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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