Cesar Gracie just did an interview with LayzieTheSavage from Middleeasy.com, and he spoke about his feelings about Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn at UFC 136, as well as his personal relationship with the elder Diaz brother.
For those who aren’t up to speed, UFC 137’s two main fights have completely flip-flopped.
Instead of Nick Diaz getting a title shot against Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Condit will get a chance at the welterweight gold.
And instead of Condit being involved in a title eliminator against Penn, “The Prodigy” is now facing off against Diaz instead.
The turn of events came about when Diaz no-showed two press conferences for UFC 137.
Despite Diaz causing Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu a ton of stress over the past couple of days, Cesar still stand by Diaz amidst the controversy.
Bloody Elbow transcribed the most relevant parts of the interview.
“Nick is like family. People don’t understand that you can get mad, you can get mad at your brother because it doesn’t mean anything,” Gracie stated.
“Some people read into it like I kicked him off the team. I don’t care what he does in the UFC. I mean I care but I’m not going to kick him off the team over it.”
Certainly good news for the entire Gracie/Diaz camp, and actually, Gracie prefers Diaz’s fight with Penn from an entertainment perspective.
Gracie has not been a fan of St-Pierre in the past, but he really drives that point home here.
“This is the better fighter of the two. Georges St-Pierre is the bigger fighter of the two. He can beat people by being bigger or whatever….He’s (Penn) more technical. He’s got a better ground game. He’s got a better stand up.”
Strong words from Gracie, especially considering the fact that GSP defeated Penn both times they met in the cage.
Despite Gracie’s endorsement of Penn, that doesn’t mean he was without disappointment in regards to the main event.
“I talked to Dana after he pulled the fight. I explained why it was a mistake to pull the fight. I understood. I was as mad at Nick as anybody,” Gracie reflected.
“When I calmed down a little bit and looked at the situation, I said not only am I Nick’s trainer, manager…whatever, but also a fan of the sport. And I’m thinking ‘why is Dana punishing fans of the sport?’”
Gracie wanted to clarify by saying that Nick deserved to be reprimanded, but not to the extent of being removed from the main event.
“Punish Nick. Fine him a nice heft fine,” Gracie emphasized. “Do whatever you’re gonna do and punish him. All he did was miss a press conference. Seriously? Did one fan in this world even care? It did not make sense to me. I told them this afterwards.”
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com