Nick Diaz reveals the MMA journalist he would like to beat up

Nick Diaz recently underwent a physical therapy session with Dr. Beau Hightower, a popular chiropractor and YouTuber based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As seen in a video posted to Dr. Hightower's official YouTube channel, Diaz was asked who his favorite MMA journalist was. He replied by simply saying, "T.J. De Santis." As seen in the Instagram post below, De Santis subsequently acknowledged Diaz's praise.

Nick Diaz was then asked which MMA journalist he'd like to fight. Diaz responded by asserting, "Ariel Helwani." The Stockton native's answer brought back memories from his iconic interview with Helwani.

Watch Diaz discuss the topic at 7:46 in the video below:

The interview transpired in 2011 heading into Diaz's Strikeforce welterweight title defense against Paul Daley, with Diaz accusing Helwani of instigating fights. Many fighters have often directed similar criticism at Helwani. During the classic interview, Helwani asked Diaz whether he doesn't like him. Replying to him, Diaz stated:

"I feel like you instigate fights quite a bit. But, you know."

Helwani chimed in and questioned whether Diaz meant that he instigates fights between the fighters. Diaz responded by saying:

"Yeah. I mean, maybe that’s your job. But where I come from, you know, people like that get slapped.”

Watch a snippet from the Diaz-Helwani interview below:

Regardless, the consensus is that there isn't any bad blood as such between Diaz and Helwani. The UFC legend was away from professional MMA competition from early 2015 to mid-2021, and his first full-fledged MMA-related interview before his 2021 comeback was with Helwani.

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Jake Shields provides an update on Nick Diaz's current training situation

Nick Diaz has consistently maintained that he plans to return to the octagon in 2023 and has expressed interest in facing former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. That said, his exact comeback date and opponent haven't been officially announced yet.

Diaz's most recent fight witnessed him lose via third-round TKO to fellow MMA great Robbie Lawler in their middleweight matchup in September 2021. The fight was initially scheduled to be contested at welterweight but Diaz was unable to make the cut, which is why it proceeded as a middleweight bout.

It was later revealed that Diaz suffered a neck injury during training camp, which hindered his training and weight cut. Fans recently alluded to the same on Twitter and indicated that Diaz looked good for a brief period in his fight against Lawler.

Nick Diaz's longtime friend and teammate, former UFC star Jake Shields, responded to the fan's tweet and provided an update about him. Emphasizing that the 39-year-old Diaz is now in much better shape, Shields tweeted:

“Nick now looks far better than he did when he fought Robbie”