Nick Diaz was reportedly lined up for an MMA return this year, and the fight was called off over concerns about his mental state. The man who let it slip was the guy who would have been standing across the cage: Dillon Danis.
Danis spilled it during RAF 14 media day in Las Vegas while he was busy, as usual, complaining about the other Diaz brother. He said Nick had been receptive to a fight with him and described the timing plainly: “Nick was supposed to be the fight after Mike Perry.” He also said, before catching himself, that he wasn’t supposed to be talking about it. As for why it fell through, Danis offered only that Diaz is “going through some stuff.” Bloody Elbow then reported that the planned return was canceled because of Diaz’s mental state. MiddleEasy noted that no signed agreement or comeback date was ever announced, so treat this as a booking that lived in negotiations and nowhere else.
How Danis got here
The Perry fight that was supposed to come first never happened. Danis was booked against Perry at Duel Arena 1 in August and withdrew roughly 48 hours out with a severe arm laceration. He later posted footage of the wound and the medical procedure, but Perry questioned the timing and suggested the withdrawal may have been planned. Brandon Jenkins took the fight on one day’s notice, which forced Perry up to middleweight after a welterweight camp. Perry also said the replacement bout cut his purse in half.
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That pullout also bumped Danis’s RAF match with Arman Tsarukyan from Oct. 3 to Oct. 23. It headlines RAF 14 tonight at Fontainebleau Las Vegas for the RAF Middleweight Crossover title, assuming Thursday’s press conference brawl didn’t break anything important. Tsarukyan charged across the stage after Danis showed off a shirt mocking Khamzat Chimaev, Tsarukyan’s friend and training partner, and both teams plus security ended up in the pile. This is Danis’s third RAF appearance. The first two went against Colby Covington and Chimaev, and he lost both.
Danis, 33, also claimed Nate Diaz turned down $1 million to fight him and said the contract would have paid Nate $250,000 if Danis pulled out. That’s a funny clause to brag about given the Perry situation. He then turned to both brothers: “I’d ragdoll him,” he said of Nick, adding of the pair, “They’re both so bad.” He wrapped it up by saying a night in the cage with the Diazes would be “the funnest night of my life.”
The Nick Diaz picture
Diaz is 43. A little more than eight months ago he teased an MMA return after a rough stretch in the headlines that left a lot of fans worried about him. MMA Mania pointed out that a recent video circulating on social media raised fresh concerns about his well-being, and that trying to book him for a fight right now would raise obvious questions. Bloody Elbow’s read is that a Nick comeback doesn’t appear to be on the cards.
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My take: I’ve lost money on plenty of dumb fights, but I never would have touched this one, and I’m glad nobody had to price it. A 43-year-old with public health concerns against a guy whose most reliable stat lately is withdrawals is a matchmaker’s idea of content, and it has no business being a sporting contest. If Diaz is struggling, the correct number of fights for him is zero. Danis, meanwhile, has a more pressing problem tonight: Tsarukyan, who already tried to punch him once this week for free.
