UFC President Dana White To Speak to Nick Diaz About Boxing Future Following UFC 129

Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz

If Nick Diaz really wants to pursue a secondary career in boxing, UFC president Dana White will get involved in the negotiation process.

Since his win over Paul Daley a few weeks ago in Strikeforce, Diaz has said emphatically time and time again that he wants to box later this year before taking another fight in MMA.

His manager and trainer Cesar Gracie even commented that they had looked into signing a fight with either former boxing world champion Fernando Vargas or Jeff Lacy. Right now, no ink is dry on a contract, but White plans on speaking to Diaz following UFC 129 to figure out what they can do.

“What I’m going to do is I’m going to sit down Nick. I like the Diaz brothers. I’m going to sit down with him and figure out what he wants to do,” White said on Wednesday.

“I’m going to sit down with Nick Diaz, literally, after this fight and try to figure out what’s next for him.”

There had been some confusion recently about the language in Diaz’s current deal with Strikeforce that would allow him to strap on the gloves and try his hand at boxing, but White says he absolutely has that clause in his contract.

Now, it’s a matter of figuring out the how, when, and where of the situation.

“It’s in his deal that he can do it, absolutely,” White confirmed about Diaz being able to box while under contract to Strikeforce.

Ultimately, White wants to do his best to make Diaz happy, Strikeforce happy, and of course keep the fans happy. Sometimes it’s not easy, but he plans to try really hard to get this situation under control.

“For the last 10 years, I’ve dealt with the craziest, the cruelest, the baddest, the this, the that, and I’ve always tried to make everybody happy,” said White. “You can’t make them all happy, but you can try.”

Nick Diaz will be in Canada this week with teammates Jake Shields, Daniel Roberts, and his brother, Nate Diaz, as they all have fights on the UFC 129 show. White plans to meet with him soon thereafter to hammer out some details, and then the world will know for sure if Diaz is headed to the boxing ring or back to the cage.

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.
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