As a child, Nick Diaz struggled in the classroom. He even moved from school to school, but couldn’t get through his sophomore year. He didn’t have anything good going until he found MMA trainer Gracie and Jiu-Jitsu. He was just 15 then, but he knew he was meant for the fight life. “But nobody had any faith in me,” Diaz shared in 2015. If anything, people close to him warned him he wouldn’t be able to make a living fighting.

Looking at his career trajectory, he was anything but a failure. His ‘don’t give a damn’ attitude, along will his relentless nature and trash-talking, earned him a cult following in the MMA world. Sure, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspending him for five years derailed his career, but his legendary status never dropped. This is despite the fact that his comeback fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 surprised people; not in a good way. Many believe he gave up.

Then, 2024 was supposed to witness yet another comeback from the Stockton fighter, which never took place. Instead, a clip of Diaz went viral where he was seen wandering the streets shirtless and seemingly in a state of instability, which worried his fans. But as per his friend’s latest statement, the fighter is doing much better.

A few days ago, fight fans were treated to some positive news. Nick Diaz took to Instagram to share a pleasant update about his personal life. Diaz shared a video of himself inside a hotel room with a sea view, claiming to be on a retreat in Mexico and intending to visit a BJJ school with a friend to continue his training. Now, his best friend, Jake Shields, has also provided us with an update.

In a recent appearance on the Overdogs podcast, the former Elite XC welterweight champion revealed that Nick Diaz is still on the path of improvement and continues being sober and away from his personal demons. Talking about his ‘brother,’ the 46-year-old said, “He’s doing a lot better now. I’m not going to get into anything personal with him, but he had some stuff that’s been going on for a while, and it’s finally heading in the right direction. So I’m hopeful for Nick because he’s like a brother to me—one of my best friends.

“But, you know, life is tough sometimes. Ups and downs, things can happen and Nick was dealing with something and I think he is now headed in the right direction. So I haven’t felt that way in a long time. So I finally feel a lot better with that situation. But we will see, you know, time will tell.

“It’s painful to watch someone so close to you struggle with some things, but I think he is going to be finally better.

But coming back to Diaz’s viral clip, his fans were concerned after seeing the footage, as he was scheduled to return at UFC 310. So, when his fight was canceled with no explanation presented to fight fans, many assumed that his supposed addiction issues must have been the cause. Even his partner/girlfriend fueled the belief by addressing his addiction difficulties on social media, tweeting, “@nickdiaz209 D-ug add–tion doesn’t last forever. You either find sobriety, or it takes your life.” So, now that he is doing better, will we see him fight Vicente Luque?

The Brazilian might look away from a Nick Diaz fight…

Scheduled to face Nick Diaz in August in Abu Dhabi (UAE), Vicente Luque saw the duel canceled on the eve of the card and later rescheduled for UFC 310. However, the American ‘bad boy’ again left the fight near the show, and the company’s top management replaced him with Themba Gorimbo, whom Luque successfully managed to defeat just 52 seconds into the fight.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Luque admitted that while facing the popular Nick Diaz would bring a lot more attention and viewership to his fights, the veteran has only competed twice since 2015, winning his last fight in 2011.

Therefore, from a sporting point of view and looking for greater challenges for his career, the Brazilian guarantees that opponents like Gorimbo will be more beneficial for him.

“Nick brought a lot of that hype from the fans. When I look to the UFC, there are a lot of things that can push you over. Maybe the biggest of all is hype, and I think the Nick fight brought that. Now, when I look at this fight (against Gorimbo), from a sporting side, it makes way more sense.”

So, if Diaz returns to the UFC, chances are that the 33-year-old might refuse to fight against a semi-retired veteran and go fight someone who will help his rankings. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.