Nick Diaz targets UFC title fight against Kamaru Usman in return, confident he beats him
Nick Diaz is hoping to return in 2022 and has his eyes set on Kamaru Usman.
Diaz made his return last year at UFC 266 as he fought Robbie Lawler and suffered a TKO loss. Since then, Dana White has said he wanted to see the Stockton, native retire but recently, Diaz’s coach said he will fight again this year and now the fan-favorite has his eyes set on Kamaru Usman and fighting for UFC gold.
“We’re working on end of the year. I’m just focused on my training right now,” Diaz told TMZ Sports. “If I’m going to fight, I want to fight for the title. … They want to say that I want to fight a bunch of guys and stuff like that. Well, you know what? It’s a bigger fight. Just skip all the mess. I don’t need to go in there and get my ass whooped by one of the young guys, anyway – and it’s not that I won’t win. It’s just not motivating to fight somebody that’s – I want to fight for the title. I’m 38 years old.”
If Diaz does get the title shot, he is confident he would defeat Usman and become the champ.
“I think I’ll beat him,” Diaz says.
Although Diaz wants to fight Usman that doesn’t seem realistic. There are a ton of challengers at welterweight like Leon Edwards, Khamzat Chimaev, Belal Muhammad, and Colby Covington among others. With that, if Diaz is serious about fighting for UFC gold he will need to get a few wins at welterweight and prove himself.
Nick Diaz (26-10 and two No Contest), as mentioned, is coming off the TKO loss to Lawler in a middleweight bout. The fight was his first since he had the No Contest to Anderson Silva. He also had lost to Georges St-Pierre for the belt and Carlos Condit for the interim title.
Kamaru Usman (20-1) is coming off a decision win over Colby Covington and is likely to rematch Leon Edwards later this year once his hand heals.
