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Nick Diaz: Was His No Show Part of Playing Dana White’s Game?

With the furor surrounding Nick Diaz’s no-shows at several press junkets, is there more to it than meets the eye? Could this be a carefully and meticulously orchestrated plan by the UFC or is it just what it was; Diaz no-showing for the reasons h…

With the furor surrounding Nick Diaz’s no-shows at several press junkets, is there more to it than meets the eye?

Could this be a carefully and meticulously orchestrated plan by the UFC or is it just what it was; Diaz no-showing for the reasons he’d stated earlier in the week?

Let’s take a closer look:

Remember Nate Marquardt? Well he was fired from the UFC for failing to get the medical clearance required for his fight with Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4. Diaz, on the other hand, is still in a job and is set to throw down with BJ Penn in the co-main event at UFC 137.

Marquardt’s actions were no different to Diaz’s; they both put their respective events in jeopardy, Marquardt gets sacked and Diaz gets a public slap on the wrist. Enough said.

Another thing to bear in mind, with a fight on the scale of that magnitude, why was it so hard for anyone to locate the whereabouts of Diaz?

When contact was finally made, White spoke about how Diaz had voiced his concerns about the main event; he couldn’t handle the pressure. I’d have thought that White would’ve known about Diaz and his extreme aversion to the media before signing him up for that fight?

Next, how come Cesar Gracie had no inkling of where his star pupil was holed up, especially with a fight in the offing that could’ve propelled Diaz to the heights of MMA greatness?

Also one minute Gracie was in total agreement with White’s decision to axe Diaz from the main event, and the next he was stating that the fight should’ve gone ahead. Make your mind up son.

And then there is St-Pierre, what part if any did he have to play in this supposed cloak and dagger affair? At the UFC 137 press conference, after hearing that Diaz had been pulled from the main event and that he’d now be fighting Carlos Condit, St-Pierre had this to say:

“I do believe Carlos Condit is more dangerous than Nick Diaz,” he said. “If they fought, I would put my money on Carlos Condit, so for me it’s a bigger challenge.”

I like the phrase: Bigger challenge, an apt way of trying to convince the fans that the Condit fight bears more significance than a Diaz fight would.

And finally we have the 209 son himself; suddenly Diaz comes out of the woodwork apprising the media of his reasons for failing to attend both press junkets while throwing a few derogatory comments and expletives St-Pierre’s way. Was this Diaz trying to hard sell a future St-Pierre vs. Diaz fight?

Now if it is/was a strategy contrived by the Zuffa hierarchy and Dana White in particular, and if it does go according to plan, it could well turn out to be a masterstroke by said persons.

For it to be an ingenious scheme St-Pierre would have to defeat Condit, and Diaz would have to be victorious against Penn. But as with anything in life, nothing is certain.

This could easily be upended in several ways; Condit and Penn both win their respective matches which means Penn fights for the championship. Or you could have St-Pierre vs. Penn or Condit vs. Diaz fighting for the championship.

There’s nothing wrong business-wise with the aforementioned match-ups; I’m sure the buy rates will suffice to assuage the UFC, but with a St-Pierre vs. Diaz fight, the UFC would’ve had much more to gain from a financial point of view.

And at this point in time, with the match-ups already in place for UFC 137, the Zuffa based company is sitting in a very comfortable position. The financial icing on the cake would be if this conjectural plan came to fruition. Now that would be a stroke of genius.

Maybe Diaz was playing the game all along, the same game that White has been so vociferous to point out in the past.

Remember this is all speculative and hypothetical.

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BJ Penn Versus Nick Diaz: Will This Be Penn’s Last Fight?

After BJ Penn’s second straight loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 118, retirement was on the mind of “The Prodigy” during his flight home to Hawaii.”I was flying home [after UFC 118], and I was kind of like, ‘Maybe I don’t want to do this anymore; I don’t k…

After BJ Penn‘s second straight loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 118, retirement was on the mind of “The Prodigy” during his flight home to Hawaii.

“I was flying home [after UFC 118], and I was kind of like, ‘Maybe I don’t want to do this anymore; I don’t know what’s wrong. If I’m going to go out there and perform like that, maybe this isn’t something worth doing,'” Penn told MMAJunkie.

Re-framing his mindset, Penn remained motivated to compete in the UFC and moved up in weight class to battle long-time nemesis Matt Hughes in the welterweight division.

Knocking out the hall-of-fame Hughes in just 21 seconds of Round 1, Penn resurrected his career within the 170-pound division and sent a lightning bolt of determination through his own veins.

