Diaz an Ultimate Team Player
Mike Whitman Apr 4, 2011
Nick
Diaz does not care that former training partners Jon Jones and
Rashad
Evans have agreed to fight each other for the UFC light
heavyweight title. The Strikeforce welterweight champion wants
nothing to do with fighting his teammates or, better yet, his
family.
“[Jones and Evans] are not real training partners. They’re like 10 years apart. They didn’t grow up training together. [Jones] is brand new in this sport. It’s simple. They’re not focused on who is important to them in life,” Diaz (Pictured) said during an April 1 conference call. “I’ve got my training partners, and my team is what got me here. That’s a disgusting thought -- to have to fight my brother. I don’t even appreciate being asked about that. They don’t pay me even close to enough money for me to think about that sort of thing.”
Something the Cesar
Gracie product is thinking about, however, is his upcoming
title defense against British bomber Paul Daley on
Saturday. The welterweights will lock horns in the main event of
Strikeforce
“Diaz vs. Daley,” going down from the Valley View Casino Center
in San Diego. The event airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET,
delayed on the West Coast.
Daley has made a habit of predicting knockouts in most of his fights, and this one is no different. With the challenger’s intentions clear, Diaz claims that Daley’s prediction provides no extra motivation to prove the Brit wrong.
“Well, that’s what he does. He throws punches. [Daley’s striking] is probably better than anybody else’s in [the welterweight division],” said Diaz. “I’ll take what I can get. I’ll try to win any way necessary. He’s trying to do what he’s got to do. I understand that. [Knocking me out] is a lovely thought for anybody who is a striker.”
What does provide Diaz with extra motivation is being there for his team and his training partner, Jake Shields, who challenges Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title on April 29.
“My team is depending on me, and my partner, Jake [Shields], is depending on me,” said Diaz. “So I just need to survive this fight and get back in the gym and work out with him for the rest of this month. We’re a team, and we’re trying to win this whole thing.”
Though Diaz’s loyalty to his team is clear, Zuffa’s buyout of Strikeforce in March again raises the question of teammates fighting in order to find the world’s best fighter in each weight division. Aside from Strikeforce and UFC talents perhaps meeting at some point in the future, the buyout has also brought about another change: the adoption of the unified rules by Strikeforce, a fact that seems off-putting to Strikeforce’s oft-lacerated welterweight king.
“I like [MMA with no grounded elbows] because it reminds me of the Pride [Fighting Championships] rules, and that’s the way mixed martial arts should be, because it favors the more technical grappler and standup fighter. It favors everybody except the wrestler or the stronger guy,” said Diaz. “The elbows [encourage referees] to not stand the fight up. Guys just throw those short elbows, and I think it’s boring. It’s cutting me up, and I’m not getting paid as much as boxers to get elbowed by a less technical fighter. That’s not what you want to see in this sport. You want more entertainment.”
“[Jones and Evans] are not real training partners. They’re like 10 years apart. They didn’t grow up training together. [Jones] is brand new in this sport. It’s simple. They’re not focused on who is important to them in life,” Diaz (Pictured) said during an April 1 conference call. “I’ve got my training partners, and my team is what got me here. That’s a disgusting thought -- to have to fight my brother. I don’t even appreciate being asked about that. They don’t pay me even close to enough money for me to think about that sort of thing.”
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Daley has made a habit of predicting knockouts in most of his fights, and this one is no different. With the challenger’s intentions clear, Diaz claims that Daley’s prediction provides no extra motivation to prove the Brit wrong.
“Well, that’s what he does. He throws punches. [Daley’s striking] is probably better than anybody else’s in [the welterweight division],” said Diaz. “I’ll take what I can get. I’ll try to win any way necessary. He’s trying to do what he’s got to do. I understand that. [Knocking me out] is a lovely thought for anybody who is a striker.”
What does provide Diaz with extra motivation is being there for his team and his training partner, Jake Shields, who challenges Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title on April 29.
“My team is depending on me, and my partner, Jake [Shields], is depending on me,” said Diaz. “So I just need to survive this fight and get back in the gym and work out with him for the rest of this month. We’re a team, and we’re trying to win this whole thing.”
Though Diaz’s loyalty to his team is clear, Zuffa’s buyout of Strikeforce in March again raises the question of teammates fighting in order to find the world’s best fighter in each weight division. Aside from Strikeforce and UFC talents perhaps meeting at some point in the future, the buyout has also brought about another change: the adoption of the unified rules by Strikeforce, a fact that seems off-putting to Strikeforce’s oft-lacerated welterweight king.
“I like [MMA with no grounded elbows] because it reminds me of the Pride [Fighting Championships] rules, and that’s the way mixed martial arts should be, because it favors the more technical grappler and standup fighter. It favors everybody except the wrestler or the stronger guy,” said Diaz. “The elbows [encourage referees] to not stand the fight up. Guys just throw those short elbows, and I think it’s boring. It’s cutting me up, and I’m not getting paid as much as boxers to get elbowed by a less technical fighter. That’s not what you want to see in this sport. You want more entertainment.”
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