Michael Bisping Shuts Down Potential Nick Diaz Bout, May Be Willing To Fight Him At Catchweight
Rumors started surfacing recently of a bout between former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping and Nick Diaz.
Bisping is shooting down the rumors of a potential super fight, saying the whole thing got started after the two met at a bar in New York.
“So here’s the deal with Nick Diaz,” Bisping said on Believe You Me. “A while ago I was in New York. I was doing some PR stuff for the UFC and I went to a club, actually, with a friend of mine, couple of friends and lo and behold – there was Nick Diaz. Great guy, we hung out, we had some drinks, we had a good time and he suggested that we should fight each other at 170. And I’m like ‘I can’t do 170, so we were talking about a catchweight and I said ‘Nick, I’d love to, man. You’ve got a huge name in this sport,’ you know? It was a very pleasant conversation. There was no nastiness, you know what I mean? There was no bitching. I was like ‘come on dude, you have to come up, making 185 kills me’ and this and that. But really I think we were just having fun with it more than anything. It never materialized into any actual real discussion of a fight, and of course since then he got banned or suspended – that whole thing with the weed which was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Fortunately, the commission did the right thing and he’s back. But I don’t know were these rumors started, I don’t know who started it but it’s bullshit. I haven’t heard a single thing. The UFC haven’t reached out, my management haven’t reached out – no one has said anything, no word what so ever.”
If the bout had somehow come together, it would’ve been Diaz’s first fight since a battle with former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 183.
The former champion would be willing to accept a bout against Diaz, as long as it happened at a catchweight of 195 pounds.
“Here’s the thing, Nick Diaz is one of the legends of the sport,” said Bisping. “The guy is one of the original, old-school fighters and what I like about Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz [is that] they’re real fighters. They are real fighters and they come to fight every time. They’re always entertaining and they say a lot of controversial s**t but they’re real fighters. They’re not trying to pretend to be something. They don’t do MMA because they think it’s cool. They’re not jumping on the bandwagon. It’s who they are. They are f**king fighters, they’ll throw down at a moment’s notice, in the octagon or on the street. They are fighters, simple as that and that’s what I respect about them. Nick Diaz is someone that I definitely respect and if there was a possibility of that fight, then for sure I would accept it. People would want to see that. The only issue is that if I do fight [again] I want it at 205 [pounds] and I don’t think Nick would do 205. Making 185 for the last 10 years has been so hard. Making 185 is not an easy task, not an easy task at all, so if I’m going to fight one more time, it’s gonna be at light heavyweight. Or I’d do a catchweight, maybe at 195 or whatever but making 185 for me is too hard. So if Nick would be willing to come up, I’ll do it. I’ll accept. I’m down. I’m in. Sign me up.”
It would seem unlikely the bout comes together at any weight class if UFC President Dana White is to be believed, as he stated that both Diaz Brothers are unlikely to fight again.
