As far as retirement speeches go, Nick Diaz’s at the conclusion of his five-round bout with Carlos Condit left something to be desired. Diaz, frustrated with how the fight played out, stood in the center of the Octagon and said, “I don̵…
As far as retirement speeches go, Nick Diaz’s at the conclusion of his five-round bout with Carlos Condit left something to be desired. Diaz, frustrated with how the fight played out, stood in the center of the Octagon and said, “I don’t need this sh**t. I pushed this guy backwards. He ran from me the […]
As far as retirement speeches go, Nick Diaz’s at the conclusion of his five-round bout with Carlos Condit left something to be desired.Diaz, frustrated with how the fight played out, stood in the center of the Octagon and said, “I don&rsquo…
As far as retirement speeches go, Nick Diaz’s at the conclusion of his five-round bout with Carlos Condit left something to be desired.
Diaz, frustrated with how the fight played out, stood in the center of the Octagon and said, “I don’t need this sh**t. I pushed this guy backwards. He ran from me the whole fight. He ran this whole fight. I landed the harder shots. He ran the whole time. He kicked me in the leg with little baby leg kicks the whole fight. That’s the way they understand to win in here. I don’t want to play this game no more.”
The jury is out on whether or not Diaz will actually hang up the gloves and, to borrow a phrase from Mike Tyson, “fade into Bolivian,” but if he does, it will be a huge loss for the sport of mixed martial arts.
Love him or hate him, and judging from the crowd noise coming from the Mandalay Bay Events Center at UFC 143, far more people love Diaz than hate him. He will be missed when he’s gone.
Diaz is the person that many long to be. There’s no pretense in his words or actions, there’s no thought of how he’ll look in the press or to his employer nor is their any consideration to the repercussions of his actions. A thought pops in his head and the words come out unfiltered. How many of us have wished we could do what Nick Diaz does?
Both those that love him and hate him will miss Diaz’s off-the-cuff remarks during interviews, but where he’ll truly be missed is inside the Octagon.
The UFC seems to be experiencing a sea change these days, as fighters no longer enter the cage to see who the better fighter is, but instead are competing to decide who the better athlete is. Some will say this is natural progression, turning MMA into a sport like all other sports, where the win is the most important thing. Others will bemoan the change, saying that as a combat sport, the intent should not be simply to gain a victory, but should be about leaving it all in the cage win or lose.
Both of the above theories have their merit, but as the sport attempts to break into the mainstream, we’ll probably see more and more fighters employing game plans akin to the one Carlos Condit used to defeat Nick Diaz on Saturday.
This is why we’ll all miss Nick Diaz. For all his perceived faults, he was a fighter that had one plan: Win or lose, he was going to leave it in the cage. If you polled fans and fighters, you would find that many would say that a Nick Diaz fight was a can’t-miss fight, that he was never in a boring fight.
As more and more fights start to edge toward technical battles where the win is the most important thing, Diaz was a throwback, a “just scrap” kind of fighter in a world of automatons just doing what their trainer has game planned them to do.
Some will say good riddance to Diaz, proclaiming he was overrated and overpaid, a loud-mouth miscreant, an ingrate who refused to play the game. Others will say that Diaz was misunderstood, that his love for fighting and training is what really mattered. Whichever side you fall on, you may not realize it now, but in time you will pine for the days that a scowling Nick Diaz stalked his opponent inside the cage.
At UFC 143, former welterweight title contender Josh Koscheck picked up a split decision victory over Mike Pierce. Koscheck, now 17-5, is arguably one of the best welterweights in the UFC today. He’s also one of the most hated. From Kosc…
At UFC 143, former welterweight title contender Josh Koscheck picked up a split decision victory over Mike Pierce.
Koscheck, now 17-5, is arguably one of the best welterweights in the UFC today.
He’s also one of the most hated.
From Koscheck allegedly faking being hurt in a fight with Anthony Johnson, to feuding with Tito Ortiz and Georges St-Pierre, Koscheck has often played the heel role in his career.
But is the now-former AKA fighter really all that bad?
Koscheck does come off as being a jerk most of the time.
But is he really that much different than other hated fighters like Michael Bisping, Chael Sonnen and Nick Diaz?
Well, the difference between Koscheck and those other fighters is there is at least one quality that people like about them.
Sonnen, although annoying at times, is at least entertaining.
Diaz puts on exciting fights and can even gain compassion from some fans.
Bisping may be one of the few fighters that is more hated more than Koscheck.