Once again driven to be the best in the world at 170 pounds, Penn was disappointed when he fought Jon Fitch to a majority draw at UFC 127.

Non-committal regarding his future within the division during the post-fight press conference after his bout with Fitch, Penn is now slated to challenge the enigmatic Nick Diaz at UFC 137.

Motivation for “The Prodigy” has been an Achilles heel for the two-division champion in the past. When Penn is driven, focused, and on top of his game, “The Prodigy” is lethal inside the Octagon.

However, when Penn is beleaguered, distracted, or without purpose, “The Prodigy” arrives at fight time out of shape, without passion, and as a shell of his former championship self.

Fast forward to October 29 when Penn faces Diaz for the UFC welterweight eliminator.

Understanding the spoils provided to the victor, “The Prodigy” will challenge Diaz with the heart and soul of his former championship self.

Throughout the years, one constant has remained with respect to BJ Penn’s personality. And that constant is that he wants to be the best; his ego perpetuates that intention, permeating into his psyche.

With a victory over Diaz, Penn will be in line to challenge the victor of Carlos Condit and Georges St-Pierre in their championship bout on the same evening as Penn’s fight with Diaz.

Assuming that GSP retains the belt, Penn will be awarded the opportunity to compete for the title in their trilogy match-up.

Driven by ego and a desire to be the best, a victory over Diaz will serve as the catalyst for Penn to make one more run at the championship and once again claim welterweight gold.

Is the match-up with Diaz Penn’s last fight under the UFC banner? Absolutely not.

I welcome your comments.

You can “Like” Todd Seyler on Facebook and Follow me on Twitter

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MMA: Ranking the Top 10 Upcoming Bouts for the Rest of 2011

When looking ahead of an already exciting year of MMA, it can easily be said that the best is yet to come.The UFC is expected to close out 2011 with a plethora of dream matches slated for upcoming blockbuster cards.One of those bouts was set be UFC cha…

When looking ahead of an already exciting year of MMA, it can easily be said that the best is yet to come.

The UFC is expected to close out 2011 with a plethora of dream matches slated for upcoming blockbuster cards.

One of those bouts was set be UFC champion Georges St-Pierre against Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz at UFC 137, but the bout was scrapped after Diaz missed two scheduled press conferences.

Fortunately for fans, both superstars are still set to compete at UFC 137, and the new pair of bouts are much more interesting than the original lineup.

Along with Diaz, the UFC welcomes another Strikeforce champion and top-3 heavyweight Alistair Overeem. After a tumultuous career at light heavyweight, Overeem has reinvented himself into one of the best heavyweights in the world.

Before signing with the UFC, he was the reigning Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Dream heavyweight champion and K-1 World Grand Prix champion. If he secures UFC gold, fans could be looking at one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

What upcoming goodies does the UFC have in store for the rest of 2011?

Kick back in your favorite stained armchair and click the little next icon to find out what must-see bouts you’ll be coughing up your hard-earned cash for.

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UFC Fight Night Live: Shields vs Ellenberger Analysis, Insights, and Predictions

UFC Fight Night Live: Shields versus Ellenberger will be held on September 17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.Highlighting the night’s event will be a welterweight matchup between the seasoned veteran and former mult…

UFC Fight Night Live: Shields versus Ellenberger will be held on September 17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Highlighting the night’s event will be a welterweight matchup between the seasoned veteran and former multiple champion Jake Shields as he faces the hard-hitting up-and-coming prospect Jake Ellenberger.

It will be an evening full of young prospects as they make their mark within the sport’s biggest promotion. These young practitioners will have their moment to shine on the big stage.

Please follow along as I dissect all the night’s bouts and provide analysis and predictions for each matchup on the card.

Enjoy the fights.

You can “Like” Todd Seyler on Facebook and Follow him on Twitter

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Nick Diaz: MMA Quote Machine

For a guy who’s not known for being able to give much of an interview, Nick Diaz sure has not had a loss for words ever since being pulled from the main event of UFC 137.For one thing, Diaz made a YouTube response for no showing the UFC 137 press confe…

For a guy who’s not known for being able to give much of an interview, Nick Diaz sure has not had a loss for words ever since being pulled from the main event of UFC 137.

For one thing, Diaz made a YouTube response for no showing the UFC 137 press conferences, which some are calling an apology: though one’s definition of an apology needs to be pretty loose in this situation.

From there, Diaz simply went off on a tangent calling out Georges St-Pierre hard for allowing the main event of UFC 137 to be changed.

GSP now takes on Carlos Condit for the UFC welterweight title on October 29, while Nick Diaz will face BJ Penn in a possible title eliminator.

