Dana White says Nick Diaz needs to beat a 'top guy' to get back into welterweight title hunt

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight contender Nick Diaz, who briefly "retired" after losing a five round unanimous decision to Carlos Condit in the UFC 143 pay-per-view (PPV) main event last February, wants to get back inside the Octagon and pick up where he left off.

Which is trying to bounce back from a loss.

That means you can rule out any possibility of him being elevated to number one contender upon his return. That's according to UFC President Dana White (via ESPN.co.uk), who expects Diaz to compete at least once against a "top guy" prior to getting back into the title chase:

"When Diaz gets off of suspension, he'll probably fight against one of the top guys at 170 pounds and then we'll see what happens."

If Condit is unsuccessful in his bid to dethrone reigning division champion Georges St. Pierre at the UFC 154 event next month in Montreal, it wouldn't be surprising to see him rematch Diaz to help put an end to some of the controversy surrounding the razor-thin scorecards that decided their first fight.

And they would both be coming off a loss, as would the loser of Johny Hendricks vs. Martin Kampmann, who also throw down at the Bell Centre on Nov. 17, 2012.

Diaz is currently suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for failing a pre-fight drug test (marijuana metabolites). His manager, Cesar Gracie, has made repeated attempts to get him back inside the Octagon, but to no avail.

Now it's just a matter of time.