Former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz has come out of hiding.
The outspoken Californian was originally set on a collision course for the UFC 170-pound title when he was scheduled to take on champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137 next month. However the bout was subsequently scrapped once Diaz no-showed several press junkets leading up to the match.
UFC president Dana White replaced Diaz with Carlos Condit for headlining duties and the Cesar Gracie fighter has since been re-booked to take on former champ B.J. Penn in the co-headliner.
It’s no secret that the pre-fight pressers aren’t exactly apart of Diaz’s forte, but had he known the ramifications of his actions the welterweight standout would have handled the situation a lot differently.
“If I’d have known the fight was going to be off, I would have (expletive) gone to the press conference, or I would have told somebody, ‘Hey, if I don’t make it to this stupid (expletive), I’m not fighting,'” Diaz said in an MMAJunkie.com interview.
“I think that people would have gotten me there. I think people would have come and gave two (expletive) and gotten me to that press conference.”
St-Pierre was recently in Las Vegas handling pre-event duties alongside White, both men baffled after Diaz deliberately missed the presser once again for a second time, the first occurring just a day earlier in Toronto.
Diaz is aware of his actions, but remains adamant in the resentment he feels towards the champion, laying blame on him for not doing his part in trying to see the fight through.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has never questioned taking on tough challenges, but the Stockton native suggests that his Canadian foe took the easy way out of their previously scheduled title tilt, using choice words for his now targeted nemesis.
“I really don’t appreciate this mother (expletive) sitting there at that press conference and laughing at me. That’s some real (expletive). He’s sitting there laughing like it’s funny or something. If I saw Georges on the street and called him a (expletive), I bet you he wouldn’t do (expletive),” he said.
“Georges is a great fighter. But he’s a little (expletive) when it comes to fighting me right now.”
Stay tuned for more as the drama will surely continue to ensue.
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