DREAM News: Diaz Back In

by Robert Sargent

Just two days after initially being removed from the card, Nick Diaz will, in fact, compete at Dream.3 this Sunday. His trainer, Cesar Gracie, has confirmed that Diaz will battle Katsuya Inoue in a previously announced bout.

Gracie stated that he would believe the bout when he saw it, after the repeated scheduling changes, but Diaz cut the necessary weight and later departed for Japan to take on Inoue.

It is expected that the fight will remain as the originally announced "title eliminator" bout for the vacant DREAM Welterweight Championship, with the winner moving on to face Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for the title.

Diaz was originally slated to compete at Dream.2 on April 29th, but his scheduled bout was moved to May 11th. When EliteXC President Gary Shaw learned of the change, he pulled Diaz from the event due to Diaz's upcoming June 14th bout with Muhsin Corbbrey in EliteXC.

However, ProElite CEO Doug DeLuca, feeling that Diaz was treated unfairly by the California State Athletic Commission when removed from his bout with Jae Suk Lim on March 29th, decided to allow Diaz to participate in Japan.

After first being on, then off, Diaz will now face Inoue this Sunday in hopes of rejuvenating his career with a win.