Tag: Nick Diaz

Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith in the Works for December Strikeforce Card

(Surefire prediction: Nobody is getting submitted in this one.)
According to several reports that we have since been able to substantiate with sources close to the bout, Scott Smith will likely make good on his proclamation that he is dropping down a w…


(Surefire prediction: Nobody is getting submitted in this one.)

According to several reports that we have since been able to substantiate with sources close to the bout, Scott Smith will likely make good on his proclamation that he is dropping down a weight class when he takes on newly-acquired welterweight Paul Daley in a December Strikeforce bout. The fight, which is sure to be a slugfest is said to have been verbally agreed to by both fighters.

Daley (25-9-2) has never been knocked out, but Smith (17-7 1NC), who is known for his somewhat reckless, go-for-broke style of fighting will be looking to change that statistic when the pair meet at the end of 2010. 7-3 in his last 10 outings, Daley’s last loss was the decision to Josh Koscheck that saw him tossed from the UFC for attacking the reviled American Kickboxing Academy fighter after the final bell. Since being released by the organization, he has gone 2-0 against Chute Boxe’s Daniel Acacio (21-10) at Impact FC 2: The Uprising in July and American Top Team’s Jorge Masvidal (20-6) at Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs. Prangley in September.

5-4 (1 NC) in his past 10 fights, Smith announced after his most recent loss to former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le in June that he would likely be cutting to 170 pounds to compete as a welterweight, despite having beaten Le handily in his previous outing.

read more

Old Feud, New Chapter: Noons Angered by Diaz No-Showing Conference Call

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsNick Diaz has always done things his own way, so it should have come as no surprise to anyone when the Strikeforce welterweight champion no-showed a conference call to hype his upcoming title defense.

Yet it didn’t lessen…

Filed under: ,

Nick Diaz has always done things his own way, so it should have come as no surprise to anyone when the Strikeforce welterweight champion no-showed a conference call to hype his upcoming title defense.

Yet it didn’t lessen the reaction of his Oct. 9 opponent, KJ Noons, who seemed so frustrated by Diaz’s absence that while discussing his issues with the champ, he ripped off a string of expletives that can’t be reprinted here.

“Pretty unprofessional,” was the most family-friendly description of Diaz provided by Noons when it came to his media obligations.

Strikeforce KJ Noons-Nick Diaz Cesar Gracie Conference Call Transcript

("I got your conference call for you right here, Coker.")Apparently Nick Diaz doesn’t like conference calls.
If Strikeforce would have read his "Things I don’t like," rider he sent along to them with his signed contract, they woul…


 ("I got your conference call for you right here, Coker.")

Apparently Nick Diaz doesn’t like conference calls.

If Strikeforce would have read his "Things I don’t like," rider he sent along to them with his signed contract, they would have realized that "conference calls" were on the list before "Mayhem Miller" and after "children" and they wouldn’t have scheduled him for a media call that he had no intention of participating in. 

So instead of pulling the plug on today’s call completely when they realized Nick wasn’t interested in talking to reporters about his October 9 title defense against KJ Noons, they got the next best guest they could get on short notice for the call: Cesar Gracie. No, seriously, that’s the best they could do.

According to Diaz’s outspoken coach, it "isn’t in Nick’s psyche" to do conference calls with his upcoming opponents, but he didn’t have a problem pretending to know what Nick would say in response to reporters’ questions.

Here’s the transcript of the call, which seemed suspiciously more like a scripted infomercial than a conference call at times. I’m not surprised Nick took one look at his lines and said, "Fuck that; I’m out."

read more

KJ Noons vs. Nick Diaz Rematch Planned All Along

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsEver since KJ Noons signed with Strikeforce, the plan all along was for him to at some point renew his rivalry with Nick Diaz.

“I told Scott [Coker] when I came to Strikeforce I want to fight the best guys,” Noons told re…

Filed under: ,

Ever since KJ Noons signed with Strikeforce, the plan all along was for him to at some point renew his rivalry with Nick Diaz.

“I told Scott [Coker] when I came to Strikeforce I want to fight the best guys,” Noons told reporters Tuesday in a media call. “And this was a match they wanted to make in the future, and 160 was hard to make back then, and this was a fight that we talked about in the beginning that we wanted to make. I just had to get back into the MMA scene and win some fights.”

Paul Daley Comments on Strikeforce Signing, Chasing Gold

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveIt was just four months ago that Paul Daley’s MMA career suddenly unraveled. In the span of about one hour on a May night in Montreal, he lost a No. 1 contenders fight that cost him a chance to fight for the …

Filed under: ,

It was just four months ago that Paul Daley‘s MMA career suddenly unraveled. In the span of about one hour on a May night in Montreal, he lost a No. 1 contenders fight that cost him a chance to fight for the UFC championship, intentionally punched opponent Josh Koscheck after the bell, and was cut from his UFC contract for his unsportsmanlike action.

The fallout, though, was hardly as bad as it seemed it would be at the time. In the months since, Daley has fought twice, defeating Daniel Acacio in Australia in July before beating Jorge Masvidal at the recent Shark Fights event in Amarillo, Texas. Earlier this week, Daley sealed his quick return to major league MMA when when he inked a six-fight contract with Strikeforce.

“I’m obviously very excited,” Daley told MMA Fighting in an email. “Strikeforce is a great promotion and there are some real good fights for me there.”

CagePotato Stats: The MMA Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard

(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)
Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a …

Gina Carano naked nude weigh-ins photos EliteXC Kobold towel
(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a habit. But when an MMA fighter comes in a full four pounds heavy, as Efrain Escudero did this week for his doomed UFC Fight Night 22 bout against Charles Oliveira, it tends to raise some eyebrows. As we’ve done previously with steroid busts, we decided to catalog the worst scale-fails in MMA history, arranged by number of pounds over the limit. When the information was available, we also listed the punishments the fighters were given, along with their excuses for missing weight, which range from injuries to salt water to the dreaded "menstrual period." This is by no means a definitive list — but we’d like it be, eventually. So if you know of any other occasions where fighters missed weight by four pounds or more, or missed weight for multiple fights, please let us know in the comments section.

Nick Diaz @ EliteXC: Return of the King
Weigh-in date: 6/13/08
Weight: 169.5, 9.5 over limit
Punishment: Diaz forfeited a portion of his fight purse to his opponent, Muhsin Corbbrey.
Fight result: Diaz by third-round TKO
Excuse: After arriving in Hawaii, Diaz said he "went in the salt water and absorbed a lot of sodium or something." In Cesar Gracie’s version of the tale, Diaz got sick after accidentally ingesting the water. Nick reached out to Corbbrey when the weight-cut was looking grim, and made a deal to hold the bout at a catchweight.

Dale Hartt @ Ringside 7: No Escape
Weigh-in date: 6/17/10
Weight: 163.4 pounds, 8.4 over limit
Fight result: Hartt lost to Guillaume DeLorenzi by second-round TKO (shoulder injury)

read more