Author: Jordy McElroy

Diaz Camp: Condit Never Wanted Rematch, Accepted Bout After Hearing Test Results

Carlos Condit might have accepted a rematch, but Nick Diaz’s camp doesn’t believe the UFC interim champ ever intended on actually fighting. After a controversial decision at UFC 143, there was talk of an immediate rematch between Condit and Diaz, but C…

Carlos Condit might have accepted a rematch, but Nick Diaz’s camp doesn’t believe the UFC interim champ ever intended on actually fighting.

After a controversial decision at UFC 143, there was talk of an immediate rematch between Condit and Diaz, but Condit’s camp turned down the offer and admitted they weren’t interested in a rematch.

“At this point, [a rematch] is not something we’re looking to do,” Condit’s manager Malki Kawa told MMAFighting. We’re looking for Georges [St-Pierre]. People forget, Carlos waited a long time to get this fight. He was moved around, and shuffled around between fights. He won the fight.”

“It doesn’t interest us at all. I think clearly and decisively, he won the fight. Even [UFC President] Dana [White] scored it for him. All of the opinions that matter scored Carlos as the winner.”

It was a bout that tested the importance of octagon aggression and strikes landed. Condit landed more strikes, but Diaz controlled the octagon throughout the bout by constantly pressing forward and attempting to engage.

With the MMA world in an uproar over the decision, the UFC went to work on setting up an immediate rematch. After turning down the initial offer, Condit’s camp finally gave in and accepted another bout with Diaz.

Everything looked to be a go for the interim championship rematch, until Diaz’s drug test results came in.

The former Strikeforce welterweight champion tested positive for “marijuana metabolites,” which put a dagger in any rematch hopes.

Still, Diaz’s camp believes the bout was doomed from the start. According to a post on Twitter, Condit never intended on fighting Diaz a second time.

“Condit accepts rematch after he was notified by @danawhite @ufc about test result. Never intended to rematch,” the post read on Nick and Nate Diaz’s conjoined Twitter account.

It isn’t known who exactly sent out the tweet, but Condit wasted no time in posting a response to the accusation.

“It’s bull [expletive]. I agreed to the rematch [Tuesday] morning. Ask @danawhite. That’s a fact,” posted Condit.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as more information comes in on this unfolding story.

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Michael Bisping Leaves Wolfslair Academy

Michael Bisping and Wolslair MMA Academy are no more. The news was confirmed to MMAJunkie on Thursday that the Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner had parted ways with his longtime camp. The source refused to go into any further detail about the situation…

Michael Bisping and Wolslair MMA Academy are no more.

The news was confirmed to MMAJunkie on Thursday that the Ultimate Fighter Season 3 winner had parted ways with his longtime camp.

The source refused to go into any further detail about the situation.

Bisping is a proven top-10 ranked middleweight, but despite much success under the UFC banner, he has yet to defeat an upper-echelon opponent.

It’s like an invisible hump that he can’t seem to hurdle. In bouts against elite-level opposition, Bisping has been defeated by Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva.

In his most recent outing, Bisping put on a rather impressive performance as an underdog against Sonnen. In the end, Uncle Chael walked away with the unanimous decision, but no one would’ve been shocked if the decision had gone the other way.

At Wolfslair, Bisping’s teammates consisted of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Cheick Kongo. A new camp could be the Brit’s way of shaking things up in hopes of taking his fight game to new heights.

The loss to Sonnen has to really sting considering Bisping was a win away from earning a UFC title shot against Anderson Silva.

There isn’t any word yet on where Bisping plans to make his new home, but recently, he relocated to Huntington Beach, California to train with Brady Fink and Tiki Ghosn.

One of the original members of Team Punishment, Tiki has trained with the likes of Jackson, Tito Ortiz and BJ Penn.

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Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir, Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin Confirmed

Lorenzo Fertitta seems to be confirming fights left and right. In a Q&A with fans on Twitter, the Zuffa and UFC CEO confirmed a pair of important summer bouts, including a showdown between former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, …

Lorenzo Fertitta seems to be confirming fights left and right.

In a Q&A with fans on Twitter, the Zuffa and UFC CEO confirmed a pair of important summer bouts, including a showdown between former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, and the rubber match between legendary light heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.

Mir, who is riding a three-fight win streak, has steadily climbed back into title contention. He horrified fans at UFC 140 by breaking the arm of former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Meanwhile, Velasquez is looking to rebound after getting knocked out in 64 seconds by Junior Dos Santos at UFC on Fox.

