Tag: UFC Primetime

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Dos Santos vs Mir’ Episode 1

(Video via IronForgesIron.com)

It’s not the match we were promised, but it’s the one we’re going to watch. We’re only weeks away from UFC 146 and the heavyweight title bout between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir. In addition to the twelve pounds of gold at stake, we are witnessing a former champion’s quest to return to the top of his division and the familiar story arc of redemption and payback for a fallen master. There’s also a shooting range and lots of big guns. Whichever strikes your fancy, this Primetime comes correct.

 

Things open up with Junior Dos Santos’ mentor, Big Nog, showing up at his gym in Salvador, Brazil. The surprise appearance provides an emotional boost to the young champion.

 

“It wasn’t pain. I was very disappointed.” – Big Nog, on having his arm snapped by Frank Mir. It’s easy to write this off as a mistranslation, but English or Portuguese, it doesn’t matter; Minotauro doesn’t know the definition of pain in any language.

More highlights after the jump.

(Video via IronForgesIron.com)

It’s not the match we were promised, but it’s the one we’re going to watch. We’re only weeks away from UFC 146 and the heavyweight title bout between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir. In addition to the twelve pounds of gold at stake, we are witnessing a former champion’s quest to return to the top of his division and the familiar story arc of redemption and payback for a fallen master. There’s also a shooting range and lots of big guns. Whichever strikes your fancy, this Primetime comes correct.

 

Things open up with Junior Dos Santos’ mentor, Big Nog, showing up at his gym in Salvador, Brazil. The surprise appearance provides an emotional boost to the young champion.

 

“It wasn’t pain. I was very disappointed.”  – Big Nog, on having his arm snapped by Frank Mir. It’s easy to write this off as a mistranslation, but English or Portuguese, it doesn’t matter; Minotauro doesn’t know the definition of pain in any language.

 

“I don’t know why everybody worships this guy. His ground game is very simple. It’s only his attacks that are a little dangerous.”  – Big Nog, telling Junior Dos Santos that he has little to fear from Frank Mir. Later, he explained that cobras are only dangerous if they bite you and that fire only burns you when it’s hot.

 

“He’s not a man. He gives up. Against Shane Carwin, he pretended he was hurt. He’s full of it.”  – Junior Dos Santos, questioning Mir’s heart.  In Frank Mir’s defense, Carwin ‘pretended’ to hit him very, very hard.

 

“There’s no ego anymore. I could care less. It’s like, yeah, you’re tough. I’m tough. Everybody’s tough.” – Frank Mir, on his new attitude. I for one will miss the swagger and incredible self-confidence, but I guess I’ll just have to get used to the New Frank Mir, as I’m certain he won’t say anything cocky or over-the-top from this point on in his career.

 

“I have three kids, but I have two belts. So when I pass away and they have to divide it up I don’t want them to have an argument about who doesn’t get a belt, so I have to make sure that before I retire I get a third one so it makes that argument easy.”  – Mir, on troubles in his household. Sure, that’s a unique problem for a family to have, but I’d like to see how things are settled in his house when Frank gets up to use the restroom and forgets to ‘call’ his seat.

 

Mir’s father, wife, and young kids maintain a strong presence at his gym, and they take precedence over his training partners. It sounds like his children are an incredible motivation, but when he’d potentially sacrifice aspects of his training for their play time I have to wonder if they’re a distraction at the gym as well. Still, it’s great to see him in the role of loving father. I only wish his twitter-loving step-son had been there to share his thoughts on this match up.

 

Back in Salvador, Brazil, Dos Santos is getting his props as the people’s champ.

 

“I was from a very poor family, so I didn’t have very good opportunities. I discovered a way for me to be bigger than I ever dreamed before.”  – Dos Santos, on his climb to the top. Many people have found a way to be bigger than they’d ever dreamed; let’s just hope his way consists of acai smoothies and hard work.

 

“I feel that protecting yourself and protecting my family is the obligation of every father.”  – Mir, shooting off some big guns at the firing range. Hey, we respect that kind of fire power.

 

“The one thing I possess is versatility. I always try to find a way to win. JDS has, I think, a great tool. I think his boxing is top notch, but whenever he’s seen obstacles in his fights he just keeps using the boxing. You’ve got to remember this is mixed martial arts; there’s more to this than just boxing.”  – Mir, on his opponent’s weapons. Mir really hits the nail on the head here. He’s simply too versatile to lose to a ‘one-dimensional’ fighter.

