Part II after the jump (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)
We’ll be treated to a free night of exciting fights on FOX in just a few hours, but there’s still plenty of time to discuss next weekend’s battle for the interim Welterweight title. The second episode of ‘UFC Primetime: Diaz vs Condit‘ hit the air last night. As if the video wasn’t enough, we’ve got your breakdown of the show just after the jump.
Part II (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)
“Nick would take on anybody, anything, at any time. If he didn’t get the best of you, tomorrow you’d better be ready to do it again. He had some behavior problems, and also he had some gang problems. Gangs were trying to recruit him because he had a reputation of being tough and the gangs wanted to have him join up.” Tom Domench, Diaz’s 7th grade teacher. Sure, Tom, gang violence is a serious obstacle to overcome, but is it “fire alarm” serious?
“It’s an interesting connundrum that Nick is in, cause he truly doesn’t enjoy hurting people. He doesn’t want to be the guy that’s beating up other people. He doesn’t think it’s fun, but he does know that that’s his job, to win fights.” Cesar Gracie. We’ve heard from Diaz’s teachers, now where the fuck is his guidance counselor? It just sounds like he went into this whole ‘professional fighter’ gig without all of the relevant facts.
“I got fucking pinned. First by some dude with his older brothers were there. They were like, pinned me real quick. You know what I mean? His brothers were there, they were like, ‘Man, you animal!’ I was like, crying or something. I was like, not there, but I had to take a walk. I was angry. Wrestling was not working out well for me. I mean, I liked wrestling, I wanted to be good at it, I just was having a hard time learning.” Nick Diaz on the genesis of “Stockton Rules”. Rule #1: Wrestling is bullshit.
Diaz dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue an career in the face-punching biz. It looks like things worked out well for him, but what about the high school Math Team he left behind?
“If you go to his gym, you’re going to see him showing techniques to little kids. And you’ll never even think that he is that bad boy that people want to portray him [as].” Diaz trainer Val Ignatov, highlighting the need for parents to pay more attention to who is mentoring their children.
“People don’t understand, when it comes to mixed martial arts, Nick Diaz is a genius. They call BJ Penn “The Prodigy”; they call Vitor Belfort “The Phenom”. Those guys have off buttons. Nick Diaz doesn’t have an off switch.” Steve Heath, Diaz’s first MMA coach, explaining what countless hospital staff already know.
“The thing that hinders Nick Diaz in fighting is time limits. Stick Nick Diaz and GSP in a dark alley and see who comes out. We all know the answer. The only way you’re going to beat Nick Diaz is you’d better bring a gun in the ring.” Steve Heath, expounding upon Stockton Rules #2: Time limits are for pussies.
“I’ve been shooting probably since I was about maybe 15 or so. I learned to shoot from a friend of mine who’s an instructor with the National Guard. If I wasn’t a fighter I think I would be in the military. I’m a warrior; that’s what I am, and I always knew I was.” Carlos Condit, firing an arsenal of weapons in open defiance of the UFC’s new firearms ban.
“Early in Carlos’s career, after making the decision that he wanted to pursue Mixed Martial Arts as a profession, I was skeptical. But when I saw him living on the floor of the gym where he worked out, I knew that this guy had the determination to get somewhere.” Condit’s dad, artfully spinning the story of a penny-pinching father allowing his son to go homeless into a hero’s tale of hard-taught lessons in devotion and passion.
“As Carlos gets closer to fight time, when he’s working like a sled dog, the nice and friendly and easygoing Carlos you still see but less and less. And the focus and this place that he only goes to starts to emerge.” Condit’s dad, simultaneously describing his son’s transformation into the “Natural Born Killer” and how creepy we get when we start drinking again.
Please tell me that’s a bottle of apple juice that Nate’s carrying when he gets out of the driver’s seat of his car.
“Stockton got voted the ‘Most Miserable City’ in the United States. And, despite that, these guys are saying ‘we’re not miserable’. A lot of people in this area, when they make it, they leave, and they end up leaving here and they never look back cause it’s a tough town out here. These guys I can’t get them to move out of here. I’ve tried, and they just say, ‘no, we’re going to live where we’re from’. Despite all the hardships, they’re here to give back, and that’s the most impressive thing.” Cesar Gracie. Nick has been guilty of missing pre-fight media events, but this statement makes it clear that Cesar has skipped a few of the post-fight pressers himself.
“I go to him for advice on anything, you know. Sometimes he don’t even know I’m there for advice, [but] I’m standing there getting it out of him. He’s put me on paths and directions that I didn’t even know that he was putting me on, you know. Straight up, like I got a boxing coach and a jiu-jitsu coach, but Nick is my MMA-Life coach, straight up.” Nate Diaz, confirming that neither brother has a clue as to what the other is doing or saying.
“In order to love fighting, I have to hate it. There is no love in this, without hate. You have to love it so you want it so bad that you’re pushing yourself to those limits to where you just simply hate it. And if you’re not there to where you hate it, then good luck trying to love this shit.” Nick Diaz, with some of the most poignant MMA philosophy since “The InnerMe‘.
“A guy like him should not be champion. He’s going to be champion for a few months if he wins the fight, but as soon as I get back I’m going to be back, I’m going to to put my hands on him and he’s going to be done.” GSP, displaying some rare animosity toward an opponent.
– Chris Colemon