There are talks about Nick Diaz making his long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 235, against Jorge Masvidal, but is this the right comeback fight?
As many of you who follow the sport may be aware that we last saw the older Diaz brother; Nick Diaz last appear against Anderson Silva at UFC 183. Where the fight was later overturned as a no-contest due to Silva testing positive for drostanolone and androsterone. Diaz also tested positive for marijuana.
Nick Diaz’s last victory came back in October 2011 at UFC 137 where he defeated BJ Penn. This win was by a unanimous decision which would later grant Diaz a shot at the UFC Interim Welterweight title against Carlos Condit in early 2012, to determine who would next face the current reigning champion, Georges St-Pierre. Unfortunately for Diaz, he would go on to lose both bouts against Carlos Condit and Georges St-Pierre.
Diaz’s opponent is spoken to be #9 ranked UFC welterweight Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal who is currently 3-3 in his last six fights and on a two-fight losing streak. Masvidal made his last appearance in the UFC octagon against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, where both men fought for three rounds at UFC 217. Before this loss, Masvidal happened to face Damian Maia which in many people’s opinions is one of the greatest BJJ practitioners in recent years. He’d go on to lose the fight by split decision at UFC 211 controversially.
Jorge’s last win would appear on January 28, 2017, at UFC on FOX 23, where he put on a showcase of skills to seal the deal against Donald Cerrone.
An insight on both fighters careers,
Nick Diaz is the former Strikeforce welterweight champion, and he holds the most successful total defenses in welterweight history with 3.
He had also received one fight of the night bonus when he fought BJ Penn and a submission of the night bonus against Josh Neer. Nick is a 3rd-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie.
Jorge Masvidal is the former AFC welterweight champion; he holds one fight of the night bonus and two performance of the night bonuses.
Masvidal has also had a professional boxing bout back in June of 2005, where he defeated Joesph Benjamin (1-11-2) at Radisson Mart Plaza Hotel in Miami, Florida. Jorge won the fight by majority decision and has not fought in the ring since.
Do you believe this is the right fight for Diaz after such a long layoff?
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