LAS VEGAS – There was a time, not all that long ago, when stepping into
the cage with striking specialist Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was considered an awfully risky proposition.
But with Filipovic currently mired in 2-3 slump, the aura of invincibility…
LAS VEGAS – There was a time, not all that long ago, when stepping into
the cage with striking specialist Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was considered an awfully risky proposition.
But with Filipovic currently mired in 2-3 slump, the aura of invincibility that he once carried into combat no longer exists.
Nevertheless, his UFC 137 opponent, Roy Nelson,
believes Filipovic is still a worthy opponent. Sure, the losses have
damaged the Croatian’s fighting reputation, but Nelson believes it’s
still an honor to step in the cage against one of the sport’s all-time
greats.
To say Nick Diaz is a complicated man would be a serious, serious misunderstanding.He’s as talented as they come, having recently ended his reign of terror in the Strikeforce welterweight division in hopes of conquering the UFC’s 170-pound class.During…
To say Nick Diaz is a complicated man would be a serious, serious misunderstanding.
He’s as talented as they come, having recently ended his reign of terror in the Strikeforce welterweight division in hopes of conquering the UFC’s 170-pound class.
During his time spent with the San Jose-based promotion, Diaz became one of the saving graces of the organization, becoming a popular draw after memorable battles that eventually led him to claiming the promotion’s title in January of last year.
Then, Diaz defeated Dream champion Marius Zaromskis, knocking out the knockout artist inside of the first round. Subsequent title defenses over the likes of K.J. Noons, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and the hard-hitting Paul Daley—who Diaz defeated in a first-round stunner which has since been nominated for “Fight of the Year” honors at this year’s World MMA Awards—have anchored the résumé of the Stockton native.
Riding on the heels of a ten-fight win streak, and reaching the pinnacle of his career, you would think that this would be the high point of Diaz’ career, or certainly the most enjoyable.
Nope. For Diaz, he’s unhappy, irritable and is not particularly fond of the fight game.
Truth be told, the world-ranked fighter never really was.
“I never liked doing this,” said Diaz in an interview with MMAFighting.com, in the lead up towards his main event collision this Saturday night at UFC 137 against former two-time world champion B.J. Penn.
“I don’t like not having a job, especially when I started mixed martial arts, this is all I could do…This is all I know how to do, this is what I’m good at, so it’s what I do.”
Diaz does enjoy the singular aspects of MMA as a whole. He’s a highly-touted athlete, despite not coming from any form of traditional academic sports, though his grandfather took Nick under his wing as a youth and got him into swimming and running track to keep him in shape and disciplined.
At an early age, Diaz found the Cesar Gracie academy, where his mother—a waitress by trade—would have to come home after work and drive Nick an hour out of the way to the Pleasant Hill school. There, Diaz influenced his younger brother Nate into developing a successful mixed martial arts career of his own, while pairing up with teammates and friends Gilbert Melendez and Jake Shields along the way.
It’s in those early foundations that Diaz has found pleasure, but not in any of the remedial things that have ensued thereafter.
“I love jiu-jitsu, and I love my team, I love repping Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu, and I love athletics and martial arts and competition because it gets me right, puts me in the right place to stay in shape and be healthy,” said the enigmatic fighter.
“It motivates all these good ideas and things like for instance learning how to do something else for a living.
“I can’t say that I love doing this.
“I don’t hold anything against everybody loving what they do, they love their job and they love to fight. I love to do well and I love the competition and everything, but as far as fighting for money, it’s just not something I’m in love with.”
Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 137 pre-fight presser for you right here starting at 4:00 pm ET.
If you’re at home today or somewhere your boss won’t catch you getting shit-faced, we’ve created a little drinking game for you to enjoy it a bit more.
Check it out after the jump.
(Stream courtesy of YouTube/UFC)
Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 137 pre-fight presser for you right here starting at 4:00 pm ET.
If you’re at home today or somewhere your boss won’t catch you getting shit-faced, we’ve created a little drinking game for you to enjoy it a bit more.
Check it out below.
Every time someone asks Roy Nelson about his weight, take a drink.
Whenever anyone asks Cro Cop about retirement, take a drink.
