UFC boss Dana White will give Nick Diaz a fight (if he can find him)

SAN JOSE, Calif. – If Nick Diaz ends his recent retirement from the sport, that’s fine. But if he wants a fight, UFC President Dana White is willing to give him one.

That is, if he can track down the elusive welterweight.

Diaz (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) most recently headlined UFC 158, where he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Afterward, the 29-year-old fighter said he was done with MMA – barring a St-Pierre rematch or a bout with middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Those, of course, are conditions that assumedly will keep Diaz on the sidelines.

White isn’t sure where the fighter’s mind currently is, but Diaz clearly was not interested in a cageside chat with the boss, as he learned this past weekend in Las Vegas.

“It the third fight of The Ultimate Fighter (17) Finale, the third fight on the main card, and I get a text, ‘Hey, Nick Diaz needs three tickets to the show,” White said on Thursday. “What show? I’m thinking, San Jose? New Jersey? ‘No, tonight. He wants to go to the fights tonight.’ I said, ‘Ah, OK.’”

White got him his tickets for cageside seats. They were located right behind him, so he figured he’d have a chance to chat up the fiery fighter.

“He took the three tickets, got into the thing, and then went and sat up in the stands in three empty seats – up in the stands, way up there in the stands, like where the fans are,” a clearly amused White said.

White said an employee went to talk to the fighter and show him where his seats were located, but Diaz said he was fine where he was at.

“But that’s Nick Diaz, right?” White said. “I didn’t talk to Nick. I didn’t see him. I didn’t talk to him. I was going to say hi to him. I thought he’d be sitting right [there]. Never saw him. Never saw him the whole night. But he was there.”

Despite this latest saga, Diaz, who’s often butted heads with UFC officials after skipping out on media appearances (and then derailing them if he does show), has an invitation to fight again.

“Sure, if he wants to fight, we’ll give him a fight,” White said.

That is, if he can find him.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Dana White)