MMA Junkie reports that Carlos Condit is in the main event for UFC 137 versus Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz is out. Diaz failed to show for Tuesday’s presser in Toronto and today’s press conference in Las Vegas and was dropped from the card.
With the insertion of Condit in the main event, his co-main event fight with B.J. Penn was scrapped. Its likely Penn will be taken off the card altogether although it is rumored that Jon Fitch is interested in a rematch from their fight earlier this year.
The news came down at Wednesday’s press conference as Diaz failed to show despite informing Dana White that he would. Georges St. Pierre and Condit were available and answered questions. White did not indicate whether he would cut Diaz from the UFC.
Via MMA Junkie:
White expressed his disgust and disappointment with Diaz, who no-showed Tuesday’s press conference in Toronto and today’s presser in Vegas. Diaz left Strikeforce and vacated his welterweight bout to re-sign with the UFC, where he hasn’t fought in five years, for the opportunity to fight St-Pierre.
Diaz’s manager, Cesar Gracie, was frank about his disappointment with the turn of events.
Via MMA Junkie:
“I’ve barely slept in the last couple of days, and it’s sickened me. Here’s the opportunity that I’ve worked for for over 10 years, to mold a guy to become the best possible guy, and to show he can be the best guy in the world. And he takes this opportunity and he acts like an immature child about it.
“It’s disturbing, to say the least. He got what he deserved by not taking this fight. He told everybody he would do whatever it would take to do it, he lobbied for it, and he acts like this. Dana White is 100 percent correct in what he did.”
The new UFC 137 trailer:
Payout Perspective:
A shocking turn of events although the move was warranted. Taking Diaz out of the main event for failing to show up was necessary. White had no choice considering Diaz did not have an excuse other than he probably did not want to go.
The old saying, “be careful what you ask for,” seems appropriate in this case. It was earlier this year that Diaz strong-armed Zuffa by threating to quit and turn to boxing instead of MMA. The ploy worked as he received the GSP title shot. But, turns out he did not want it after all.
This is disappointing, not to mention unprofessional. Its a public relations crisis for the UFC since we are a month away from a big title fight featuring one of the company’s big PPV draws and it learns that the challenger is no-showing pressers to promote the fight. Its a headache for the company and it was somewhat surprising that White did not outright fire Diaz. The UFC had planned to feature GSP and Diaz in its UFC Primetime series and perhaps its fortunate that Diaz was replaced now. Although Condit is not as known as Diaz, he is an exciting fighter and is worthy of the shot.
For Diaz, its a poor career decision. Not only is he giving up a main event payday, its likely he will miss out on sponsor money including a deal for his walkout music. It will be interesting what happens with his sponsors and if there will be repercussions as a result of being cut from the main event.
What does the change do to UFC 137? White stated that fans expecting GSP-Diaz could return their tickets if they wanted. Right now, B.J. Penn, a PPV asset, is currently off the card and the main event loses luster as the main event was previously billed as Champion vs. Champion. With four straight UFC weekends (UFC 137, UFC 138, UFC on Fox and UFC 139) of UFC fights, 137’s appeal took a hit and could be overlooked by some casual fans.
Wow, that was unexpected. It’s a good thing they didn’t promote him for Fox.
I’ve known people to behave like this. Generally it’s due to either mental health or substance abuse problems, and often both since people with untreated mental illness often self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.
Mental illness is a serious problem. It’s not an excuse, but part of the problem is it clouds the persons thinking so they won’t admit they have a problem and therefore won’t seek treatment. They can’t see how odd their behavior is since, to them, it’s normal.
It sucks but you have to take responsibility for your own health. Mental illness still has some stigma. So people aren’t as willing to seek help. And the earlier stages can be explained away as the person being quirky or a bit of a flake.
In general, anxiety disorders are highly treatable. I have sympathy for Diaz, but it’s entirely his responsibility. He was blessed with some amazing athletic and fighting gifts, but cursed with a more fragile psyche it appears. Everybody gets a mixed bag in life, some good, some bad. Sucks to be kinda crazy, but the only thing to do is accept that and treat it as best you can. Also sucks to be diabetic, or prone to heart disease, or asthmatic, or any # of other illnesses. Can’t ignore those problems either.
I have been waiting this fight for a long time. I think Condit poses the biggest challenge to GSP than anyone in the division. He will push GSP in every aspect. Expect a very good fight that could go either way.
How does this sound? Condit takes out GSP. Rory McDonald gets his rematch and takes out Condit. GSP earns a title shot vs McDonald for an all Canadian title fight in Canada. This very well could happen. Would be very good business for the UFC. I personally think Condit pulls out the win vs GSP.