Along with losing the heavyweight title, the loss to Dos Santos marked the first time Velasquez had ever been defeated in his professional career.

Rumored for July 4th weekend, the six-year rivalry between Ortiz and Griffin will finally come to an end.

Ortiz, who is coming off back to back losses to Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, has already gone on record in saying this will be the final bout of his MMA career.

Even though he hasn’t made any direct statements, Griffin could be looking to wrap up his career as well.

A little over a week out from his August 2011 bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Griffin wrote an article for Yahoo! Sports explaining his long and winding career.

It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better. I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes. One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceived expectation of the future, and I’m a painful realist, so I realized that I’m not going to get better; this is it. It’s only gonna get worse from here on and you fight as much as you can, you fight until you don’t have it anymore, and then you fight a couple of more times after that.

Ortiz drew first blood in the rivalry by defeating Griffin at UFC 59. Griffin returned the favor in November 2009 at UFC 106.

Both bouts between the two light heavyweights have gone the distance and ended in a split decision.

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Lorenzo Fertitta on Nick Diaz: "He Will Be Back"

Despite an impending suspension, Nick Diaz’s UFC future will remain intact. Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta chatted with fans on Thursday via Twitter, where he answered numerous questions regarding the sport’s biggest names. Fans were especially interested …

Despite an impending suspension, Nick Diaz‘s UFC future will remain intact.

Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta chatted with fans on Thursday via Twitter, where he answered numerous questions regarding the sport’s biggest names.

Fans were especially interested in Diaz.

After losing a unanimous decision to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, it was revealed that the former Strikeforce champion’s drug test came back positive for marijuana.

“Really like the kid, just needs to get it together,” Fertitta posted. “I’m a sap for real fighters. He will be back.”

Diaz has had his share of troubles since returning to the UFC. At UFC 137, he was set to challenge Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title, but after missing multiple scheduled press conferences, UFC President Dana White revoked his title shot.

A suspension for this sort of offense can range anywhere from six to 12 months.

For Diaz, there is a good possibility he incurs the harshest penalty from Nevada State Athletic Commission and gets a one-year suspension.

This isn’t the first time his drug test results have come back positive.

At Pride 33 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Diaz had his submission win over Takanori Gomi overturned after his post-fight drug test results came back positive for marijuana.

This hopefully serves as a wake-up call for Diaz, who is easily one of the best welterweights in the world. He’s in the prime of his career, and the kind of opportunities he continues to get in the UFC don’t come around often.

Even after losing to Condit, Diaz was offered an immediate rematch.

This situation doesn’t boil down to whether or not marijuana is a “performance-enhancing drug.” It comes down to doing the right thing, and unfortunately for Diaz, smoking a little grass isn’t considered as such by commission standards.

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Jon Jones on Rashad Evans: ‘We Were Never Really That Close’

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans’ “friendship” began and ended in the gym.The current UFC light heavyweight champion recently spoke with Ultimate Insider host Jon Anik about serious misconceptions regarding his relationship with former teammate Evans.”We wer…

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans‘ “friendship” began and ended in the gym.

The current UFC light heavyweight champion recently spoke with Ultimate Insider host Jon Anik about serious misconceptions regarding his relationship with former teammate Evans.

“We were never really that close. We had moments when we would talk about our families and relationships and being a pro athlete and how to stay away from certain things, how to go about certain things, we had those talks. We never got to the point where we were like brothers. We both kind of knew that we would compete against one another one day. It was what it was, and we just tried to handle it the best we could.”

According to Evans, the falling out between the two occurred after Jones admitted that he had no qualms about fighting him. It was a statement that became one of the primary reasons behind Evans’ decision to leave his camp and longtime trainer Greg Jackson.

“The thing that upsets me about Jon is how he threw me under the bus because he said he’d fight me after all that time we said we wouldn’t fight each other––it was a snake move, and I don’t like snake moves. Be a man,” Evans said in an interview with Pro MMA Radio.

“Jon is always trying to say the right things and be perceived a certain way,” Evans said. “Just keep it real. Now I know what time it is. Now I know you want to fight me. You must have been thinking of this for a long time. You must have been keeping score, taking notes during training for a long time.”

Jones and Evans will finally clash on April 21 at UFC 145.

Jackson has already gone on record to say that he’s “leaning toward” cornering Jones in the championship bout.

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Hypocrisy of Nick Diaz-Carlos Condit II Supporters Unfair to BJ Penn

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 …

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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