Jake Shields: Nick Diaz got “a little out of control” with drinking, but “he’s reigning it back in”

Jake Shields says his teammate Nick Diaz got “a little out of control” with his drinking habits, but is confident the fan favorite is back on track.

Diaz has not fought since an early 2015 fight with Anderson Silva, which was originally a decision win in Silva’s favor, but was later overturned when both fighters failed drug tests. While it began to look like the former Strikeforce welterweight champion would never fight again, he recently laid out plans for a comeback.

This is Nick Diaz earlier today. He weighs in the 175-165 pound range, per his manager Kevin Mubenga.
He just completed a 14-week diet and training regimen. This is the first time he cuts weight in approximately four years, Mubenga said. Diaz wanted to do a test cut because … pic.twitter.com/5A8EvyLeUn

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 7, 2020

… he is keeping a close eye on the big welterweight fights coming up. He is “100%” planning on fighting again, per Mubenga, and is targeting an early 2021 return. (📽 @elfrogito)

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 7, 2020

In the years since Diaz last fought, there’s been reason to believe that he’s been partying pretty hard—primarily a handful of Instagram stories.

Shields, his long-time stablemate, recently confirmed that Diaz was hitting the bottle pretty hard, but clarified that the welterweight star is back on the straight-and-narrow.

🔊 “I think we’re seeing the old Nick coming back.” @jakeshieldsajj talks about Nick Diaz’s partying days, and says that Nick has reined that part of his life in ahead of a potential MMA return. 👊@RyanMcKinnell @MieshaTate pic.twitter.com/Lz4fBBRbD5

— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) September 10, 2020

“I think maybe there was one point where he got a little out of control,” Shields told SiriusXM (via Middle Easy). “But we knew that he 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.

“But Nick never drank, never did anything other than smoke pot obviously. 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, he’s not out in Vegas all the time anymore, he’s back training. I think we’re seeing the old Nick coming back.”

Do you think Nick Diaz can return to top-form in the Octagon?