What’s the story?
It’s no secret that the UFC wants to get Nick Diaz a return fight fast, and one match-up that has mixed martial arts (MMA) fans everywhere clamoring is Diaz versus former welterweight champion ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler. Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan has a few friends who know about the inner workings of Diaz’s return, and revealed on the latest episode of his podcast (The Joe Rogan Experience) that the rumor on the grape vine is that Diaz turned down a bout with Lawler.
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Diaz and Lawler first met on the UFC 47 card back in April of 2004, in which Diaz knocked Lawler out cold in the second round with a perfectly placed punch. After the contest Diaz would go on to amass an amazing 11 fight win streak that included a welterweight Strikeforce title reign. Lawler would embark on a difficult journey after being cut by the UFC, but would re-invent himself and go on to be one of the most feared UFC champions of all time.
The heart of the matter
Here is what Rogan had to say about the situation (courtesy of MMA Mania):
“Apparently they offered Nick Diaz Robbie Lawler, and Nick passed on it,”
What next?
Diaz’s recent declining of Robbie Lawler probably points to the fact that the Stockton Native wants to hold out for a much bigger contest. Although Lawler holds a huge name for himself amongst the hardcore MMA fans, he doesn’t have as much traction to his name as someone like Georges St-Pierre, a cultural icon in his home-country of Canada, brings to the table in terms of pay-per-view (PPV) buys.
Sportskeeda’s take:
As a hardcore fan the match-up between Diaz and Lawler now after their respective growths since their initial bout interests me greatly. The St-Pierre fight isn’t as attractive as the match-up stylistically is a terrible one given St-Pierre’s wrestling ability. The bout would be more of the same in which we saw in the men’s initial bout in 2013. Diaz would put on a far more entertaining bout if he shared the Octagon with ‘Ruthless’.
