*Photos by Silton Buendia
Nick Diaz showed up early to the UFC 137 Open Media Workouts. He and brother, Nate Diaz put on a light sparring show for the cameras, as most other fighters like BJ Penn and Roy Nelson had posed awkwardly. Who can blame them? Staged workouts are weird. But the Diaz brothers had the attention of the entire room. Unfortunately, for Matt Mitrione no eyes were on him after the Diaz brothers left the mat for his workout. We at Fix admit we didn’t even get one photo of Mitrione as instead we chose to join the crowd of journalists eager to ask Nick questions.
Nick Diaz was well-spoken and easy going, which pretty much dispels all assumptions he dislikes the media. Diaz made it clear he was not happy to fight his friend, BJ Penn but was not the person who signed first. When Karyn Bryant of MMA Heat asked if he and Penn discussed the fight, Diaz said, he only received a message from Penn saying he was sorry what happened about him losing the title-fight and of the situation, but that was it. Diaz also says he regrets having not gone with his initial decision to turn pro in boxing before signing with the UFC. He feels he would have earned himself better pay in boxing which would in turn have given him more money with the UFC. Diaz plans to train further in Vegas before Saturday night’s fight but said he had not been invited to any gyms to train. He is very proud, comfortable and happy to reside in Stockton, CA as he thanked his fans for their support and said, “don’t hate BJ Penn.”
Our exclusive photo gallery is below:
