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Nick Diaz: It’s not my fault that UFC canceled my GSP fight, blame them

By Zach Arnold | October 26, 2011

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When I think of ways to describe listening to Nick Diaz talk, the one effect I keep coming back to is the same effect that Tim Tebow has on the sports media, only Nick is the anti-Tebow. Both men, wittingly or unwittingly, polarize people to no end. Tebow more so based on his professional flaws, willingness to take heat, and strong will-power; Diaz more or less because of his rampant paranoia and constant need to blame others for his personal & professional problems. Not enough media ass-kissing? It’s your fault because you didn’t search him out even if he’s not comfortable in the media spotlight. His logic, at least what he verbally states, is beyond comprehension.

Take, for example, how much money Diaz lost by not fighting GSP when the fight was originally scheduled. Dave Meltzer estimated that Nick lost a $1 million USD pay day out of it. With St. Pierre injured, the fight wouldn’t have ended up taking place, but the table was set for Nick to make some big cash.

So, how does Nick summarize the events that led up to him losing out on the big pay day (on paper)?

“There’s always extra pressure on me, you know, I don’t get a lot of support. Not fan support but like I don’t get a lot of sponsorship support. … I don’t have a lot of people helping me out in that department.”

He goes on to complain about not getting media attention and yet needles UFC fighters for being on Twitter and all “being on the same team” as far as feuds are concerned. Furthermore, Nick says he did nothing wrong in regards to Zuffa canceling his bout against GSP and that the situation is their fault entirely.

“They went back on that. People want to blame me for spoiling that deal but they spoiled that deal for the fans, it wasn’t that I spoiled that deal. If you tell me what to do, I’ll do it. Nobody’s telling me, ‘hey, show up for this press conference or you’re not fighting.’ It’s like, yeah right, like I’m not going to show up and people are going to know that I don’t want to fight. I do want to fight and it’s why I’ve been fighting my whole life, training and representing my team. I’m not trying to let my whole team down and the rest of the fans for that matter, too.”

If you watch the interview, notice the tone of Nick’s comments about St. Pierre as a point-fighter. It’s a mixture of disdain and disgust without raising or changing his voice. He really dislikes watching GSP fight.

Look at the bright side — if Nick loses to Penn on Saturday night, Zuffa will probably keep him around so he doesn’t jump ship to Bellator which just found a golden ownership parachute with Viacom.

So, Cesar, will this fight be a stand-up or ground battle?

CESAR GRACIE: “You know what? I’d like to see it standing, I mean, if I had to pick. I think Nick is very durable and I think he would be able to his reach eventually and start picking BJ off. But on the ground, let’s face it, Nick is a incredible BJJ practitioner. He’s been doing jiu-jitsu for a very long time, he’s an awesome black belt as is BJ. So, I’m interested to see this fight. I think we’re going to see a lot of stand-up and we’re going to see a lot of ground work.”

KENNY RICE: “Freddie Roach has said that BJ Penn is the best striker out there in MMA and BJ Penn has said that Nick Diaz is the best boxer in MMA. That has all the ingredients that this is going to stand-up, you think?”

CESAR GRACIE: “You know… it does but, you know, BJ has also made a couple of statements after the Fitch fight, he said he was going to go back to his roots of taking people down and trying to finish them with his jiu-jitsu, you know, so he said that also and… who knows what’s in BJ’s mind right now? I would love to see a stand-up war like I’ve said but we’re going to see both of them, ground and standing.

“I think we’re going to see a great ground game and we’re going to go back to one of those fights where there isn’t any stalling and both guys are really going for it, at least that’s the plan for right now. I’m friends with BJ and he started off at my school back in the day when me and Ralph had an academy together, so I’ve known him for a very long time. The kid’s a phenom and a prodigy and I’ve been a fan of his since then and Nick is pretty much the same way, so it will be great, it will.”

KENNY RICE: “Cesar, we talked about this recently when I had the pleasure of coming up to your gym… Nick is one of the most misunderstood guys out there in MMA and he misses the two press conferences, he loses his chance at a shot at GSP back then. Have you talked about that much with him? Is that something that rolls off his back and he’s just ready to fight this fight or does it stay in the back of his mind a little bit?”

CESAR GRACIE: “You know what? I think it does stay in the back of his mind a little bit, you know. Nick is a hard guy to figure out.. .but it really did effect him and I think it effected me a lot, you know, definitely, you know, you bring a guy up with that kind of potential to a title fight and when it doesn’t happen because of something so stupid and silly, it’s going to effect our team obviously. But, you know, Nick’s got another opportunity to make up for it now and let’s face it, I mean, if they would have had that fight, let’s say GSP would have gotten hurt, Nick wouldn’t have a fight right now. So, sometimes things work out the way they were supposed to.”

KENNY RICE: “Obviously, a lot of respect for Nick. I mean, there’s times where he may have been thrown off the card completely but he gets a shot at Penn, so obviously that shows there is respect for the ability that Nick has even though I believe I’m using your words, again, it was a little stupid what he did missing those press conferences.”

