Now that the dust has settled in on the change to the UFC 137 main event, with Carlos Condit replacing Nick Diaz to face Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight championship, the next biggest question was who was B.J. Penn facing that night?
Penn was originally scheduled to face Condit in the co-main event, but UFC President Dana White said he was working on something crazy for Penn, and he hoped that it still take place at UFC 137.
Well, the UFC decided if it could move one fighter, why not just move the other.
Dana White released on his Twitter that Penn will now fight Nick Diaz in the co-main event.
This is crazy but here we go again! Penn vs Diaz 10/29 in Vegas
This should be a tremendous bout as both men have a warrior mentality and they will certainly leave everything in the octagon.
Diaz still gets his shot at a high-profile bout while Penn gets a chance to land a marquee win in the welterweight division.
I think from a matchup standpoint, the changes to both fights make each one more interesting.
I see your Nate Marquardt and raise you a Nick Diaz.
In one of the most bizarre situations in UFC history, Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz has been removed from the main event of UFC 137 against UFC champ, Georges St. Pierre, after going AWOL on the company and skipping two press conferences in two days.
After missing three different flights to head to Toronto for a press conference to promote UFC 137 on Tuesday, Diaz stopped communicating with Dana White and the UFC and was nowhere to be found on Wednesday, for another press conference to promote the event in Las Vegas.
White announced at the beginning of the presser that Diaz was removed from the fight and co-main eventer, Carlos Condit, will take on GSP for the title.
Diaz’ trainer, Cesar Gracie, expressed his frustration with his own fighter to MMAJunkie.com.
“I don’t blame Dana White on this at all,” Gracie today told MMAjunkie.com “This is a professional company, and Nick is a 28-year-old man.”
“I’ve stuck up for Nick, even when he was wrong before,” Gracie said. “But he’s let a lot of people down. He’s let his team down. We all bought plane tickets to Vegas. We got hotel rooms booked, paid for. We’ve got all that, and Nick just decided not to go to something he’s supposed to. They’re paying him a lot of money, and in this economy where people don’t have money, he’s blessed. He should be thanking God every night how blessed he is.
“And instead, he’s not getting on a plane to go to Vegas. I’m extremely disappointed. He’s done a lot of stuff, but this is the worst of it. If I were him, I would be begging Dana White to get my job back and work your way up to a title shot at some point.”
“I’m not a psychologist,” he said. “I personally think there’s some kind of social anxiety happening here with Nick. Dana said, ‘You’ve got to play the game this much.’ And this isn’t even playing the game. This is about being a man and being responsible. And Nick has done neither in this situation.
“He’s a great jiu-jitsu guy. He’s a great fighter. I’m saying this because I care deeply about the guy. He’s one of my black belts. But in this situation, he is 100 percent wrong, and he got what he deserved.”
There are so many side stories to this happening, but clearly the main one is the odd behavior of Diaz. I sincerely hope he is of good physical and mental health, but he has a lot of explaining to do.
He has certainly blown the greatest opportunity of his pro career and may never step foot inside a Zuffa cage or octagon again.
Carlos Condit may be a tougher opponent for St. Pierre, but we will break down that fight another time.
Also lost in the mix is that B.J. Penn is now without an opponent, as he was set to face Condit at UFC 137 in the co-main event.
Jon Fitch has been a No. 1 contender for a long time, but a title fight doesn’t appear to be in his future.
A lengthy recovery from an injury has caused the UFC veteran to be lost in the mix in the UFC welterweight division.
As you can see in the video, Fitch is not happy about being passed up for many of the big fights in the division and he is ready to do something about it.
Fitch has some good points. The guy has one loss in 15 UFC fights, and that was to current champ, Georges St. Pierre.
He is coming off a draw against B.J. Penn, but had that been a five-round fight, it appeared that Fitch was well on his way to another win.
Despite his lack of finishes, Fitch is still one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and he deserves more respect than he is getting.
UFC 132 took place last night and was one of the most entertaining PPV’s I have seen in quite some time.
There were so many storylines that emerged from the event, but I guess I will have to start with the main event.
Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber put on quite a show, proving that bantamweights can headline a PPV. In the end, Cruz won a close unanimous decision that had Faber crushed and Cruz looking very joyous and relieved (AP Photograph).
I personally felt Cruz won 48-47 based on scoring rounds, but I don’t feel like the fight had a true winner or loser. I didn’t think Faber did enough to warrant winning the title, but I think he should be considered for an immediate rematch.
Faber’s quickness did nullify some of Cruz’ movement, but Cruz still seemed to dictate the pace and style of the fight. The ground scrambles were really impressive from both men and that essentially made the fight a standup battle, where Cruz landed a lot more strikes.
In the co-main event, Chris Leben defeated Wanderlei Silva by KO in just 27 seconds. Coming in, many thought Tito Ortiz would be fighting his last fight, but it may have been Silva that did, as he suffers another big time KO and is just 2-6 in his last eight fights.
When I think of Matt Hughes, I am reminded of quote from the classic movie Old School.
I see your Nate Marquardt and raise you a Nick Diaz.
Well, where do I begin?
