Nick Diaz has always been open about how much he loves fighting in Japan and how he feels about the way the nation embraces and respects the sport. He's also stated in the past he feels the Japanese rules with a ring and no elbows on the ground favor traditional martial arts.
Basically, the Stockton native likes the way the Japanese approach the fight game. In fact, he recently confirmed through GracieFighter.com that he will return to fight in "The Land of the Rising Sun."
Here's a snip:
"Dream pays Nick Diaz in full from his last bout in May. Diaz agrees to return to fight in Japan, however at this point it is unclear for which organization."
There have been rumors all summer that Diaz would face "Mach" Sakurai for the DREAM welterweight title during his next trip out there, but Diaz had problems getting paid for his last fight with the promotion against Katsuya Inoue at DREAM 3 on May 11.
He was reportedly owed $100,000 by the Japanese mixed martial arts promotion for the first round technical knockout win over Inoue. He is now clearly skeptical about doing business with them again.
Here's a report posted on GracieFighter.com dating back to August 1:
"Diaz could be cleared to fight Mach Sakurai in Dream at the end of September. Diaz has wanted to fight Sakurai for the Dream Champioship Belt, but a stumbling block to this fight has been that as of now Dream has still not paid him a cent for the last fight he participated in for their organization almost 3 months ago."
Obviously the "Mach" fight didn't happen in September, but isn't completely out of the question for a future DREAM event now that they finally coughed up the money ... even if it was five months late.
For now, however, Diaz is set to face Eddie Alvarez in Reno, Nevada, on November 8 at Elite XC: "A Night of Champions" for the vacant company lightweight belt.
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