CESAR GRACIE: “Yeah, I agree. Nick has a tremendous amount of respect for BJ. He sees him as a true fighter and Nick respects those kind of people. Now, that might work against us a little bit because, as you know, Nick really likes to hate his opponents as everybody knows. And here’s BJ, a guy he does not hate but actually likes. But, you know, I think Nick is a true professional when it comes to fight, I mean he’s going to put that aside and for the time we get to the 15 minutes we’re going to see them in the cage, I think we’re going to see mortal enemies.”

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

14 Responses to “Nick Diaz: It’s not my fault that UFC canceled my GSP fight, blame them”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    Viacom bought part of Bellator.

    This is good for Bellator because now they will beon TV in 2013.

    This is good for the UFC because now the FTC has basically no case against them.

    Strange move by Viacom. Just like with TNA, they have have the secondary promotion in that genre. Yet they know first hand out ruthless the UFC is with competition. And based on the amount of money they spend on TNA, I highly doubt they will be paying Bellator enough to compete with the UFC in a serious level.

    This isn’t Ted Turner vs. Vince McMahon here. This is Viacom, with a serious money limit, going against a juggernaut.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      The network clearly believed that UFC was the station’s cornerstone. From that perspective, buying into Bellator as a turnkey operation makes sense.

      Bjorn found his golden parachute, which is exactly what he needed to keep the promotion alive. He scored.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        If you are going to go up against the UFC…. You better go big or go home. And I just don’t think Viacom is willing to go big here.

        Showtime learned this the hard way. They invested probably over $15+ Million a year in MMA. And it wasn’t enough. It didn’t give Strikeforce enough money to be a serious player and avoid going down the UFC. And Strikeforce ended up failing because of it.

        If you are on the big stage…. Which is what SpikeTV is…. You need to have a serious stomach to compete with the UFC. If not, they are going to eat them alive.

    • Steve4192 says:

      “This is good for the UFC because now the FTC has basically no case against them.”

      The FTC’s case is not about Zuffa being a monopoly. It is about anti-competitive practices. This transaction has zero impact on their case.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        And another company just bought their biggest competitor without an ounce of discussion with Zuffa. This certainly helps the UFC.

        Corporate owned entertainment never goes well. They either overspend like crazy and put themselves out of business….. Think WCW. Or they just care to grow a small profit and it’s all numbers on a spreadsheet to them.

        There is a reason why all of the most successful sports in America are not owned by the channels that show them.

      • nottheface says:

        HKL has a pretty good analysis of the Zuffa antitrust case by a former FTC lawyer;
        http://www.headkicklegend.com/2011/10/26/2514683/how-the-government-will-analyze-the-ufc-strikeforce-merger

        • 45 Huddle says:

          So SpikeTV finding a “suitable” replacement does help the UFC’s cause here.

          Anti-Trust stuff typically goes nowhere. At most the UFC will pay a fine and be done with it.

          Oh, and what trigger the investigation wasn’t the purchase of SF. It was either the culinary union or one of the boxing promoters likely filing a complain.

          And there is nothing illegal from increasing your offer to purchase a company.

        • nottheface says:

          “Oh, and what trigger the investigation wasn’t the purchase of SF. It was either the culinary union or one of the boxing promoters likely filing a complain.” Since the FTC will not discuss the matter how do you know that for sure how?

          And yes you are correct that there nothing illegal about increasing your offer to purchase a company. But it can be illegal to buy out competitors to gain market dominance. As the Justice Dept. has said before “you may not get monopoly power by buying out your competitors.” So overpaying to buy out a competitor while also gaining complete market dominance in the process is going to raise red flags.

  2. EJ says:

    Best case scenario as far as i’m concerned, Dana has always worked best when he has and enemy and it’s clear that him and were going to war sooner or later. Now we know all the players and thinks will end like they always end with another name on Dana’s tombstone. And another example as to why it’s so hard to make it in mma unless you have the money, will and knowhow. This experiment will fail just like the TNA experiment has, only Viacom has basically put a bullseye on themselves as someone to blame when Bellator fails to succeed. Something that they have excaped with TNA, where Dixie, Russo, Bischoff and Hogan are the one’s who get the blame.

  3. RST says:

    I used to like Nick Diaz.
    Well I still do despite himself.

    Its funny though, I never found him so irritating before even back when everybody else did.
    Now he seems to have more fans on the boards as he spouts more rude unintelligent BS then ever.

    Maybe its me who’s got things reversed.
    I should embrace my inner murikan.

  4. Stel says:

    its the same thing when you switch out Diaz for dana

    “Now Dana has more fans on the boards as he spouts more rude unintelligent BS then ever.”

    Regarding the Diaz no show, Dana acted like a child throwing a tantrum when he couldn’t find his toy. Say what you will about Diaz but danas reaction cancelling the fight was overboard and not professional at all. Diaz doesn’t have the power to take a fight away from the fans, thats gods, I mean Danas prerogative.

  5. John says:

    There’s consequences for actions. If dana let diaz get away with not showing up to promote the fight then other fighters would too. Pulling him out of the card was a good move to show he’s not tolerating that. Now the tantrum he had after Jon jones refused to fight chael on 8 days noticed was crazy and unprofessional.

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