Yesterday, many martial arts fans paid $10 to tune in and watch what had been dubbed a Brazilian jiu-jitsu superfight between Braulio Estima and Nick Diaz. The night was full of great battles, leaving fans in anticipation of the main event. The camera focused on Estima out on the mat, ready to roll.
However, Diaz was nowhere to be seen.
Cesar Gracie later tweeted that Nick Diaz was out of the match, making it the second time he has botched a fight in his last four scheduled matches, the first being his UFC title shot against Georges St. Pierre.
As is well known to mixed martial arts fans, Diaz apparently escaped out of Cesar Gracie’s bathroom window and was a no-show to the press conference for the fight. He then fought and battered BJ Penn into retirement before being matched up with Carlos Condit in a fight for the interim title.
He would go on to lose by decision, and on top of that, tested positive for marijuana metabolites, earning a suspension from the NSAC. He subsequently retired from the sport and scheduled this BJJ match.
Diaz has tested positive for marijuana twice during his MMA career, once against Takanori Gomi, the other against Condit. He has been in a number of postfight brawls, including the famed Nashville brawl on Strikeforce’s live event on CBS and his brawl in a hospital with Joe Riggs after their fight.
Now, he misses out on a BJJ match where he promised the entirety of his purse to charity.
I’m not the judgy type of person, but the fact that Diaz’s lack of professionalism has transcended sports, following him everywhere he goes seems to cite that the man truly has respect for no one.
One would think that, with his strong roots with Cesar Gracie, he would try to make his mentor proud and showcase the talents Gracie taught him by engaging in a match with such a high-caliber black belt as Estima. That was not even enough for him to try and be professional for once.
At some point, the boy has to grow up. It’s embarrassing that Nathan Diaz is the more mature of the two, and he is the one who gave us the famed double middle finger-triangle on Kurt Pellegrino.
Until then, he earns nothing but disdain. Fans can’t claim that he is just a “fighter.” All he is is a boy who gives no one any respect, and is self-centered in a way that is unheard of in professional sports.
Social anxiety disorder does not account for this. The only thing that does is that Nick Diaz is a very selfish, very poor sportsman, who reflects badly on everyone he associates with.
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