Nick Diaz

Nick Diaz weighs in for fight. Image Credit: UFC.com

Nick Diaz praised by Dana White following “incredible” performance against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266

MMA legend Nick Diaz was praised by UFC president Dana White following his “incredible” performance against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.

Diaz returned to the Octagon for the first time since 2015 when he took on Lawler in a rematch at this past Saturday’s UFC 266 card. Despite being off for so long, Diaz showed up to fight and even landed 150 significant strikes in the two-plus rounds that the fight went. Ultimately, the fight finished in the third round when an accumulation of blows from Lawler left Diaz unable to continue. But despite the fact that he officially suffered a TKO loss on his record, White believes that Diaz looked phenomenal in defeat.

Speaking to the media following Tuesday night’s Contender Series, White praised Diaz for his performance.

“I thought Nick Diaz looked incredible considering he hasn’t fought in five years. I don’t know what I was expecting. You never know what you’ll get with the (Diaz) brothers. But I’ll tell you what, with a five-year layoff, I thought he looked unbelievable. That first round — I don’t know if you guys saw Robbie after the fight but Robbie had friggin knots and lumps all over him — those two went to war. The fight itself exceeded my expectations. Nick hadn’t fought in five years so I thought Robbie would go and buzzsaw through him, and that was not the case,” White said.

Asked if he thinks Diaz will fight again, White said that he wasn’t prepared to answer that question at this time, only that he thought Diaz looked great against Lawler.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know the answer to that question, but the looked damn good. That kid’s got a massive heart. He’s obviously a super-talented fighter and I was impressed,” White said.

Do you agree with Dana White that Nick Diaz has an incredible showing at UFC 266?

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Adam Martin
MMA journalist, podcast host, and handicapper for MyMMANews.com, MMAoddsbreaker.com, and Bookies.com. MMAOB Daily Podcast host. Join me LIVE @ 5 pm EST every Monday for my live free podcast. Over 10 years of experience writing about MMA. I love this sport.