Nick Diaz finally made his much-anticipated return to the UFC Octagon last weekend. He suffered a loss to Robbie Lawler. However, it shouldn’t come as a surprise as Diaz returned after an absence of over 6 years. UFC’s color commentator Joe Rogan believes Diaz rushed his return and should have taken more time to prepare.
“My thing about Nick Diaz is like, when I looked at him physically, I was like, I don’t know how much he’s been training. Like when Nick was in his prime. He was like, really lean. And he was you know, I mean, he’s definitely he’s like an older guy now,” said Rogan.
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“But the thing is, like, I don’t think you can just jump back in that easy after six years out of the sport. I think you’d probably need more time to prepare,” he said further.
“Well, I don’t know how much time he had to prepare and why they agreed to do a fight on short notice that I think it was only like six weeks notice which I think was is fine. If you’re you know Michael Chandler. If you’re in like peak form right now and you’re ready to go and someone gives you six weeks I bet you can get ready for a fight,” Rogan added.
Joe Rogan disappointed to not see the old Nick Diaz
Rogan added that Diaz was once a world-beater. His fights against the likes of Paul Daley, Anderson Silva, and more are some of his best performances in MMA.
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“Robbie Lawler was pressuring him and he was putting it on him and he was definitely getting the better the exchanges. But it’s not like Nick Diaz didn’t have his moments and he definitely did. He would just have to have really like way more time to prepare and he and he would have to really be like, ready to go,” Rogan added.
“Like the old Nick Diaz, like the Nick Diaz have fought Anderson Silva, like the Nick Diaz. The Fort George St. Pierre, like the Nick Diaz that fought Paul Daley in Strikeforce mean, that dude was a fucking killer. This is like, Can he still do that at 38? Well, maybe we don’t know, if you just have one fight, you need time. Like, if your body hasn’t been used to this stuff, and you haven’t been training as much as you were when you were in your prime,” he went on to say.
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Diaz has a very loyal fan base. There’s no doubt they were saddened to see their favorite fighter lose. But, he didn’t look too bad for a 38-year-old who has been out for 6 years. So, there might be a better version of him yet to come if he decides to compete again.