It’s been a crazy ride over the last few weeks of Nick Diaz’ life.
The former Strikeforce welterweight champion was brought back into the UFC fold a few months ago, following his dominant performance against former contender Paul Daley, finishing off the knockout artist on strikes in the first round of their April tussle.
Diaz was later slated to take on Georges St-Pierre, the reigning 170-pound kingpin, at UFC 137, which takes place on October 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
After a pair of no-shows preceding the pay-per-view event, Diaz was pulled out of the main event slot and eventually re-booked to take on BJ Penn in the co-headliner.
Now, GSP has fallen to injury and will not be meeting Carlos Condit—who took Diaz’ place in the evening’s headliner. Instead, both Penn and Diaz will now be meeting as the main event tilt.
While the Stockton native is usually well-reserved, he has also been known to be one of the most unfiltered fighters in the sport. He’s unapologetic for his actions or the words that come out of his mouth, but he’s honest, to say the least.
“I know who’s in this sport and they haven’t done (expletive)—not what I did”, said the UFC contender in his pre-fight interview.
While few fighters have earned the respect of the world-ranked Diaz, former two-time champ BJ Penn has more than coveted those accolades for the Californian.
“He is my favorite fighter”, said Diaz, who shares a camaraderie with Penn, who also began his career from the humble beginnings of the Gracie family—the Hawaiian serving under the tutelage of Ralph Gracie and Diaz under the wing of Cesar Gracie.
“He’s better than they are. He’s better than everybody.”
“I know where he came from; he came from my school as far as I’m concerned. He came from what I came from and that’s why he’s good.”
Both men are well adept strikers who hold black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Evenly matched men with a penchant for exciting fights, it’s a bout that has piqued the interest of Penn, Diaz and the mixed martial arts community alike.
“I think we have some of the same style, therefore we have some of the same fans and I respect his style of fighting”, said Diaz.
“MMA fans in general are looking forward to this fight.”
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