Nick Diaz Not Planning Return: ‘If There Was an Offer I Couldn’t Refuse, Things Would Be Different’

The brief glimmer of hope that Nick Diaz would compete in the Octagon in 2019 seems to be growing more faint by the day.

Not long ago, Dana White revealed that the promotion was close to finalizing a fight between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235 before eventually announcing that the bout was off. More recently, training partner Gilbert Melendez had this to say about Diaz’s status: “I would love to see him come back, but last time I checked, he’s retired.”

On Sunday, Diaz himself squashed the notion of a potential comeback at this point in time. Of course, everything would change if the right offer was presented to the Stockton, Calif., native, but at this point it remains a mystery as to what it would take to get the former Strikeforce champion back into the Octagon.

“I’m no role model, I’m 35 years old,” Diaz wrote on Instagram, “but I definitely wouldn’t advise anybody to take a fight for less than their worth or fight for free. Which is practically what I would be doing at this point in taking a fight with some of these guys that are not on my level. Nor would I be within my moral ethics to even do that aside from you not painting me as a role model.

“If there was an offer I couldn’t refuse, things would be different. Until they are — I’d like to continue to think I’ve been fighting to make the world a better place, but until I can continue to do that: ‘I don’t want to hurt nobody, I just want to party.’”

Diaz hasn’t fought since losing a five-round verdict to Anderson Silva at UFC 183 in January 2015, a result that was later overturned to a no contest after “The Spider” tested positive for steroids.

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I’m no role model, I’m 35 years old, but I definitely wouldn’t advise anybody to take a fight for less than their worth or fight for free. Which is practically what I would be doing at this point in taking a fight with some of these guys that are not on my level. Nor would I be within my moral ethics to even do that aside from you not painting me as a role model. If there was an offer I couldn’t refuse, things would be different. Until they are - I’d like to continue to think I’ve been fighting to make the world a better place, but until I can continue to do that: “I don’t want to hurt nobody, I just want to party.” Cc: @ufc @nick_diaz_academy @natediaz209 @riokid @thefloridaboy @bellatormma @tmz_tv @mmajunkiedotcom @mariolopez @arielhelwani @foursigmatic

A post shared by nickdiaz209 (@nickdiaz209) on Feb 18, 2019 at 12:44am PST