Nick Diaz says he’d fight Tyron Woodley at UFC 202 ‘if they make me an offer I can’t refuse’
Tyron Woodley has asked to defend his newly won UFC welterweight title against Nick Diaz in just three weeks at UFC 202, and Diaz wasted little time answering that call on Monday, telling TMZ that an Aug. 20 dance date sounds just fine to him as long as the money is right.
"If they make me an offer I can't refuse," Diaz said. "But I doubt that's going to happen. I'm over here, look at me right now -- I don't need nothing. I don't owe nobody nothing. I don't owe anybody sh*t. I haven't been fanatical about fighting since I was 15 or 14, since I was eight years ago.
"Once I turned pro, I was like okay, this is not fun and games now. This is me. I'm going to come and I work on karma. I'm not going to go after somebody if I don't have a reason behind it, so as soon as there is some sort of a reason for me to do something that I need to do, then I'll do it. Nobody's done what I've done in this sh*t. It just hasn't happened yet."
After spending 18 months on the shelf, Diaz is once again free to fight, as his farcical suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission due to a questionable positive drug test for marijuana metabolites expired on Aug. 1.
The 32-year-old former Strikeforce champion now reenters a very different UFC than the one he left, however he remains one of the organization's biggest draws, and it is clear he still knows it.
"I want to fight the best guy," Diaz said. "You know what, I always want to fight the best guy, but the thing is I'm on top. I'm the one on top. They're dropping my name. I don't need no fake-ass piece of plastic. F*ck that. I could fight and we could do a catchweight too. Everybody wants to do a fight with me, champions at 170, champions at 185. I said we can meet halfway. I don't owe nobody nothing. I'm a pay-per-view without a title. I don't need that fake-ass plastic to beat somebody."
UFC 202 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a rematch between Diaz's younger brother, Nate, and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. The pay-per-view is anticipated to be one of most profitable in UFC history, and as Woodley suggested, adding a double-dose of Diaz would only make it bigger.