 

“Every fight it seems like I’m almost doubted. The naysayers say I shouldn’t be there. Somehow I keep pulling out victories. I have the most wins out of any heavyweight in the division. I have the most submissions. I have all these accolades to prove that, hey, you know, I’m not just talking it, I’m backing it up.” – Mir, on his apparently unsung credentials. It’s good to see that the New Frank Mir hasn’t forgotten his accomplishments.

 

“JDS is a young guy. If I catch him in a hold and he taps, he lives to fight another day. If I catch him in a hold and he decides not to tap, that limb, is it ever going to be the same again? I have enough of a history about me now that if you get locked in a hold of mine and you choose not to tap, that’s something you’ve trained for for weeks coming up to and you’ve watched my videos and you’ve studied me…if you make that mistake that’s your fault, that’s not mine. What is your life going to be like afterwards? What is your career going to be like afterwards? I’m bigger and stronger. One wrong mistake and now he’s in trouble and has to tap or deal with the consequences.”  – Mir, on torquing a limb beyond its breaking point. And just in time for the closing credits, it’s official: the Old Frank Mir is back!

 

– Chris Colemon

 

 

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Jones vs Evans’ Episode 1

Primetime Part I (Video via: YouTube/WeedIsJustAPlanttt)

Despite the brooding drama built into the upcoming Jon Jones-Rashad Evans title fight at UFC 145, the latest installment of the UFC Primetime franchise has a decidedly more mature aura about it. No more fire-alarm monologues, no more interviews with grade school teachers. We’re dealing with big people problems. Rashad Evans has lost just about everything in his life over the past year, and he places a lot of that blame on the shoulders of his former teammates. While other matchups may have produced more vitriol for the cameras, few have the depth behind them as this rivalry.

Come on in for a breakdown of the highlights and Part II of the video.

Primetime Part I  (Video via: YouTube/WeedIsJustAPlanttt)

Despite the brooding drama built into the upcoming Jon Jones-Rashad Evans title fight at UFC 145, the latest installment of the UFC Primetime franchise has a decidedly more mature aura about it. No more fire-alarm monologues, no more interviews with grade school teachers. We’re dealing with big people problems. Rashad Evans has lost just about everything in his life over the past year, and he places a lot of that blame on the shoulders of his former teammates. While other matchups may have produced more vitriol for the cameras, few have the depth behind them as this rivalry.

 

“He has a book of notes that he takes, and it’s like a book of moves, and he reads this book of moves so that way when he fights the moves are fresh in his head. So I go in there in the locker room to wish him luck and I’m giving him daps and hugs and I’m going to warm him up, and I go and sit next to him when he’s looking at the book of notes and he covers it, and he puts it down and he looks at me. I’m like, ‘Damn, bro, it’s like that?’ Like, ‘For real?’ So then I knew at that point that I was next on the menu.” Rashad Evans, on the first time he realized he and Jones were destined to be better enemies than friends.

 

We start off in sunny Florida with an establishing shot of Rashad’s new crib. Over the past 12-months he’s divorced his high school sweetheart, severed ties with his ‘family’ at Jackson’s MMA Academy, and packed his bags for Florida to begin life anew. That’s a hell of an upheaval, and it must be taking an emotional toll on Rash…damn, did you see that ‘lac? Suga’s going to be alright, y’all.

 

“A few years ago Greg Jackson approached me with the idea of having Jon Jones join the camp. And I was like, ‘Man, this kid looks pretty good. He looks like an up and coming guy.’ And I was like, ‘Greg, I don’t really feel comfortable with him coming on the team, being that he’s going to be somebody that I got to compete against.’ And Greg was like, ‘No, no buddy. It’s not going to be like that. We’re family. We’re brothers. We’ll never have to fight each other.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but still, I just don’t feel comfortable with the idea.’ And Greg was like, ‘Listen, trust me. You will not have to fight him, and if you do have to fight him I’m with you 100%.’ ”  Rashad Evans, doing a pretty good impression of a goofy white dude. No wonder he’s so adept at spotting those ‘fake ass white boys‘.

 

“You know, it made me feel angry at first. I was full of emotions and I was just more like, ‘Man, fuck Greg.’ You tell me that it would never happen, you’re guaranteeing me that I’ll never have to fight somebody, and I go off of your word, and then it turns around and it happens just the way that I thought it would happen? Then you turn around and say, ‘Alright, I’m going to stick with him’? That’s a betrayal.”  Rashad Evans, summing up a year of drama and saving me the need for 100 hyperlinks in a single, tidy quote.

 

“I remember growing up, we really didn’t have anything, but my parents were so loving that we never really realized how poor we were, because we had so much love in our home. And my job as a father is to outdo my father, and to show him that he raised a great man. And I’m out here trying to get it, not really for me at all but for my family and for my family’s future.”  Jon Jones, appreciating his roots. To this day he carries that photo of his father posing on the hood of his busted up El Camino in his back pocket for a little extra motivation.

