(Video courtesy of YouTube/ProMMANow)
You would think that Nick Diaz’s camp would cool it with all of the accusations about Georges St-Pierre being scared or faking an injury to get out of fighting their boy now that they got the desired result, but that’s not how they do things in Stockton, evidently.
Dring a media scrum after the UFC 137 presser, Cesar Gracie was asked, in a somewhat baited way if he thought GSP’s injury was legit and he didn’t hold back, although he made about as much sense as his protegee.
“He ran past me earlier. I mean, he literally RAN past me, so… Look, he’s a great guy. He’s a black belt under [my cousin] Renzo Gracie. I don’t know the guy that well, personally, but I’m gonna tell you guys something right now… Nick Diaz missed a press conference and he’s here and [he] fought,” Gracie sort of explained. “The guy that went to the press conference didn’t fight. That’s all I gotta say about it. Nick…Yeah, he got kicked out, he’s this…he’s the bad guy… We didn’t go to what Nick called, ‘the beauty pageant,’ but come fight night you guys saw what he’s made of and he showed up and he did everything he had to and the guys that made the press conference, they weren’t here tonight, so you be the judge. You know what I mean?”
No, we don’t know what you mean since it makes no sense. So let us get this straight, somehow GSP faked an injury to get out of fighting Nick, even though he was scheduled to face Carlos Condit when the injury occurred. Wait, what?!
Then Gracie backtracks on saying that the UFC welterweight champ is faking his injury after clearly implying that he is faking his injury.
“I’m not gonna say that. I have no idea. But I’m saying Nick was injured and he still fought. Nick hurt his hamstring. He’s got a knee injury. There’s this, that… I mean these fighters train so hard that they’re gonna get the injuries and everything, but despite his injuries that guy was here for the fans and he’s a warrior just like BJ,” he said. “I think people appreciate that. But one guy [who is supposed to be injured] jumping off the cage, running around, it’s disheartening is all I’m gonna say about it.”
Then Cesar tried to say he was happy that Nick’s opponent was switched to Penn, even though he still seems pissed off about St-Pierre pulling out of the Condit fight for some reason. Maybe he had money on the bout?
Anyway, Cesar didn’t think the punishment fit the crime for Nick no-showing at the presser. Instead he thought that Diaz should have been fined, which likely would have been worse since we’d never hear the end of him complaining that, “people are stealing money out of his pocket that he could have paid to go to college to learn how to buy a house.”
“I was so mad at Nick and Nick’s like family to me and everything and I understood Dana. You guys saw the phone call, whatever, but I don’t think he should have been pulled out of that fight,” Gracie explained. Now in hindsight I’m glad he did. I’m glad he got pulled out because GSP would have puled out no matter what. Let’s face it.”