2017 was a year in the UFC where fans had to make do without either Diaz brother. With the long-term absent Nick Diaz and younger brother Nate both suggesting that may change, 2018 may potentially look a lot different.

Nick Diaz has not fought since Jan. 2015 when his loss to Anderson Silva was later overturned to a No Contest. Both men tested positive for banned substances (Diaz marijuana metabolites and Silva drostanolone, methyl androstane, and oxazepam and temazepam. Diaz received an outrageous ban of five years (later reduced), while Silva was back in action the following February.

UFC vice-president of Athlete Health and Performance, Jeff Novitzky, recently indicated that the elder of Stockton’s famous fighting brothers wanted to return to the Octagon:

“Nick was our first fighter that ran into the whereabouts issue,” Novitzky told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. “So he got three whereabouts failures in a rolling 12 months, so he’s currently going through that process. It’s a tough one.

“I think he does [want to fight]. I think he does. I’ve sat down with him over the past couple months trying to resolve this whereabouts issues.The unfortunate thing there is, look, the whereabouts failures are there to catch people that are cheating and trying to avoid testing.

“I just think Nick’s lifestyle led to those three whereabouts, not that he was trying to avoid testing. We’re trying to work through that.”

Diaz uploaded a video to Instagram on Tuesday showing what appeared to be his first trip to the UFC Performance Institute Center:



Younger brother Nate also took to his official Instagram page to suggest that we may see his return this year:

Good work wit my boy @luke_1er
Back in action #beast 👊🏼



“Back in action,” Diaz wrote to Instagram under a photo of him training.

Having been without the Diaz brothers for what seems like an eternity, fans have been waiting a long time for a sign of their return.

Well, it’s something at least.