 

“Rashad Evans realized that I was becoming the best fighter and that I was in line for the title shot, and that’s when he made me seem as if I wanted to challenge him. And I didn’t want to challenge him. The only thing I always wanted to do was to fulfill my dream of being the number one fighter in the world. To this day, I’ve never challenged Rashad at all.”  Jon Jones, who believes that the drama between the two is as one-sided as the fight will be.

 

“Yeah I feel bad for Rashad. You know, I miss the guy. Actually me and Jon were talkingabout how much fun he was and he’d always make us laugh. So there’s no negative animosity on our end. Especially not on my end.”  Greg Jackson, coping with the breakup like a real man, who is naturally sharing a laugh in bed with his hot new girlfriend while the recently-divorced ex-wife is crying alone in her shabby one-bedroom apartment dealing with the four kids and the dog.

 

“Rashad was the one who got bypassed through hard work, and he was the one who needed to find a way to challenge me for the light-heavyweight championship. And that’s why Coach Jackson, Coach Winklejohn and everyone on this team is backing me to the fullest in the is fight. Because I’ve done nothing wrong.”  Jon Jones, giving all credit to hard work when we know full well that God has a history of protecting him while saying ‘to hell’ with everyone else.

 

“Rashad fighting me out of anger, you know it actually excites me because it’s going to deteriorate his game. He’s really going to realize that he’s wasted the last three or four months of his life training for this fight because he’s not going to win.”  Jon Jones, who in his youth doesn’t yet realize that win or lose it’s not a wasted training camp if you share intimate moments with those around you.

 

Primetime Part II  (Video via: YouTube/WeedIsJustAPlanttt)

– Chris Colemon

 

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Diaz vs Condit’ Episode 3

(Vid Props to YouTube/MixedMartialArts)

Last night marked the end of a great run for the Primetime series as it followed the two fighters headlining tonight’s pay per view card. We’ve learned a lot more about Carlos Condit, the wayward youth turned loving father and professional fighter, while playing armchair psychologist to Nick Diaz along the way. The crews shadowing these two 24/7 did the heavy lifting, so we’ll just pop the video up above and make our little jokes after the jump.

(Vid Props to YouTube/MixedMartialArts)

Last night marked the end of a great run for the Primetime series as it followed the two fighters headlining tonight’s pay per view card. We’ve learned a lot more about Carlos Condit, the wayward youth turned loving father and professional fighter, while playing armchair psychologist to Nick Diaz along the way. The crews shadowing these two 24/7 did the heavy lifting, so we’ll just pop the video up above and make our little jokes after the jump.

 

Condit’s watching plenty of footage of Nick Diaz, including his post-UFC 137 call-out of champion GSP (“Where you at, Georges? Where you at?”). Although he feels like he’s being overlooked and counted out, Condit takes the high road by not calling Diaz out for ending his sentence in a preposition.

 

“He tends to be training at weird hours, for sure. When you think about the fight, you can’t get it out of your head and you want to train and you know the other guy’s not doing it, that’s a big mental edge. I love the guy; if he needs help and wants to train at midnight, you know, let’s do this.” Diaz’s training partner Joe Schiling. If only poor Diaz could find some way to unwind?

 

“I figured that this is the better opponent than any of these other guys that are out there. You fight the way this guy fights and it’s a dangerous fight. I think I’ve gotten a taste of both worlds: guys trying to take your head off and guys trying to hold you, and I think this guy’s definitely more so trying to take your head off.” Diaz, fully expecting this battle to be contested under ‘Stockton Rules‘.

 

“I don’t really see anything in Carlos Condit’s game that is more dangerous than the things that we’ve been throwing at Nick throughout this training camp. I’ve hit Nick with some really hard shots, shots that I’ve dropped other people with, and not only does it not faze him, but it doesn’t move him back an inch, it doesn’t slow him down, he doesn’t seem to even care about it. He’s a fighter, and there’s not too many guys like Nick Diaz. You can’t stop crazy.” Joe Schiling. Add “getting punched” alongside “drug tests”, “smiling”, and “Ariel Helwani” on the ever-growing list of things Nick Diaz doesn’t care about.

 

“I would be happy with just going home without any missing teeth.” Diaz, maybe he does care about smiling after all?

 

“He’s been the underdog all his life, where people wanted to bully him when he was younger. They wanted to portray him as something he’s not. They want to write a script for his life, and that’s not the script that he wants and he’s fighting against that. And I think as fight time approaches all of that starts to merge. It’s a focused rage; it’s not chaotic anger. There’s a focused rage there.” Cesar Gracie, on what could be the greatest MMA movie to date. Get cracking, Hollywood.

