Nick Diaz admits he was “backed into” return fight against Robbie Lawler: “I didn’t go in there to win”

Over a year and a half on from his return, Nick Diaz has discussed all the controversy behind it.

In September 2021, the former Strikeforce champion made his return to the cage against Robbie Lawler. The bout was a rematch of their prior encounter at UFC 47 in 2004. In that outing, Diaz won by first-round knockout.

Their rematch 17 years later couldn’t have looked any different. In the build to the fight, Diaz admitted that he didn’t really want to be there. Furthermore, fans were concerned when the former welterweight champion requested the bout take place at middleweight on just a few days’ notice.

While Nick Diaz made weight for UFC 266, he didn’t walk away with the win. While he had a fast start in round one, he eventually was overwhelmed in the third round. ‘Ruthless’ dropped Diaz en route to a third-round stoppage win, avenging the defeat from nearly two decades prior.

Following the defeat, news began leaking out of Diaz’s camp that the build to the fight wasn’t great. He reportedly fought with several injuries, and the bout was forced on the former WEC champion. In a recent interview with the Dying to See Me Podcast, Diaz confirmed that was the case.

The PRIDE veteran also stated that he knew that he had the loss to Lawler coming. Along with talk of his management and issues in training, Diaz admitted that he didn’t go into UFC 266 to win.

Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler at UFC 266

Nick Diaz discusses his return against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266

“So I went into training camp, and I kind of got backed into it too.” Nick Diaz stated in the interview. “I was in between management, it wasn’t like when I went and found a group to work with and organize my situation. I was going back and forth with the people I was working with and some of the old people I was working with during this training camp and my trainers.”

He continued, “So I couldn’t amount to a level of athletism that I needed to be competitive, and I knew that going into the fight. Then I was going into this fight like, ‘I really have it coming’, so I didn’t really go in there to win. I just needed to get that fight out, I hadn’t fought in a long time. I’d never fought under those conditions [before].”

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