Let’s take a look at some of the things the elder Diaz brother has had to say recently.

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UFC Fight Night 25: Should Jason MacDonald Retire If He Loses to Alan Belcher?

I believe this upcoming UFC Fight Night has the distinction of being the first ever UFC card to totally steal the name of an earlier UFC event. And I’m not counting episodes 1-100 of “Ultimate Knockouts”, or my suggestion for &ldqu…

Yes, the original UFC “Battle on the Bayou” will always hold a special place in my heart. As a young(er) fan watching the event on VHS, I will never forget the image of Frank Shamrock slamming Igor Zinoviev like he was a 50-pound sparring dummy. A 50-pound sparring dummy that had slept with his wife.

It was a different era in mixed martial arts. An era of underground fights and penny pinching promoters (say that three times fast), of fading popularity and no money and efforts to ban the sport. Certainly no one was making Oscar contending movies starring Nick freakin’ Nolte about our little sport back then.

It was a different age, a bygone era, a time so distant it has faded to lore.

It was March 13, 1998.

Less than a year later, Jason MacDonald made his professional MMA debut. Talk about being O.G.

Since then, MacDonald has been almost to every extreme this sport has. He’s fought from one end of Canada to the other, becoming a legend on Canada’s regional circuit. He fought in a lot of dingy armories and high school gyms for little more then promises and bragging rights.

To vaguely quote Mike Goldberg, “More than paying his dues in the sport of MMA, is Jason MacDonald!” At least I think he said that.

Inside the UFC, MacDonald has done it all, from the PPV marquee fights to the undercard curtain-jerkers. From being “in the mix” for a belt to being cut from the organization. He’s experienced the elation of a surprising victory and the heartbreak of a shocking defeat—and that’s just the few times I’ve seen him live.

He fought Rich Franklin, Chris Leben, Yushin Okami and Demian Maia, and gave all those men as much (or more) than they could handle.

This Saturday is, from a personal standpoint, bigger then all those fights for MacDonald. A win gives him the chance at another run in the sport’s big leagues. A loss almost certainly means the end of his UFC tenure. It could also very well signal the end of his MMA career as well.

MacDonald isn’t exactly standing on rock solid footing career-wise at the moment. As mentioned, “The Athlete” has already been bounced from the UFC following a loss to Nate Quarry. After putting together a few wins on the Canadian regional circuit, MacDonald was given a “for one night only” ( you lose, you’re gone) UFC return against John Salter to fill an undercard spot in Montreal last year.

One botched take-down attempt later, and MacDonald had a broken leg, another loss on his record, and some serious questions about his future.

Luckily, Dana White proved to be a man of his word. Kinda. After a year on the shelf, White honored his original deal with Jason and booked him another “for one night only” appearance, this time on the UFC 129 undercard in Toronto in April. This time, MacDonald took care of business, won his fight in the opening frame, and thus maneuvered his way into this card.

Still, the numbers are against J-Mac. He is 37-years-old with over a decade of full-time fighting under his belt. His fight with Alan Belcher this Saturday will be his 40^th career bout. MacDonald has fought only two times in the last two years, with lots of downtime to recover from a serious injury. He’s 1-3 in his last four UFC fights.

Those are damning statistics for any fighter to face. But MacDonald has some unique advantages, as well.

He’s won “Submission of the Night” three times, “KO of the Night” once and has a reputation for exciting, dramatic fights. He’s also a known commodity to Canadian MMA fans, someone they’ll care about and pay to watch. He’s a great “gatekeeper” that can test new guys on the way up. So from a promoter’s viewpoint, he’s still a fighter to have on the roster if he wins Saturday.

MacDonald also has an advantage in that Alan Belcher may be the only guy at middleweight with worse luck than him. A serious eye injury in training almost ended Belcher’s career; now he makes his return to the Octagon after a year and a half on the shelf. He may not be the same fighter he was when he left.

Which is good, cause at last viewing, Alan Belcher was a “talented” middleweight (see what I did there?) who was a handful for anyone. And he’s fighting in his backyard, so you know he’ll be bringing it come fight night.

So MacDonald stands, as he so frequently has, as the answer to a question. Is Alan Belcher still a top level middleweight? That’s the question the UFC wants answered in the booking of this fight.

But the question I’m more interested in is—Is Jason MacDonald still a UFC-level fighter?

Belcher has time and coming off such a bad injury fans and media will likely forgive a loss. But for MacDonald, it’s do or die. Win, and you get to write a couple more chapters into an already long and storied UFC career. Lose, and that book could very well be closed forever.

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