(Too bad, so sad, Nick. Maybe ProElite will have you.)
You would think Nick Diaz would have taken Dana White’s warning that he better start “playing the game” when he re-signed him to the UFC. Apparently he doesn’t know the two golden rules: One, Dana White always wins and two, Dana White never forgets.
Case in point, after not showing up for a scheduled press conference in Toronto on Tuesday, Diaz once again went MIA for another presser today in Las Vegas, and as a result White yanked away his UFC 137 title shot against Georges St-Pierre and instead gave it to former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit.
An obviously infuriated White, who said that in 1600 events he has promoted he has never had such issues with unprofessionalism with a fighter, broke the news via a highlight reel featuring Condit and St-Pierre. He explained that they twice rescheduled Diaz’s flight and that neither he nor Nick’s longtime trainer Cesar Gracie have been able to reach the sociopathic former Strikeforce champion since Monday. During the event today, Gracie called White to tell him he agrees wholeheartedly with his decision to swap opponents and apologized for his fighter’s lack of professionalism. White revealed that Gracie had Diaz cornered in his house after he finally found the AWOL fighter on Monday and that Diaz snuck out the back door when his coach’s back was turned. Gracie has been chasing him all over Stockton ever since.
St-Pierre, who says he has never trained with Condit despite being under the same Team Jackson banner, believes that “The Natural Born Killer” is a more well-rounded opponent than Diaz and it’s unlikely that he will have to worry about him dropping out of the fight.
“I want to say thank-you to Carlos for stepping up and taking the big fight,” St-Pierre said.
As far as Condit’s scheduled UFC 137 opponent, BJ Penn, White said that he hasn’t told the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion that the fight is off, but said he has another opponent in the works for “The Prodigy” that will make people say he’s crazy if he gets it done.
White stopped short of saying whether or not Diaz would be cut for his actions, but judging by the damage he’s caused from tickets having to be reprinted to new ads and trailers having to be cut, there’s a pretty good chance.