But, Bisping is still a bigger draw than Koscheck.
Koscheck may be a completely different guy off the screen.
But we have yet to really see a time, perhaps besides Paul Daley punching him after a fight, where we’ve really been on Koscheck’s side.
But until he makes an on-screen change like Tito Ortiz did, he will continue to be one of the most hated fighters in the MMA.
At UFC 143 on Saturday night, Carlos Condit proved to the world that he is the real deal in the welterweight division, as he earned the unanimous decision victory over Nick Diaz, and won the interim welterweight title.With the win, Condit takes a huge …
At UFC 143 on Saturday night, Carlos Condit proved to the world that he is the real deal in the welterweight division, as he earned the unanimous decision victory over Nick Diaz, and won the interim welterweight title.
With the win, Condit takes a huge jump up the pound-for-pound rankings, and Nick Diaz falls off because he announced his retirement.
With Diaz’ retirement, a new spot opened up on the pound-for-pound rankings.
Let’s see how far Condit moved up, and who filled in the spot that Diaz left behind.
After the dust settles from any professional prize fight, there is a natural tendency for the fans of the man who lost to try and make sense of it all in any way that they can.This usually takes the form of finger pointing, excuse making and all the no…
After the dust settles from any professional prize fight, there is a natural tendency for the fans of the man who lost to try and make sense of it all in any way that they can.
This usually takes the form of finger pointing, excuse making and all the normal actions associated with disappointment and denial.
I know because I have been there, just like every other fight fan.
After Sugar Ray Leonard pulled off a huge upset over Marvin Hagler, I was in denial, looking for any reason or excuse as to how it happened.
The truth is, Hagler gave the early rounds away to Leonard simply because he thought he could take him out at any time. Then when Hagler finally started fighting, Leonard had already found his groove, and it was simply too late.
Now after UFC 143, the fans of Nick Diaz are taking to the Internet, discussing the way he was “robbed.” That is what we expect of fight fans.
But I find it odd they see Diaz as a man who can suddenly contend with good wrestlers. He has not fought a single good wrestler since he left the company in 2006. Not a single one.
And yet his fans are true believers. They seem to think that fighters like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch would be good comeback fights for Diaz, enabling him to get some wins under his belt and start the climb again.
It seems like religion is not dead after all, because their faith in the unseen is inspiring.
If anything had been clear after UFC 143, I thought it was that Diaz is still the same fighter he was back in 2006. The only difference is that his striking is better and his jiu-jitsu is better. He was on a specific road back then, looking to become a specific kind of fighter, and he has grown into that role just about as well as anyone can.
But he still has fundamental holes in his game: no head movement or any real sense of defense, no takedown ability (at least not of the level needed in the UFC) and it would be contrary to our experience to believe that he has turned himself into a fighter who can deal with good wrestlers, since we haven’t seen proof of it yet.
But his fans, they are keeping the faith. They don’t need proof, they’ve got religion.
And you know what?
That ain’t such a bad thing.
I would be happy to pay money to see Nick Diaz fight just the way he is, against whomever, over paying money to watch many other fighters out there.
For me, Diaz reminds me a great deal of Arturo Gatti when it comes to how he fights. Like Gatti, Diaz is a highlight reel on two feet. Like Gatti, Diaz has consistently been involved with some of the most exciting fights in recent years in MMA. Like Gatti, Diaz is not the best fighter in his division, but no one cares about that if they are watching the Fight of the Year.
Diaz needs to keep fighting. So what if he never wins the UFC title? Chances are he won’t—he simply isn’t that dynamic of a fighter, and there are too many good wrestlers in his division. But that’s OK, because the fans remember the fights more than anything else.
Nick Diaz probably won’t ever be the UFC champion, but the people’s champion?
If he keeps on fighting like he has in the past, then that is one title no one will ever take away from him.
On Saturday night, Fabricio Werdum made his return to the Octagon, and he made it memorable.For 15 minutes, he beat down Roy Nelson, hitting him with some of the biggest knees seen in recent memory.Werdum now moves to 4-1 in his past five fights, while…
On Saturday night, Fabricio Werdum made his return to the Octagon, and he made it memorable.
For 15 minutes, he beat down Roy Nelson, hitting him with some of the biggest knees seen in recent memory.
Werdum now moves to 4-1 in his past five fights, while Nelson drops to 1-3 in his last four.
Let’s find out where each of them stands in the heavyweight division after UFC 143.
As far as retirement speeches go, Nick Diaz’s at the conclusion of his five-round bout with