On This Day: Nick Diaz, ‘I don’t have a job now. This is what I do. I fight.’ (UFC 47 Flashback)
On April 2, 2004, Nick Diaz fought for the second time under the UFC banner. After defeating Jeremy Jackson in his promotional debut in 2003, Diaz returned at UFC 47 to blast Robbie Lawler, knocking him out early in the second round.
It was the fight that announced Nick Diaz to the mixed martial arts world.
Though Diaz was a WEC and Strikeforce champion, he would never capture UFC gold. He did, however, become one of the most popular fighters in the history of the sport, fighting the likes of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, and Frank Shamrock in epic battles.
Take a look back to Diaz’s UFC 47 post-fight interview with MMAWeekly.com co-founder Ryan Bennett.
“Just because it says jiu-jitsu on all my clothes… I’m a fighter. Before I ever started doing jiu-jitsu, I got in fights in school. I didn’t do good in school. I don’t have a job now. This is what I do. I fight.”
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Where is Nick Diaz now?
That is a good question. Diaz has never formally retired, though he’s teased at various times throughout his career that he was either done with fighting or that he wanted to be done but need to keep fighting for the money.
Having gone undefeated from 2008 through 2011, Diaz has only fought three times since he defeated BJ Penn at UFC 137 on Oct. 29, 2011. He did not win any of his final three fights.
Diaz lost decisions to Carlos Condit in an interim UFC welterweight title fight in 2012, to Georges St-Pierre in a battle for the undisputed welterweight championship in 2013, and then to Anderson Silva in 2015 in a five-round non-championship headliner.
The bout with Silva was later changed to a no contest after both fighters tested positive and were suspended for having used banned substances.
Diaz hasn’t fought again since the UFC 183 headliner with Silva on Jan. 31, 2015.
On This Day: Nick Diaz, ‘I don’t have a job now. This is what I do. I fight.’ (UFC 47 Flashback)