Nick Diaz has hinted to us for a while now about his return to UFC, and judging by recent social media posts, he may soon be ready to step back in the Octagon.

The highly popular Diaz, a former Strikeforce welterweight champion, hasn’t fought since his 2015 clash with Anderson Silva following a failed drugs test and subsequent suspensions.

His long-awaited return may happen sooner rather than later too if this Instagram post is anything to go by.

The 37-year-old looks in immaculate physical condition, so much so that BJPenn labelled him 'absolutely shredded', in a snap posted by Jose Garcia, the recovery coach of Nick Diaz and his younger brother Nate.

Garcia bullishly captioned the picture: “The general is well some y’all gossiping h**s out there need to quit that n chill.. Nick Diaz is locked out of his social network. Not active in his social network due to that matter..

“YALL lames needs to stop praying for Nick Diaz downfall.. He has a couple of people on his 'PEOPLE TO KILL' list for his UFC return. Thank you for all your concerns for my brother. He is living a life better than most of us….. we are currently working to get Nick back on line #wardiaz Diaz army stay ready When he calls it’s war.”

Garcia is not the only one confident of Nick Diaz’s return. His manager Kevin Mubenga believes a deal could soon be reached for his client to return. Speaking on his Fight Games Chronicles podcast at the end of last year, Mubenga said: “The guys have been training, he has been training for at least four months straight… We were two months in by that time, that was August or September where he was going two months hard.

"Now, we are in December, so, he is four or five months in. But, he took a little break because he didn’t want to train and over exhaust it. Took a little break last month and now we are going to pick it back up in December. And, go into the New Year with a deal done and make sure the money is right and the opponent is right and we will be able to move forward. That is all it is.”

Diaz clearly intends to end his hiatus this year and improve on his MMA record of 26-9. Dana White, however, doubts the move and has questioned why Diaz would want to return at this stage of his career.

White has urged caution over any excitement of a Diaz comeback and is unsure if he is even ready enough, or hungry enough to compete.

White was quoted as saying via MMA Junkie: “Everything that I see from Nick Diaz doesn’t look like he wants to or is ready to compete in this sport.

"Even Jon Jones, as good as Jon Jones is, you have to be 100 percent mentally, physically and emotionally ready to train, be ready for this, and fight. I don’t think anyone should want to see Nick Diaz fight.

"Nick Diaz has been in a lot of wars, he’s accomplished a lot of great things in his career, he’s made a lot of money, he’s obviously super-famous. He’s gotten everything you could hope to get out of fighting. I just don’t know why, when I see his Instagram, why he would come back.”