I write this, and I don’t know what it means. Dana White has made Nick Diaz an offer to lure the popular pugilist out of retirement. That offer, a fight against Lyoto Machida at 185. Apparently as “The Dragon” has been talking about moving down, and Nick Diaz has been talking about moving up it seemed like a natural fit.
“I talked to Diaz today, and I made him an offer, so we’ll see what happens,” White said. “He had been talking about going to 185 pounds. Machida has been talking about going to 185 pounds. So we wanted to see if he wanted to fight Machida at 185.” (via MMAJunkie)
The news is especially surprising considering the recent rumors that Machida would be facing Vitor Belfort either at UFC 167 or in a November 9th Fight Night main event. Apparently those negotiations aren’t going well, though. White elaborated:
“I wanted Machida to fight Vitor Belfort, but Vitor Belfort is his own matchmaker, apparently,” White joked. “He wants to make his own fights.”
No matter the impetus this is way out of left field. Machida is coming fresh off a competitive loss to Phil Davis that was more the result of his counter-striking style than being undersized. He is a small Light Heavyweight however, so the drop wouldn’t be terribly out of place and might be his quickest path to another title shot. For Diaz, who is a decent sized welterweight the drive to move up a division seems strange. It seems like he’d be severely undersized in the middleweight ranks and fighting a top Light Heavyweight as his entry to the division may make for an incredibly rough fight. It is the kind of showcase fight he talked about wanting when he retired, however, so I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he agrees.
No word yet from the Diaz camp as to whether they’ll accept the offer, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated the moment news breaks.
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