Nick Diaz relives hospital brawl, pot suspensions…
Exactly 19 years in the past, Nick Diaz fought Joe Riggs.
Twice in a single evening.
Nick Diaz is the subject of this week’s episode of “Dark Side of the Cage.” Getty Images
The notorious story of their UFC 57 showdown on Feb. 4, 2006, and, significantly, the following brawl within the emergency room has been chronicled earlier than, however the newest episode of the new docuseries “Dark Side of the Cage” takes it to a different degree with the participation of each fighters — Diaz included.
“[Diaz] talked about the fight in the hospital with Joe Riggs, and he speaks about it in person,” sequence govt producer Tim Healy not too long ago advised The Post, “and [we] actually got Joe Riggs to speak about it. I think people are going to get a kick out of that story. I think a lot of people probably will.”
Revisiting that pivotal, impromptu slide of Diaz’s profession, which prompted his UFC release. Growing his cult-favorite standing from exterior the octagon and finally returning a larger star than ever, is one of many intriguing recollections the squirrelly Diaz spoke about during a uncommon sitdown for the episode “Nick Diaz vs. the World” (10 p.m. Wednesday, Vice TV).
Nick Diaz between rounds during UFC 183, his final battle earlier than being slapped with a five-year suspension in Nevada. Zuffa LLC through Getty Images
Securing Diaz’s cooperation with the sequence wasn’t simple — which ought to shock precisely no person accustomed to him.
“We had no idea he would sit [for an interview]. We committed to the episode fully expecting him to say no,” Healy stated. “We figured we’d by no means hear back. Nick was technically an energetic fighter on the time, and that’s Nick being Nick. I feel most fighters would most likely get their request, in the event that they’re on the energetic roster, and they might most likely assume it’s most likely not a great factor for me to do.
“Nick being Nick, he decided that it was something that he wanted to do, and after six months of chasing him, he showed up in Houston, Texas, and sat down for almost three hours.”
Technically, Diaz stays an energetic member of the UFC roster.
Last yr, Diaz twice had been scheduled to compete towards Vicente Luque, however the matchup was scuttled every time.
Since then, regarding experiences surrounding Diaz’s health and wellness had circulated, with Diaz himself in addition to mates similar to Jake Shields offering more constructive updates final month.
Drug use, significantly marijuana, goes hand-in-hand with the story of each Diaz and youthful brother Nate — whose fame probably has eclipsed his own because of his pair of famed fights with Conor McGregor and a more latest boxing match towards Jake Paul.
Testing constructive for pot in Nevada in 2015 notoriously netted Nick Diaz a five-year suspension from competitors, an overly harsh ban that was later trimmed on appeal to 18 months; he wouldn’t compete again for six ½ years regardless.
Diaz and people who know him best, similar to former coach Cesar Gracie, focus on in “DSOTC” how marijuana was used for what he considered as a higher strategy to deal together with his consideration deficit dysfunction than the treatment he had been prescribed.
Years previous to that suspension, Diaz had a signature victory over Pride light-weight champion Takanori Gomi overturned to a no contest by his first constructive take a look at for marijuana in Nevada.
“I didn’t know there was anything against it in the rules,” Diaz says of that first punishment, which included a tremendous and a six-month suspension, in an unique clip from the episode supplied to The Post. “I wasn’t looking. I wasn’t asking questions.”
Though nonetheless half of the UFC roster, Diaz has fought simply as soon as since that suspension — a Sept. 2021 loss in a rematch towards former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
That decade-plus distance from the overwhelming majority of his battle profession, highlighted by a run as Strikeforce welterweight champ and a well-promoted however unsuccessful attempt to dethrone UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre, provides Diaz the power to offer a degree of introspection unusual from energetic fighters.
In truth, Diaz is the one main subject of the 10-episode first season of “DSOTC,” which Healy says is by design.
“Truth be told, we really focused on athletes that are retired, that have had their MMA career put into the rear-view mirror,” Healy explains, “just because there are plenty of fighters and active fighters in MMA that would make great candidates for episodes, but I just don’t think we would get the same level of introspection and honesty in the in the interview chair.”
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