, when he lost to Georges St Pierre at UFC 158, in March, the controversial North American fighter has not yet seen his situation within the organization defined.
Last weekend, during UFC 170, Diaz made a rare appearance at the event, held in Las Vegas, United States. Despite coming off two consecutive defeats, he stated that he will only return to the Octagon under one condition: that it be in a valid fight for the welterweight title.
“I've been fighting for 11 years and I've done all these challenger fights. I don't need to have a warm-up fight. Why would I have a warm-up fight? To serve as a ladder for someone? To bring them to my level? I've been through all this and you haven't seen me get beaten up. I'm talking about a fight for the belt”, he asked, according to the website of the North American broadcaster “FOX Sports”.
According to Diaz, his fighting style is attractive to fans, using as an example the positive viewing figures for his fight against GSP. “In short, I’m the main attraction here. We had the third largest sales of pay-per-view [of UFC history], and it wasn't just because of Georges St Pierre. These guys [other welterweight fighters] can't do that. People want to pay to see me fight, they want to see someone being submitted or knocked out, or they want to see me take a beating, which is something they've been waiting to see but haven't been able to yet,” he added.
The UFC welterweight belt is currently vacant. On March 15th, John hendricks e Robbie Lawler will face each other to define the new champion. Diaz already beat Lawler in an electrifying battle, held at UFC 47, in 2004, which is to date the only knockout suffered by the title contender.
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