Punctuality may not be Nick Diaz’s forte, but he actually showed up to the prefight media call for UFC 137 on Wednesday.
The former Strikeforce welterweight champion has been in hot water as of late for missing two previously scheduled UFC press conferences, which cost him a title shot and got him demoted to the co-main event of the UFC 137 fight card.
Just as the media thought Diaz was going for the hat trick, the Stockton native suddenly appeared about 40 minutes into the call. MMAFighting.com was on the scene.
“Nobody called me in the last week or couple of days or anything and said there was a call,” explained Diaz.
This is nearly an identical excuse to the one Diaz gave for missing the other two press conferences. The only difference this time is that it actually wasn’t Diaz’s fault for almost missing the call. UFC President Dana White took to Twitter and backed up Diaz’s claims.
“I’m hearing UFC dropped the ball on the Nick Diaz no show today!! SUCKS,” posted White.
When Diaz took his seat, the media wasted little time in delving into the reasons behind his absence from previous press conferences.
Diaz initially snubbed the question, but he decided to give an answer when it was brought up again. The question revolved around whether or not Diaz regretted his actions that cost him a shot at UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
“Well yeah, of course I have regret,” Diaz said. “I’ve got all these people, business people and big money people around me trying to make deals. I don’t know anything about that. All I know is somebody’s getting paid like over a hundred grand just to tell me what I’m supposed to do and what I’m not supposed to do.
“I’m like, for that much money, I think I could’ve had somebody standing around and telling me, ‘Hey, you can’t miss this conference. That voids the whole contract, and then you’re out. You’re not making (expletive). You’re not fighting (expletive). You ain’t making no money. So you have to be at this thing.’ It’s simple,” he said.
Under the circumstances of the Diaz drama, Diaz’s opponent, BJ Penn, is quietly taking everything in.
“Nick is Nick,” stated Penn. “He’s going to do what he does. For me, it’s just that’s what he does. I enjoy watching the stuff that Nick Diaz does. He doesn’t change. He’s just always himself.”
Penn, who is coming off a first-round knockout win over Matt Hughes and a draw with Jon Fitch, has positioned himself to possibly make another run at the welterweight title.
A win over Diaz would go a long way in vaulting “The Prodigy” to perhaps a third bout with St-Pierre or a showdown with Carlos Condit.
“It’s no problem, none of this,” said Penn. “The only thing that’s going to be bothering me is when Nick Diaz is probably punching me in the middle of the octagon. That’s the only time he’s going to be bothering me.”
While the world criticizes him for past mistakes, Diaz is working hard to silence his critics and leave no doubt that he is the No. 1 welterweight in the world.
“You’ve got to know I’m not sitting here with my phone, waiting for a call,” said Diaz. “I’m waiting for some training. I’m trying to get some relax time before I have to go back for another four hours of training.
“I’m training hard. I train harder than these guys. I fight harder than these guys. I look better than these guys, and that’s why,” he said.
“I don’t get no help, and I don’t worry about no help,” Diaz said. “That’s what takes up all my time, training and trying to become the best in the world here. And that’s the best in the world! That’s what you’re dealing with here.
“This is a whole world out there and ain’t nobody can beat me? That’s pretty bad.”
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