Where does Nick Diaz legitimately fit in the current UFC welterweight landscape?

(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

For a guy who has declared himself retired from a sport he often seemed to despise, former welterweight contender Nick Diaz sure makes it to a lot of UFC events these days.

Maybe he has a good reason, and maybe it has something to do with the current state of the UFC’s welterweight division and the opportunity afforded by an unclear pecking order.

With Johny Hendricks’ victory against Robbie Lawler for the vacant 170-pound title at UFC 171 in Dallas, the hunt is on for fresh contenders, and there’s no clear consensus on who Hendricks should face in his first title defense.

The UFC 171 event looked, at least on paper, like it might solve that problem before it arose. The card featured five welterweight fights, including at least two that seemed primed to produce possible contenders.

But with Tyron Woodley’s victory against Carlos Condit coming via second-round injury and Hector Lombard’s unanimous-decision win against Jake Shields coming at the end of a fairly underwhelming effort, the field looks as wide open as ever.

That might be the opening Diaz needs. The mercurial ex-Strikeforce champ has been hanging around a lot since his supposed retirement after a unanimous-decision loss to former champ Georges St-Pierre in 2013. According to the record books, he’s riding a two-fight losing streak. But according to Diaz, he might be the only marketable draw available, which could explain why he showed up to the UFC 171 weigh-ins to verbally berate the current champ for initially coming in slightly over the limit.

“I’m ready to fight,” Diaz told reporters backstage before UFC 171, adding, “I think it’s the best money for everybody, best money for, not just me, but everybody.”

That might be true, but is it justification enough? Despite his recent losses and his refusal to accept UFC offers of non-title bouts, Diaz is still immensely popular with fans. A viewer poll on FOX Sports 2 after the event showed a clear majority of fans backing Diaz to get the next title shot (and he also led an MMAjunkie poll), and his presence at UFC events these days seems to be headline-worthy material.

At the same time, what about fighters such as Woodley, who has not only been winning fights in the UFC but also actively campaigning for the toughest bouts he can get? After all, it’s not his fault that Condit fell to a knee injury midway through a fight that Woodley appeared to be getting the better of.

“I asked for this fight, because I didn’t think I was going to lose it,” Woodley said after the event. “You guys fail to realize I’m in this to be a world champion, and I went after the top guy, and everybody was so quiet, and I blew (UFC President Dana White’s) phone up until he probably couldn’t take it anymore, because I want to be the world champ. I think that alone, the persistence, warrants me a world title shot.”

For now, White isn’t offering any hints as to who might be next. When told at the postfight news conference that Diaz, who has been turning down White’s offers for months, had proclaimed himself ready to step back into the cage, a sly smile crept across White’s face.

“It’s a little backwards, isn’t it?” he said. “That’s my boy.”

For complete coverage of UFC 171, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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Check out video highlights and a recap of UFC 171: