Diaz-Noons Rematch: Hate or Hype?
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After three long years, Nick Diaz and
K.J.
Noons are finally going to settle their score.
The pair originally fought for the now-defunct EliteXC 160-pound title in 2007. Noons won the fight amid controversy, after the ring doctor ignored Diaz’s protests and stopped the match due to a cut. For months after the contentious ending, the two feuded, but a rematch failed to materialize until now.
At an EliteXC event in Honolulu in 2008, Diaz confronted the
160-pound champion after Noons had defended his belt, asking him
why he was afraid to give him a rematch. A short melee ensued, and
though no blows were thrown, viewers could smell the bad blood
between the two.
The two will lock horns in the Strikeforce “Diaz vs. Noons 2” main event on Saturday at the HP Pavilion. This time, Diaz’s welterweight championship will be at stake in the five-round fight.
“I had plenty of respect for him the first time [we fought]. I was trying to give him as much respect as I could,” said Diaz. “I was having a hard time doing it, because he wasn’t very important. So that’s what I was worried about. I do a lot better when the odds are against me. That’s how my whole life has been.”
When asked whether there are any challenges for him at welterweight if he gets past Noons, Diaz again started humble but turned calmly acidic.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge fighting anybody at any weight,” he said. “Everybody’s good now, especially at this level. Anybody who fights me is going to be really good. I doubt that they’re going to bring forth somebody random, like K.J. Noons [for that first fight] just to make a name out of somebody. I think they’re kind of done doing that. I don’t know of anybody who’s looking to fight MMA who’s going to get an immediate title shot or anything. Times have changed a little bit.”
In their first matchup, Noons repeatedly tagged the Cesar Gracie product with straight right hands, bloodying Diaz and knocking him down. Despite eating those heavy shots in the first go-around, Diaz remains unconvinced that Noons holds the advantage on the feet.
“I might be a better boxer than him. I think that I get better training. I definitely get better sparring than him,” said Diaz, who has worked with Olympic gold medalist and WBA super middleweight boxing champion Andre Ward in preparation for the fight.
Last time, Diaz fought hard and took considerable punishment while trying to secure takedowns. When asked about his difficulty in taking down Noons, Diaz bristled.
“Well, I took him down three times. Guys will go five round fights and not get a takedown. I took him down three times in one round,” said Diaz. “I wasn’t really committing to my takedowns, but it wasn’t hard to take him down. In a five-round fight, he’s [eventually] going to end up on the bottom.”
In fact, the Stockton, Calif.-bred jiu-jitsu black belt managed to take down Noons cleanly only once in his six first-round attempts, and the one double-leg that Diaz did secure came at a steep price. While changing levels, Diaz was met with a counter right knee that likely opened the fight-ending cut over his right eyelid. Though Diaz did put Noons on his back one more time, it was just after the bell rang to end round one.
For the brief time the fight was on the floor, Diaz inflicted minimal damage and could not capitalize. Although Diaz had his way passing his foe’s inexperienced guard, Noons scrambled out of the disadvantageous position and returned to his feet.
In the rematch, Diaz will look to remedy his mistakes and take advantage while in top position.
“He doesn’t have a good bottom game,” he said. “I think he’s going to try to get up, and a guy trying to get up like that, it makes him more vulnerable to submissions and [to getting his guard passed] than a guy who’s trying to work from the bottom, so I think it’s really good for me, and it works to my advantage.”
Noons’ stalwart takedown defense in their first fight notwithstanding, Diaz still views his wrestling chops as suspect, especially at welterweight.
“Well, I figured he would come back at 155 pounds. He’s not very big for a 170 pounds. Let’s say, even if he does match up well against me and he takes this fight, I don’t think he’ll make it past anybody else at 170 pounds,” said Diaz. “Those wrestlers out there, they’re going to take me down. I mean, I can stop the takedown and I can counter the takedown really well. He doesn’t do that. Well, he definitely doesn’t counter the takedown.”
Weight has been a major point of contention during the buildup to the rematch, and Diaz thinks the extra 10 pounds will only help his cause.
“He’s smaller when he’s boxing,” he said. “He’s working out with smaller guys, and now he’s fighting at 170 pounds. I think I get a lot better work than he does, especially fighting at this size and this weight.”
Noons has taken Diaz’s comments in stride, at least publicly, chalking up the trash talk on both sides to simply promoting the fight. When asked about the intense back-and-forth, the challenger just chuckled.
“No, no, that’s all for fun,” Noons said. “Ask Nick. After all that brawl stuff [in Hawaii], I moved on with life, and I’m sure he did, too. I’ve been working so hard for this fight, and at the end of day, you’ve got to have fun.”
The pair originally fought for the now-defunct EliteXC 160-pound title in 2007. Noons won the fight amid controversy, after the ring doctor ignored Diaz’s protests and stopped the match due to a cut. For months after the contentious ending, the two feuded, but a rematch failed to materialize until now.
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The two will lock horns in the Strikeforce “Diaz vs. Noons 2” main event on Saturday at the HP Pavilion. This time, Diaz’s welterweight championship will be at stake in the five-round fight.
Though the war of words has died down quite a bit as the rematch
has drawn closer to becoming a reality, Diaz still has a little
something to get off his chest. He has made it known he was
frustrated that Noons was his opposition the first time around,
because the boxer-cum-mixed martial artist had relatively no name
value in MMA. Though Diaz purports respect for Noons, his weapon of
choice seems to be the backhanded compliment.
“I had plenty of respect for him the first time [we fought]. I was trying to give him as much respect as I could,” said Diaz. “I was having a hard time doing it, because he wasn’t very important. So that’s what I was worried about. I do a lot better when the odds are against me. That’s how my whole life has been.”
When asked whether there are any challenges for him at welterweight if he gets past Noons, Diaz again started humble but turned calmly acidic.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge fighting anybody at any weight,” he said. “Everybody’s good now, especially at this level. Anybody who fights me is going to be really good. I doubt that they’re going to bring forth somebody random, like K.J. Noons [for that first fight] just to make a name out of somebody. I think they’re kind of done doing that. I don’t know of anybody who’s looking to fight MMA who’s going to get an immediate title shot or anything. Times have changed a little bit.”
In their first matchup, Noons repeatedly tagged the Cesar Gracie product with straight right hands, bloodying Diaz and knocking him down. Despite eating those heavy shots in the first go-around, Diaz remains unconvinced that Noons holds the advantage on the feet.
“I might be a better boxer than him. I think that I get better training. I definitely get better sparring than him,” said Diaz, who has worked with Olympic gold medalist and WBA super middleweight boxing champion Andre Ward in preparation for the fight.
Last time, Diaz fought hard and took considerable punishment while trying to secure takedowns. When asked about his difficulty in taking down Noons, Diaz bristled.
“Well, I took him down three times. Guys will go five round fights and not get a takedown. I took him down three times in one round,” said Diaz. “I wasn’t really committing to my takedowns, but it wasn’t hard to take him down. In a five-round fight, he’s [eventually] going to end up on the bottom.”
In fact, the Stockton, Calif.-bred jiu-jitsu black belt managed to take down Noons cleanly only once in his six first-round attempts, and the one double-leg that Diaz did secure came at a steep price. While changing levels, Diaz was met with a counter right knee that likely opened the fight-ending cut over his right eyelid. Though Diaz did put Noons on his back one more time, it was just after the bell rang to end round one.
For the brief time the fight was on the floor, Diaz inflicted minimal damage and could not capitalize. Although Diaz had his way passing his foe’s inexperienced guard, Noons scrambled out of the disadvantageous position and returned to his feet.
In the rematch, Diaz will look to remedy his mistakes and take advantage while in top position.
“He doesn’t have a good bottom game,” he said. “I think he’s going to try to get up, and a guy trying to get up like that, it makes him more vulnerable to submissions and [to getting his guard passed] than a guy who’s trying to work from the bottom, so I think it’s really good for me, and it works to my advantage.”
Noons’ stalwart takedown defense in their first fight notwithstanding, Diaz still views his wrestling chops as suspect, especially at welterweight.
“Well, I figured he would come back at 155 pounds. He’s not very big for a 170 pounds. Let’s say, even if he does match up well against me and he takes this fight, I don’t think he’ll make it past anybody else at 170 pounds,” said Diaz. “Those wrestlers out there, they’re going to take me down. I mean, I can stop the takedown and I can counter the takedown really well. He doesn’t do that. Well, he definitely doesn’t counter the takedown.”
Weight has been a major point of contention during the buildup to the rematch, and Diaz thinks the extra 10 pounds will only help his cause.
“He’s smaller when he’s boxing,” he said. “He’s working out with smaller guys, and now he’s fighting at 170 pounds. I think I get a lot better work than he does, especially fighting at this size and this weight.”
Noons has taken Diaz’s comments in stride, at least publicly, chalking up the trash talk on both sides to simply promoting the fight. When asked about the intense back-and-forth, the challenger just chuckled.
“No, no, that’s all for fun,” Noons said. “Ask Nick. After all that brawl stuff [in Hawaii], I moved on with life, and I’m sure he did, too. I’ve been working so hard for this fight, and at the end of day, you’ve got to have fun.”
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