 

“I’ve been the underdog my entire career. People have always counted me out. I don’t pay much mind to that. I’m ready. I’m ready for this shit.” Carlos Condit, trying to out-underdog Diaz. Jesus, people, can’t anyone come in as the favorite anymore?

 

“I think ol’ boy’s gonna try to take me down. What are his guard passes?” Condit speaking with Greg Jackson, predicting a very un-gangster-like strategy from his opponent.

 

“Fight week I put on the game face. I just get ready to go do battle. Finally get to go in there and not hold back and just let it go. Really I just tell myself to keep my hands up and my chin down and go out there and bury this mother fucker.” Condit, all but promising to stand and bang. I want to believe they will, but I’ve been fooled too many times before.

 

Hold up. Diaz missed three flights in one day before finally making it to Vegas for one of the biggest fights of his career? Then he skips the UFC’s prearranged ride to take a cab? I know you’re a busy guy, Nick, but life is not this difficult.

 

“The exercise is easier [during fight week], but a lot of the other stuff is harder. You know, I’m not used to training to deal with everything that they’re asking of me. I’m not training for that all month, you know, all leading up, I’m just training to fight. A lot of that other stuff is kind of hard for me to deal with, but I am ready to do whatever we gotta to do.” Diaz, who is now officially untrained as a home buyer, travel agent, and conversationalist.

 

Media week is a stressful time for both men, but particularly Nick Diaz. Though he often comes across as guarded, he’s easily the most open and honest of all fighters. You may not relate to what he’s saying, but you know that he means every word of it.

 

“That would be crazy to start believing in myself and think, ‘Oh yeah, I’m the biggest part of the show’, and ‘oh happy me’, and ‘everyone loves me’, and ‘I’m the superstar’. That’s crazy. That’s some bullshit right there. That’s the last thing I want to believe. All I’m going to believe is that I’m coming to whoop some ass.” Diaz, keeping it Stockton.

 

“Who makes these questions up? These questions are bullshit. Seriously? This is not, like, what are these? These are all tricks. This is all like bullshit. I’m low on water, I’m low on calories, I’m low on food, I’m low on energy, and I’m more so than anything low on patience with anything that takes patience. If you ask me something stupid then I’m going to answer it with something stupid and if I hear myself talk something stupid and I’m really pissed off, depressed, and bent out of shape about, then I’m going to throw a fucking really serious fit for no fucking reason.” Diaz, perhaps the toughest man on Earth to threaten throwing a hissy fit.

 

– Chris Colemon

 

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Diaz vs Condit’ Episode 2

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 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

 

 

Video: ‘UFC Primetime–Diaz vs Condit’ Episode 1

(Video courtesy of Zombie Prophet)

Before the dust had even settled from the organization’s debut on FX, the push began for UFC 143‘s headliner. The battle for the interim Welterweight belt is getting the full “Primetime” treatment with an in depth, behind-the-scenes look at Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. If you were too busy to catch the first installment of the series, bully for you. We’ve got the video above and some notes after the jump for the soft-headed.

 (Video courtesy of Zombie Prophet)

Before the dust had even settled from the organization’s debut on FX, the push began for UFC 143‘s headliner. The battle for the interim Welterweight belt is getting the full “Primetime” treatment with an in depth, behind-the-scenes look at Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. If you were too busy to catch the first installment of the series, bully for you. We’ve got the video above and some notes after the jump for the soft-headed.

