Nick Diaz doesn’t know why he’s facing Robbie Lawler again.
Diaz returns to action for the first time since January 2015 when he takes on Lawler in a rematch contested at 185 pounds at UFC 266 this weekend.
The long layoff will be a huge factor, but Diaz ultimately plans on winning — even if never feels confident before a fight.
“I’m going in there to win,” Diaz told ESPN. “Do I feel confident? I never do. I never have. I’ve always felt like I’m going to get trashed out there. Every fight I’ve ever done. ‘How do you feel against Robbie Lawler?’ I feel like I’m going to get the sh*t beat out of me. And even when I win, I get beat up worse.”
Diaz: I Should Be Fighting Usman
But that’s not to say Diaz doesn’t feel he’s the best fighter in the world — something he has repeatedly said in the past.
In fact, he doesn’t even know why he is fighting Lawler a second time when he feels he should be fighting current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
“Yes, I do believe that [I’m the best fighter in the world]. What do you have, Usman? I think I’ll beat the sh*t out of Usman,” Diaz said. “I’ll have a better shot against Usman than I do Lawler, because I already beat Lawler. This doesn’t make sense for me to go in and fight Robbie Lawler again. I don’t know why I’m doing this. This should not happen. Whoever set this up is an idiot. I don’t know why I’m doing this. I don’t know why this happened.
“I should be fighting Kamaru Usman — and that’s it. And I don’t want to fight the guys my brother just fought. My brother fights in the same weight so it’s kind of tough because I don’t want to get in his way, if he gets in my way.”
Ultimately, Diaz feels the former welterweight champion is in for a beating. But again — he doesn’t want to face Lawler in the first place.
“I’m going to go in there to fight Robbie Lawler again when he don’t deserve to get his ass whooped,” Diaz added. “And I know I’m going to beat the sh*t out of him and I don’t want him. And if I lose, I don’t want to lose to Robbie Lawler, I already beat him. So that just sucks.”
You can watch the full interview below:
