Happy Tuesday to everybody. Almost doesn't feel like a Tuesday, more like a Thursday. But the reality is that it really is Tuesday and we should get to the topics at hand.
Nick Diaz (23-7, 4-0 in Strikeforce) takes on Evangalista "Cyborg" Santos (18-13) this coming Saturday night, January 29th. I am looking forward with great anticipation to this fight, and not because I want to see Diaz outbox Santos for 5 rounds like he did with KJ Noons last October. Its also not because I want to see the husband of "Cyborg" Santos KO him to win the title.
Rather, I'd just like to see what soundbyte comes out of his mouth.
Last week, Diaz not only came out that he would like to have a fight with Jason "Mayhem" Miller. The 2 have had a bad feud that spilled over onto network TV that escalated into a full scale riot at the end of "Strikeforce : Nashville" (and nearly came to blows after Diaz defended his title against Noons backstage in Ocotber). But he said he'd have be shown big money in order to fight Miller at 185.
"They were talking about making me move weight. I said, 'Tell his ass to get in [expletive] shape like I do.' It's [expletive] hard enough for me to make 170 pounds. And he acted like he wouldn't be able to do it. He doesn't want to work hard like me. That's the problem. So he can work his ass off and make 170 pounds or 175 pounds. Or somebody could pay me a couple of [expletive] million dollars and I'll move up to 185 pounds and fight him." Said the outspoken Strikeforce champion.
Its real simple : If its so "hard" for Diaz to work down to 170, why not just go up and fight at 185?? The fact is that Strikeforce simply does NOT have a million dollars to throw around like that, Nick. Its a second tier organization who barely garner 10,000 fans for a card (that's if they're really lucky).
So why not just head back to the UFC? Well, Diaz just signed a 4-fight extension (with an option for a 5th fight). So he's kind of stuck as the 2 organizations never have (and most likely never will) sign any kind of deal to co-promote.
Of course, that didn't stop Nick Diaz. After his tirade against Miller, at a conference call late in the week, he was quick to call out UFC champions Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre.
His animosity was clearly geared toward the Canadian, saying that he not only believed his training partner, Jake Shields, can take the champion out, but also that the Champ was fed easier fights than Diaz during his initial run in the UFC.
So, I decided to look into it. GSP fought BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, (who were all arguably top 10 welterweights, at the time they fought St. Pierre) as well as Sean Sherk, Karo Parisyan and the aforementioned Miller.
Diaz not only lost to Sherk and Parisyan, but hasn't fought Miller yet...and probably won't until he gets his "million dollars".
So why doesn't Diaz shut his mouth and fight? Because he has to keep talking to stay relevant. Its clearly obvious that he is in the same general category as his stablemate Shields (Good fighter at best, not championship material). As a fighter, I can see him cracking the top 5 in the welterweight division, but unless GSP decides to move up and fight the superfight against Anderson Silva, he's going to own the 170 division for quite a while. With or Without Diaz.
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