On Saturday, October 29, inside Mandalay Bay Events Center, it will not matter that Nick Diaz didn’t attend pre-fight press conferences or missed a large portion of a media call.
Today, Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was late for a scheduled media call and many believed that the former Strikeforce welterweight champion was going to bypass this as well.
However, Diaz dialed in when he was informed by his brother and UFC lightweight Nate Diaz that he should be on a call to promote next Saturday’s pay-per-view. While he ended up taking part in the call, his participation or lack thereof in prior events will not matter on fight night.
“Nobody called me in the last week or couple days or anything and said there was a call,” Diaz said on today’s UFC 137 media call.” Woke up, my phone was dead, and my brother’s telling me I’m supposed to be on a call. I don’t know anything about it. It’s as simple as that.”
Whether or not Diaz attends a press conference or media call will not determine how he performs on fight night.
After all, we’re talking a fighter who has not suffered defeat since 2007 and is currently on a 10-fight win streak.
His opening round knockout victory over Paul Daley this past April was one of the most fan-friendly fights of the year.
Of course, if Diaz participates in his pre-fight media obligations, then the headlines leading up to UFC 137 would be far different.
From an opportunity to face Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight championship, to being yanked from the fight, to being reinserted opposite B.J. Penn in the co-main event, and now being promoted to main event again due to a St-Pierre knee injury leaving a main-event void, Diaz has been on a roller coaster ride of sorts heading into his return to the Octagon.
While you shouldn’t have high hopes for seeing the welterweight attend press conferences and media calls, you should know that, come fight night, Diaz will show up and provide fans with a thrilling fight against B.J. Penn.
During his current win streak, Diaz has only been to a decision once, with his other nine victories coming by way of knockout or submission. A pretty impressive stat to the say the least.
In 10 days, you can bet the bank that Diaz will show up on fight night, and win, lose or draw, he’ll put his heart on the line and leave it all inside the Octagon.
For additional information on UFC 137 follow Joshua Carey on Twitter.
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