Dana White confirms Nick Diaz asked for Robbie Lawler fight to be contested at middleweight

LAS VEGAS – Dana White is not surprised that Nick Diaz is looking to switch things up on fight week.

Diaz (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) returns after an almost six-year-long layoff to rematch former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) at UFC 266 on Saturday in a welterweight bout.

But just days out of the fight, the former UFC title challenger and Strikeforce welterweight champ has requested for the matchup to take place a weight class above and White is willing to grant him his wish if Lawler accepts.

“Robbie Lawler text me that he’ll hit me when he lands so Robbie wants to talk to me about this whole thing,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters in attendance at the UFC Apex following Tuesday’s Dana White’s Contender Series 40 event. “This all happened when I was out of town this weekend. I know that the Diaz camp wants the fight at ’85.”

He continued, “He probably doesn’t want to make weight. Listen, every time you’re coming into a Diaz fight and we forget because we haven’t seen Nick in a few years.”

Diaz last competed in 2015 when he was defeated by former UFC champion Anderson Silva in a middleweight bout, which was later overturned to a no contest. Diaz, who has competed all the way down at 155 pounds, has never missed weight, but after years away from competition, it appears the 38-year-old isn’t too keen on making the 170-pound limit in his return.

UFC 266 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.