Nick Diaz ruffled a lot of feathers with the return from a 6 year lay off. Collective take away seemed to be that Diaz was not doing well, and that the majority of fans would rather see him prosper in other areas of life.
This is in stark contrast with what his controversial coach Cesar Gracie shared recently. Cesar has previously worked with Diaz and had been described in an unfavorable manner by Diaz himself.
Recently, one of Diaz’s old teammates under Gracie, Jake Shields, shared his thoughts on the rumored 2022 comeback.
In an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Shields was asked by the host Joe Rogan about Diaz’s future in the UFC.
Shields expressed his belief that Diaz wasn’t in his best condition both physically and mentally during the return against Lawler.
Shields also said that he would like to see Diaz in the UFC again but with a condition that he should have proper camp this time.
“… he obviously wasn’t in the best situation you know, mentally and stuff. So I would like to see him fight again but I’d like to see him do a proper camp, so…. I think he wants to but I really hope he does a proper camp and does it right, because [the last camp was] not much.”
“I think he was just going through some tough times in his life and you know, I don’t want to get into his personal life too much but I think he was going through a tough time.”
Shields believed that Diaz was pushed into the Lawler match up.
“A lot of it was just motivation, he was like pushed into the fight. The fight happened so quick and he hadn’t been training at all. And all of a sudden he was like fighting in two months, it was just kind of rushed. Nick’s like a brother, I really hope he fights again but he needs to make sure to properly do a camp.”