HYDEN BLOG: Nick Diaz and Jake Ellenberger

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Nick Diaz still doesn't get it. In an interview last week with MMAJunkie.com, Nick went off on Georges St. Pierre. He tried to put some of the blame on GSP for not telling the UFC to keep the fight between the two. He also called GSP a bitch. Let me make something very clear, I respect Nick Diaz as a fighter. I think he's very good at striking and on the ground as well. I think he's a dangerous fighter. However, I have zero respect for Nick as a person. First off, he needs to take 100% of the blame for him being pulled from his fight with GSP. No one else deserves even a fraction of the blame here. You can't tell me that Nick didn't know that the UFC was going to want him to do press conferences ahead of his fight at UFC 137. Who in the world wouldn't expect that? If you want to get in the big time, this is part of the price you have to pay. Does Nick think GSP likes doing all the promos and press events for his fights?

Brock Lesnar is about as private a person as you can get, especially in sports, yet Brock plays the game. He's got to do press conferences and all the other promotion that goes into a fight. I'm sure it gets tedious for guys like Anderson Silva and Jon Jones and any other fighter who has ever been in a big time UFC fight. If you want the big paycheck, you've got to play the game. Nick knows that, he just thought he could skate. The problem is, this is the UFC and they're not going to put up with that.

Another thing that makes me lose respect for Nick as a person is that he's been trashing GSP in the media for quite some time. If you run your mouth as a fighter, backing it up in the cage is a necessity. We didn't hear about Chael Sonnen no-showing press conferences before his fight with Anderson Silva. It's easy to talk like a tough guy, the hard part is backing it up.

If I was a fighter and disliked a guy, so much so that I kept trashing him, I would do whatever I had to in order to get that guy in the cage so I could beat him. I wouldn't no-show two press conferences and feign ignorance as to what was expected of me.

I respect Nick as a fighter, I just don't think he has it between the ears to be an elite-level fighter. In my personal opinion, GSP would have beaten Nick Diaz for five rounds in a typical GSP performance. He would have dominated him. I think Nick knows that as well. I think he sabotaged this fight for that very reason. Now, he's given himself an out. He can proclaim that he would have beaten GSP if he was given the chance. Now he can blame the UFC for keeping him down.

Nick has to fight B.J. Penn at UFC 137 now, while Carlos Condit gets to fight GSP. I think Nick has a good chance to defeat a declining Penn. If Nick does win, we're stuck back in the same boat. Does the UFC try take two on St. Pierre vs. Diaz? I think they should. They should give Nick one more chance to prove that he really wants this fight. Hopefully he doesn't let them down again.

*************

I'll give Jake Shields the benefit of the doubt in his knockout loss to Jake Ellenberger. Jake's dad died a few weeks ago, and I'm sure that affected him. Not that I'm taking anything away from Ellenberger, though. Even if Shields were at a reduced capacity, beating someone in 53 seconds is damn impressive. The primary weakness of Shields is his lack of a stand-up game. That isn't news, but it doesn't diminish what Ellenberger did. Shields deserves a pass, while Ellenberger immediately gets moved into the upper tier. The only question is does Ellenberger belong?


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/hydenstake/article_10568.shtml

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