Nick Diaz Hints At Retirement (Again)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Following his unanimous decision loss to Anderson Silva in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 183 from Las Vegas and a third failed drug test for marijuana, controversial fan favorite Nick Diaz is hinting that he will retire from the sport of MMA (again), posting the following on his Instagram account:
This is obviously the same song and dance that we heard from Diaz after his previous two UFC fights, a UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight strap and a lopsided UFC 158 decision defeat at the hands of all-time great Georges St. Pierre.
He took almost two years off after his loss to “GSP,” and constantly cites that he doesn’t love fighting. Diaz is apparently fed up with all of the endless media obligations that go along with being a high-profile fighter; missing press conferences, flights, and open workouts in conjunction with some of the biggest bouts of his life.
Yet he stays relevant in today’s ever-evolving MMA landscape despite his last win coming in late 2011 over an obviously over-the-hill B.J. Penn, a fighter who was great but forced into retirement by featherweight Frankie Edgar last July.
He still applies his trademark constant pressure in the Octagon, but he just doesn’t do much with it. Despite all of his notable talent and skills, Diaz has seemingly begun to believe that trash talk and taunting should score him as much as actual strikes do.
Many would argue that two of Diaz’ three losses should have gone the other way, but that just isn’t the case. He may say he doesn’t want the drama and attention of being a professional fighter, but then why is he constantly appearing in the media for his problems with drugs and endless calling out for more money?
He got that massive payday at UFC 183, and now that the whole event has kind of turned into a joke after Silva failed an out-of-competition (OOC) test for two different steroids, Diaz may just call it a day. He probably should, because the NSAC is most likely to deal him quite a lengthy suspension in the wake of his third failed test for THC.
At this point, does he really have anything truly attainable left to prove? It’s hard to see the UFC waiting around for him to return even if he would, but he is somehow still one of the sport’s biggest names.
However, he’s going to be on the shelf for quite some time and perhaps even longer by decision, so maybe it’s time for him to fade away and smoke his marijuana in peace.
That’s probably all he wants to do anyway, so indeed it may be time for him to stop insulting the fans that will mindlessly follow him anyway.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