It looks like someone at the Zuffa office got a thesaurus for Christmas. “Enigmatic” is the early buzzword to describe Diaz and the sort of behavior that we’ve so lazily branded as “crazy”.
The narrator cites Lodi, California as Diaz’s home. Did the former Strikeforce champion finally take those community college courses on purchasing a house, move out of Stockton proper, and relocate to the “Zinfandel Capital of the World”? Don’t fret, readers—Lodi is still officially in the coveted 209 area code.
Having previously complained that no members of the media want to visit him and get to know him, how does Diaz welcome the all-access film crew to his gym? By literally shutting the door on them so he can meet with his coaches and train, of course.
“He doesn’t like the pretentiousness of what he has to do in the media, and he’d rather not do it. He doesn’t want himself opening up. He’s actually trying to close parts of himself, preparing himself for war. They’ll ask him to go do a press conference with his adversary, when in his mind he’s preparing himself to beat the hell out of that guy in the cage. And if you’re going to tell him to sit there and make nice with the guy, he has trouble coming to terms with that.” Cesar Gracie
“Nick understands something: the fight starts when you sign on dotted line. You see the staredowns and everything, and guys get a little crazy. You really can’t out-crazy Nick Diaz, you just can’t. He’s going to do things to cause a reaction from his opponent. It’s literally like he’s playing a high-power chess game.” Cesar Gracie, adding fuel to the rumors that the winner of Diaz-Condit will take on Garry Kasparov sometime in June.
“I don’t think he’s a bad guy at all. Is he trained to go and talk in front of the camera? No. He is not a speaker; he is not a poster boy; he is not a salesman. He just likes to do what we do. He likes to fight.” Val Ignatov, confirming our suspicions that Diaz hasn’t been formally groomed for dealing with the press.
“I think the things that brought Carlos to MMA are what brings a lot of young men to MMA. And that is you have this drive, this need, this testosterone, this anger, and it’s got to go somewhere.” Greg Jackson
“Nick definitely has holes in his game. He kind of makes up for that by just being tough, by being able to take a lot of punishment. The question is whether he’s going to be able to take as much punishment as I’m going to dish out.” Carlos Condit
“Carlos was never the fastest, he was never the strongest. He was never really the most technical. But what he had from a very, very young age is an incredible competitive spirit. He hated to lose.” Carlos Condit’s dad, who could easily fill in for “The Most Interesting Man in the World”.
“Back in the day, so this is 21 years ago when I had Nick in my class, it’s just the way he was. Nick was Nick, and Nick was going to do what he was going to do. And if he felt like doing that at that moment, that’s what he was going to do.” Diaz’s second grade teacher.
“I pulled the fire alarm in class. I don’t know why I did that. I was just standing by it, and I was screwing with it, and I knew it was a fire alarm or something. I was in second grade. I just didn’t really understand how a fire alarm worked, cause I would just kinda mess with it, and I kinda started, I didn’t mean to pull the fire alarm, but I was screwing with it too much. And I ended up pulling it, and I was like, ‘Oh no, I did not just do that!’ And I was the only one standing there. I’m like, ‘it went down’. I was like, she’s like, ‘you pulled it!’ And I was like, ‘oh.’ It was bad.” Diaz, reliving an event which, despite being a relatively common and innocent childhood prank, seems to have left deep emotional scars that haunt him till this day.
“It didn’t surprise me. I was like, ‘Oh, Nick!’ Since all of this I looked on YouTube and saw some videos of him because I haven’t seen him since he was a kid . He’s the exact same. He doesn’t make eye contact. He talks very slow and deliberate. He takes a breath between words. I mean when I saw him on that video he was the exact same kid.” Diaz’s second grade teacher, whose shocking refusal to use adverbs explains how Nick ended up fighting in a cage for a living.
“They had an issue with my attendance already, because I didn’t have good attendance anyways, because I didn’t want to show up at school and end up having to blast somebody. And you don’t know if you’re going to get shot or stabbed or jumped at school because that’s what happens to everybody else. It’s not like I’m, oh I’m paranoid or something. I’m not paranoid…” Nick Diaz, sounding just like every paranoid person we’ve ever known.
“Sometimes he gets upset. When you ask me why he gets upset, it’s his inability to express himself verbally. That’s why he’s a fighter. But when he gets in that ring he’s a poet. A poet in motion.” Steve Heath, Diaz’s last MMA coach, hitting the nail on the head.

 

 

In Case You Missed It, Here is the Awesome New UFC on Fox 1 Primetime Show

Primetime by JMMANow
(Video courtesy of DailyMotion/JMMANow)

If your wife had you finishing up some shit on your honey-do list you had better things to do yesterday afternoon than sit inside and watch the UFC on Fox 1 Primetime show, don’t worry, homies. We got you covered.


Primetime by JMMANow
(Video courtesy of DailyMotion/JMMANow)

If your wife had you finishing up some shit on your honey-do list you had better things to do yesterday afternoon than sit inside and watch the UFC on Fox 1 Primetime show, don’t worry, homies. We got you covered.

The show gives us a more in depth look at Junior dos Santos’ humble beginnings growing up in Brazil as a quiet and non-violent kid who was raised with his brother and sister by a single mom on $200 a month. It was surprising to hear Junior say he was a weak child who cried a lot and that if he got in three street fights, he lost two, especially now that he’s a stone cold killer.

We also get a glimpse at Cain Velasquez’s relationship with his young daughter and a retelling of his father’s migration to the U.S. from Mexico where he toiled for years as a lettuce packer in California. Josh Koscheck also makes a came appearance on the show, but forgets to get into character.

Hopefully the UFC does away with the tired countdown show and focus on putting out more of these incredible segments on its main card fighters.