(Video courtesy of Sapo/IronForgesIron)
Nick Diaz has been out of the public eye since his close UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit and subsequent announcement by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that he had tested positive for marijuana metabolites, so when we heard he was going to break his silence on SPIKE’s new MMA Uncensored show last night, we tuned in to hear what he had to say.
Unfortunately we were disappointed since he did not address the positive test or retirement and really didn’t say much about the Condit fight except that he thinks the judges in the sport choose their favorites to win and that he still feels he won the fight.
“Well, I never said anything about pursuing boxing. I [haven’t] really said much about anything about what I’m gonna be doing in the future. I’ve had what feels like a week or so to think about any of this, but I haven’t really put much thought into it, ” he explained. “It just feels good to get some workouts in and just try to act normal, I guess.”
“I think I could have gotten that fight to the ground and finished the fight or been a little more dominant throughout some of those other rounds. Or in some of the later rounds, had I put a little more pressure into the first two, but… Honestly, I felt it was smarter to play it safe and go ahead and push forward and win the rounds. I’ve lost fights before where I’m landing more punches and I’m moving away from the guy. So, the way that they score things at the end doesn’t really seem very consistent to me,” Diaz said. “I come back and I learn from my mistakes last time and it doesn’t really make a difference in the end. So, if anything I proved that this isn’t really working out. Because of all these fights I’ve lost, I’m usually winning the fights. You watch and the guy’s taking more damage. It’s just kinda irritating to me that we’re rewarding people in mixed martial arts for trying to move away and not finish the fight.”
Like the show itself, the interview was an awkward one and Diaz seemed like Cesar Gracie was standing off camera with a shotgun forcing him to do it.
On an unrelated note, I wonder what happened to MMAJunkie’s involvement on the show. The website announced late last year that it would be forming a partnership with the show, that would be supported by MMAJunkie content and co-hosted by some of its writers.
At least the Dan Henderson segment on the death of PRIDE was decent.