Enigmatic UFC welterweight Nick Diaz shouldn’t retire. If he wises up and decides not to, Jon Fitch needs to be his next opponent.
The fight between Nick Diaz and Jon Fitch would be the smartest match to make, as both men are coming off losses.
It would also be an easier sell than most other of Fitch’s fights, since Fitch seems to harbor a genuine dislike for Diaz.
However, the fight has an additional level of importance to it, aside from the matchmaking logistics of the welterweight division and pay-per-view buys.
The fight between Diaz and Fitch would be one that finally forces the MMA community to face the “exciting vs. boring” debate and settle it once and for all; MMA fans will move on and start a new era without fruitless debates about entertainment value after the fight is over.
Fitch is (wrongfully) a hated figure because he’s been successful in the UFC without providing fans with highlight reel KOs or submissions. Because of this, people think he’s a “boring” wrestler who only employs “lay and pray” tactics against his adversaries; he’s not really fighting, he’s competing/wrestling (so his detractors believe).
Some go as far as to consider a win achieved via wrestling and superior top control or “grinding” an opponent against the cage not a win at all—they call it not losing.
On the opposite side of Fitch is Diaz.
Diaz is a scrappy individual who talks trash, taunts and is always seeking to finish the fight quickly, and always puts on a show for the fans. As Bleacher Report lead MMA writer Jonathan Snowden noted, when Diaz is in the cage it’s not a sport, it’s a fight.
But which fighter and fanbase is “right”?
Is it better to be exciting or safe? Does it matter as long as you win?
Such questions would underline all of these issues heading into a Diaz-Fitch fight, and the questions would finally be resolved once one man’s hand is raised.
Either “lay and pray” would finally be vindicated to fans or would forever rest in the ash heap of MMA history.
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