Former UFC Title Contender Lifts Lid On Nick Diaz MMA Return

Former UFC welterweight title contender Jake Shields has revealed that his friend and longtime training partner, Nick Diaz, is now serious about making an MMA return.

Diaz has not stepped inside the octagon since 2015 when he faced former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He lost via decision, but this was overturned to a no-contest when both fighters failed their drug tests. After five years of complete professional MMA hiatus, Diaz is now mulling a comeback.

The 37-year-old California native has been spending a lot of time partying since departing UFC. Diaz has developed a good relationship with Shields, his Cesar Gracie fighter team co-star who also witnessed his partying habit.

But in a recent talk with MMA on SiriusXM, Shields revealed that Diaz is now getting back in shape and is done with all the partying.

“I think maybe there was one point where he got a little out of control,” Diaz's fellow former UFC fighter said. “But we knew that he [Diaz] would be back in. People gotta realize, ‘I’ve been partying since I was 14.’ So for me it’s like, ‘I’d have a fight, party, it was normal’.”

Shields said that Diaz “never drank” but went “a little out of control” with alcohol during his inactivity. However, the 41-year-old insisted that Diaz is now committed to training.

“But Nick never drank, never did anything other than smoke pot obviously,” he added. “He was completely dedicated to just train, train, train. So I think while he did go that way for a little bit, got a little out of control, he’s reigning it back in. I think he’s got that part of his life over.”

Meanwhile, Diaz’s manager, Kevin Mubenga, has confirmed to ESPN MMA’s Ariel Helwani that his fighter has “just completed a 14-week diet and training regimen.”

Mubenga noted that it was the first time Diaz decided to cut weight in approximately four years and revealed that his fighter is targeting an early 2021 MMA return.

Ahead of his possible comeback, Diaz was blasted by UFC welterweight contender Mike Perry. In response to Diaz's recent Instagram post, Perry took to Twitter to taunt the former UFC star, hinting at a possible fight.

“Who you hanging with @nickdiaz209? Y’all look soft and your nose looks worse then mine,” Perry wrote. “Your big head is a great target for this right hand old man. Look like you been riding ig horses with that stance. If you a gun slinger you shooting a 22.”