Nick Diaz may be a world-class fighter, but his in-ring abilities aren’t the only thing propelling him up the welterweight ladder.
After losing a five-round decision to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, the former Strikeforce champion went on an elongated rant about bad judging and fighters refusing to fight. This was nothing new. Over the years, fans have become accustomed to Diaz’s pretentious behavior following a loss.
He acts like the world is out to get him or turn him into some kind of evil, maniacal villain. Caesar Gracie, Diaz’s trainer, even went as far as to say that judges score against him for personal reasons.
“I don’t think the judges like Nick,” he said in an interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “They’ve never liked Nick in Vegas. They’ve never voted for him in a decision. The only one was the BJ Penn fight, and he almost had to kill BJ to get that one.”
“I don’t think they like his attitude, a guy that’s going to go out there and talk. I think they think he’s disrespectful. They’re going to find a reason to judge against him. I don’t think he can get fair judging in that state at all.”
Diaz announced his retirement from the sport after the loss to Condit, which is reminiscent of his fight with Penn. After losing a decision to Diaz in October 2011, Penn announced that he was hanging up the gloves and moving on with his life. The two shook hands, hung out backstage and then went their separate ways after the bout.
In January, a strange tweet appeared on Penn’s account.
“I thought you were gonna scrap from the beginning homie? What was that coward fence holding strategy to tire out the smaller man? Street fighter my ass! I made you fight like glass jaw @jonfitchdotnet poser! I’ll be ready for that weak bs next time we fight.”
Initially, there was a bit of hesitation from the MMA community to react to the post. Most assumed someone else had access to Penn’s account and sent the tweet out as a joke.
When it was confirmed that Penn had indeed sent the tweet, people began to bash the MMA legend for being a crybaby and a sore loser.
Now, the tables have turned.
It’s highly doubtful that Las Vegas is out to get Nick Diaz. He isn’t the first combat athlete to ever come through “Sin City” talking smack.
From the way Diaz’s camp is talking, you would think this was some kind of reincarnation of the WWE’s “Montreal Screwjob” involving Vince McMahon and Bret Hart.
There is no one out to get Nick Diaz. Whether fans loved the fight or hated it, Condit and his coaches deserve respect for coming up with an effective game plan and carrying it out on fight night.
Diaz is the best boxer in the entire welterweight division, but Condit proved to be the more complete striker. As long as he kept the fight in the open, Condit could use his kicks to set up the rest of his offense. Diaz’s game plan is to typically push forward with his boxing, trap opponents against the cage and pick them apart in the stand-up exchanges.
When the pocket collapsed, Condit made it a priority to get out and reset the action back in the open. Still, some want to label it as “running” when a fighter refuses to fight to his opponent’s strengths.
At UFC 143, Condit merely implemented the more effective game plan. In other words, the better man won that night.
Now, there are rumors of a potential rematch in the works. It’s been a rather quick “retirement” for Diaz to say the least.
Things have steadily gone his way since his UFC return. He misses two mandatory press conferences, and instead of being pulled from the fight card completely, he gets to headline UFC 137 against Penn.
After he defeated Penn, Diaz grabs the microphone and calls out St-Pierre, which allows him to leapfrog Condit in line for a shot at UFC gold.
Here we are again.
Diaz loses a fair decision to Condit, and after announcing his retirement, he is being handed a do-over bout.
What about other deserving contenders in the division like Johny Hendricks or the winner of Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez?
Penn retired after losing to Diaz and is now asking for another shot.
Sound familiar?
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