If Nick Diaz makes eye contact with someone while answering his or her question, take a drink.
If Nick says something Emo about how anything like he should have boxed or that he got screwed out of a title shot for no reason, take a drink.
When BJ says “um,” take a drink.
If Cheick Kongo mentions that he is going to be a UFC champ one day, finish your drink.
When a reporter inevitably asks any fighter to give up his game plan for Saturday night, take a drink.
If anyone has the balls to ask Dana what he thinks about the Bellator-Viacom deal, finish your drink.
This Saturday in Kansas City, Kansas not only will fans get to see the Season Five Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals, but a welterweight title fight highlights the evenings show.
Bellator champ Ben Askren takes on Jay Hieron for his 170 lb title, while tournament heavyweights Eric Prindle meets Ron Sparks, and Thiago Santos meets Neil Grove on the main card.
This Saturday in Kansas City, Kansas not only will fans get to see the Season Five Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals, but a welterweight title fight highlights the evenings show.
Bellator champ Ben Askren takes on Jay Hieron for his 170 lb title, while tournament heavyweights Eric Prindle meets Ron Sparks, and Thiago Santos meets Neil Grove on the main card.
UFC 137 is the beginning of a four week stretch in which the UFC will host four major cards. UFC 137 has undergone some significant changes due to injuries as well as some of Nick Diaz’s classic behavior, but at the end of the day any card headlined by…
UFC 137 is the beginning of a four week stretch in which the UFC will host four major cards. UFC 137 has undergone some significant changes due to injuries as well as some of Nick Diaz’s classic behavior, but at the end of the day any card headlined by Diaz vs. BJ Penn should produce some serious fireworks.
Diaz was originally scheduled to face UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, but due to Diaz failing to show for two straight press conferences, UFC President Dana White chose to remove Diaz from the main event and insert Carlos Condit in his place.
Condit was all set to take on former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion BJ Penn in the co-main event, but due to his insertion into the main event and the days getting shorter and shorter until October 29th, the UFC moved Diaz into Condit’s spot opposite BJ Penn.
If all of that wasn’t enough GSP suffered a knee injury which forced him to pull out of the fight with Condit. So here we are today just a few days away from fight night and we have lost both Condit and GSP. The Penn-Diaz bout will now occupy the main event slot with a heavyweight tilt between Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione sliding into the co-main event slot.
As of now Condit will face GSP once he has been medically cleared, but there has been some talk that Diaz could leapfrog Condit should he defeat Penn in impressive fashion. Think of it as the mixed martial arts version of “As The World Turns!”
One thing is for sure, the fans will still get to see great fights, they just might come off later than we expected.
Following a recent shakeup at Showtime that saw former sports head Ken Hershman leave for HBO, it seems that there is a renewed hope that the premium cable network might…
Following a recent shakeup at Showtime that saw former sports head Ken Hershman leave for HBO, it seems that there is a renewed hope that the premium cable network might be able to strike a deal with Strikeforce.
So far, there’s been at least one change to the ongoing negotiations. While they had previously been handled by Zuffa co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, White has taken the reigns in search of a new deal.
“I was in New York [Wednesday] and met with Showtime,” White said following a UFC 137 press conference on the Brooklyn Bridge replica outside the New York New York Hotel. “That’s why I was there. So yeah, I’m it now. I took over.”
White said he was able to inject himself into the situation now that Hershman is gone. The two have had a notoriously rocky history over the years, with White pulling no punches over his thoughts on Hershman. Even now that the executive has moved on, White did the same, saying dealing with the channel has gotten a lot easier now that he’s gone.
Why?
“Because he’s an idiot, and the rest of the guys aren’t,” he said.
As of now though, there is still no deal. So for the time being, reports of other Strikeforce fighters — Fabricio Werdum, for example — defecting to the UFC will come to a close. The timeframe for a decision has been extended as the two sides attempt to keep the promotion alive past the first quarter of 2012. But at least there is a newfound sense of optimism involved.
“I had a great meeting with them,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes. I met with all of them, the whole crew. It went very well, and we’ll see how it progresses.”
LAS VEGAS – There was a time, not all that long ago, when stepping into
To say 
LAS VEGAS —