Promotion tries to tempt former champion out of retirement.
The UFC has thrown former contender Nick Diaz an interesting proposed fight if and when he decides he is ready to climb back into the Octagon.
Diaz has been retired since March this year when he announced he was walking away from active fighting duties after his second defeat in a row, losing to Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title.
However, if Diaz begins to get the itch to compete again, UFC president Dana White said Lyoto Machida could be his first opponent.
“I talked to Diaz today, and I made him an offer, so we’ll see what happens,” White said.
“He had been talking about going to 185 pounds. Machida has been talking about going to 185 pounds. So we wanted to see if he wanted to fight Machida at 185.”
The fight looms an interesting proposition to Machida who recently lost a contentious unanimous points decision to Phil Davis in the co-main event at UFC 163.
If Machida signs on to fight Diaz it could quash the potential for an all Brazilian bout between him Vitor Belfort.
Belfort has expressed his desire to only fight at 185 pounds if it is for the title, which currently sits around the waist of Chris Weidman, with his first title defence being a re-match against Anderson Silva at UFC 168 in December.
“I wanted Machida to fight Vitor Belfort, but Vitor Belfort is his own matchmaker, apparently,” White joked. “He wants to make his own fights.”
If the fight between Diaz and Machida is booked then it would no be any earlier than November, but no timeframe has been given at this stage.
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