3 reasons why Nick Diaz should get a UFC welterweight title shot - and 2 reasons why he shouldn't

#2. Nick Diaz has done nothing to earn a title shot and a win over Robbie Lawler wouldn’t change that

Robbie Lawler has not won a fight in the UFC since 2017

On the flip side, while it’d be entertaining to see Nick Diaz take his shot at the UFC welterweight champion, it’d also be a thoroughly undeserved opportunity for him.

The cold truth is that Nick Diaz has done nothing to earn a shot at the UFC welterweight champion. Even an impressive win over Robbie Lawler wouldn’t change that.

Nick Diaz hasn’t fought since 2015 and hasn’t won in the octagon since 2011. While it’s fair to say that the fighters that beat him – Carlos Condit, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva – were about as far from scrubs as you can get, Diaz still lost.

But wouldn’t all of that change if he beats Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 this weekend? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

While Lawler is a UFC legend in his own right, he's past his prime at this stage. He held the UFC welterweight title from 2014 through to 2016 and made two title defenses. But 'Ruthless' now looks like a shadow of his former self.

Lawler has won just one of his past six contests and is currently on a four-fight losing streak. He also turns 40 in just six months. There's every chance, realistically, that this fight with Diaz might be his last.

It would simply not be fair for some of the other welterweight contenders to hand Nick Diaz a shot at the UFC welterweight title off the back of a win over an aging Robbie Lawler.

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#1. Leon Edwards is a far more deserving UFC welterweight contender than Nick Diaz

Leon Edwards more than deserves a UFC title shot after his run of victories

Handing Nick Diaz a UFC welterweight title shot wouldn’t matter much if there was a dearth of other contenders in the division right now.

Unfortunately for Diaz, though, that isn’t really the case.

Sure, current champion Kamaru Usman has almost cleaned out the division. He’s beaten Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal. He will be looking to beat Covington for the second time in the near future.

Other potential challengers either aren’t quite ready (Khamzat Chimaev) or are coming off losses to other fighters (Stephen Thompson).

But one man looms large over the rest of the division right now, and that’s Leon Edwards.

‘Rocky’ is on the second-longest unbeaten streak in the division behind Usman. He hasn’t lost since his 2015 meeting with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’ He’s beaten the likes of Rafael dos Anjos, Vicente Luque and Donald Cerrone.

More importantly, he’s coming off a largely one-sided win over Nick Diaz’s younger brother Nate. Basically, Edwards is about as proven a UFC title contender as it gets.

Therefore, it’d be grossly unfair if Edwards were forced to wait in line for a largely undeserving Nick Diaz. In fact, it’d spit in the face of everything the UFC ought to be about.