News broke on Friday afternoon that contracts had been signed for a Nick Diaz versus Jeff Lacy boxing match.
ESPN.com reported that Lacy, the former IBF super middleweight champion, has specifically signed on to fight Diaz, the current Strikeforce welterweight champion. Diaz’s manager, Cesar Gracie, stated that Diaz’s deal was “tentative.”
Following the official press conference for UFC 129, UFC president Dana White spoke more informally to a smaller group of MMA press.
When asked about Diaz’s contract and the stipulation for a boxing match in 2011, White said, “Listen, for the last 10 years, I’ve dealt with the craziest, coolest, the baddest, the this, the that, and I’ve always tried to make everybody happy. You can’t make them all happy, but you can try, and I’m going to sit down with Nick Diaz, literally after this fight, and try to figure out what’s next for him. It’s in his deal that he can do it (box), absolutely.”
The main event of UFC 129 saw welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre defeat Diaz’s teammate, Jake Shields, by unanimous decision.
Following the fight, Diaz stated in interviews that he wanted to meet St-Pierre inside the Octagon.
For his part, White eluded to the fact that he could make a St-Pierre versus Diaz fight happen if he wanted to, “I imagine I could do whatever I wanted to do if I really wanted to, but we have a contract with Showtime and he’s a Showtime fighter,” White told MMAWeekly. “I don’t know we’re going to have to see how this whole thing works out. That’s an interesting fight (GSP vs. Diaz).”
Gracie reported to ESPN that the talk that White had mentioned having with Diaz had yet to take place.
If the conversation between Diaz and White had not occurred before the signing of the Lacy contract, why the rush? It makes little sense for Diaz’s camp to not even wait to hear what White had to say.
When the president of the promotion says, “I imagine I can do whatever I wanted to do,” in regard to making a fight that just months ago seemed impossible, it seems reasonable to give the guy a chance to speak to you.
If the tactic was done with the thought of applying pressure on White and the UFC into making the St-Pierre fight happen, well, that’s a very risky proposition.
MMA fans would like to see Diaz and St-Pierre fight and the fight is probably the most sensible fight to make from a business standpoint, but the fact remains that the UFC and White do not need a Diaz versus St-Pierre fight.
The promotion will go on without ever presenting that fight, but will Diaz be able to go on without the UFC and Zuffa LLC, the owner of both the UFC and Strikeforce?
If the plan is to force White’s hand it may backfire. No matter how much White likes Diaz he surely knows that the UFC does not need him or the headaches he could possibly bring them. It is very likely that White calls Diaz’s bluff and says, “Good luck with your fight and better luck when your contract with Strikeforce runs out and it is not renewed.”
If Diaz thinks he is the most underpaid fighter in MMA now, one wonders what he would think if he was forced to fight outside of the Strikeforce or UFC promotions.
With that being said, ESPN did report Gracie saying, “Nick’s [MMA] contract takes precedence. That’s why we’re not out there telling everyone what we’re going to do. We’re trying to work together with the UFC and not against them. And we’re trying to do things the right way.”
It remains to be seen if signing the boxing contract before hearing anything from White constitutes doing “things the right way.”
This situation, between two of the more interesting personalities in sports bears watching.
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