UFC 158: Nick Diaz Hints at Retirement Following Loss to Georges St-Pierre

For the second time in as many fights, UFC welterweight Nick Diaz had trouble adjusting to his opponent's game plan.

Yet again, the Cesar Gracie poster boy found himself losing by unanimous decision to an opponent who neutralized Diaz's strengths through his own effective game-planning—namely Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158.

And for the second time in as many fights, Diaz indicates that he is ready to hang up his gloves because of it, as reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN:

"

I don't want to make excuses but I think I might have been flat from a year off. I want to thank Georges St-Pierre for giving me the credit I feel I deserve. I think I'm done. I'm tired of getting banged up.

"

Losses are always hard to take in mixed martial arts, and fighters abruptly calling it quits after a loss is by no means something unheard of. We've seen it many, many times from the likes of Brock Lesnar, BJ Penn and Matt Hamill.

With Diaz, though, it seems like a bit of a cop-out. Throughout his title fight with the UFC welterweight champion, Diaz made his frustration painfully clear. He talked smack, squirmed, yelled and twice took a swing at “Rush” between rounds.

Much like his fight with Carlos Condit, Diaz had trouble adjusting when he was unable to brawl. Condit out-landed Diaz standing and used his speed and range to keep him from ever mounting any particularly potent offense. St-Pierre, completely unsurprisingly, used his elite wrestling skills to keep himself atop a floored Diaz.

While Diaz was quick to retire after his fight with Condit, he was comparably quick to un-retire, signing up for a rematch that failed to come to fruition due to his second failed drug test.

Because of this, Diaz fans should sleep soundly. While it is possible Diaz truly calls it a career, he is too popular a fighter for the UFC to let go. In all likelihood, he will end up returning to face a top-10 welterweight by the end of the year.