Kamaru Usman thought Nick Diaz “did a great job” at UFC 266, suggests who he should fight next

The Nigerian Nightmare, Kamaru Usman, was impressed by the performance of fan favorite Nick Diaz at UFC 266.

Diaz squared off with former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at last month’s pay-per-view event. The contest served as Diaz’s first fight since 2015, and only his second since his 2013 loss to Georges St. Pierre.

Lawler was able to exact his revenge against Nick Diaz at UFC 266, stopping the Stockton native in the third round.

Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler at UFC 266

Despite the loss, current welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was impressed by Nick’s performance against Lawler and even suggested a future opponent for the eldest Diaz brother in an interview with Helen Yee.

“He has to fight a fight that makes sense for him,” Usman stated. “That was an entertaining fight. Being out for over six years, It’s challenging to be able to come out, people expect him to perform. He did a great job, obviously Robbie [Lawler] was just too much. Robbie’s actually had activity, Robbie’s a tough dude.

Kamaru Usman continued on in the interview.

“I really liked what I saw out of Nick Diaz. If he’s willing to come back he just has to be smarter with the fights he picks. He is in that position, where he can pick fights. I wouldn’t mind seeing him and Matt Brown throw down. I think that’s a tremendous fight, wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

Matt Brown at 40 years old, is coming off a win in 2021 via TKO over Dheigo Lima. Brown has fought twice in 2021, and is set to fight for a third time in December against Bryan “Bam Bam” Barberena.

Diaz had spoken before the battle with Robbie Lawler, admitting he felt he didn’t know why this machup had happened. He had the following to say about Kamaru Usman in an interview with ESPN:

“I think I’ll beat the s–t out of Usman. I’ll have a better shot against Usman than I do Lawler, just 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.”

Although Usman had plenty of praise for Nick Diaz, I doubt he’d agree with the rant of Diaz feeling he can “beat the sh-t out of Usman.”