Tyron Woodley believes that Nick Diaz has already done enough to earn a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.
The eldest of the two Diaz brothers, Nick (37 years old), hasn’t fought for over five years and has just one victory against B.J. Penn since switching over from Strikeforce in 2011. He has amassed a 26-9 (2 NC) record and has fought some of the toughest opponents in the Octagon including Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.
According to Woodley, he is one of the original “bad boys” of the UFC, and deserves a spot in the hall, even though he has never claimed a title with the organization.
“I think he’s done enough in his career, in my opinion, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Tyron Woodley told TMZ Sports. “He was one of the original bad boys. There’s some people in the Hall of Fame that had never won a world title, whether it’s just a fight, there’s so many different categories of it.
“When you think about it, he came over from Strikeforce, he had a crazy reputation then, and I think you’ve got to take some of that into account when you’re thinking about a Hall of Fame inductee,” Woodley continued. “They bought the organization, they bought the rights to all those fights, so I think the accolades have to come with that.”
Former Strikeforce champion, Diaz is rumoured to be making a return to the Octagon in 2021 and appears in incredible shape ahead of his planned return.
The wellterweight recently laid out plans for his first fight in close to five years, even undertaking a test fight camp and a weight cut. While some members of the MMA community are sceptical that he’ll follow through on this plan, he certainly seems to be in top shape.
Photographer Scott Hirano recently snapped some pictures of Diaz putting in work in the gym, and the eldest Diaz brother looked like he hasn’t missed a day of training since his last fight. Check out the images shared by ESPN below:
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