Nick Diaz lays the groundwork for a lightweight title shot
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- June
- 16
Nick Diaz is one of my all time favorite fighters. Diaz will fight anyone, he is entertaining, and is a legitimate contender in any division he fights in.
The problem with Diaz is that following his complete decimation of Takanori Gomi, he has lost the fire and intensity that made him such a dynamic and entertaining fighter to watch.
Since that fight with Gomi, and his signing with EliteXC, Diaz has had a successful run. He is 3-1 with his only loss coming via doctor stoppage due to a cut. And although he is winning fights, he hasn’t fought with the aggression that I came to love about him. His punches are slow and methodical these days. His boxing is great – the ratio of punches he throws and punches he lands is pretty good. The problem is that he doesn’t throw these punches with mean intentions and because of this his fights are going deeper into the rounds . This methodical approach has carried over into his take down offense as well. You can spot his take down from a mile away. He is winning the majority of his fights, but these fights have not had any real implications for him. Perhaps that is why his performances have lacked the intensity that he normally has.
After Nick Diaz’s awkward post fight interview from EliteXC on Saturday, he is the last person I expected to come into the cage and challenge the reigning, and defending, EliteXC lightweight champion KJ Noons to a rematch.
I think Nick Diaz needed a fire lit underneath him, and this past Saturday night we saw it. Diaz has been talking about a KJ Noons rematch for some time now. When the two fighters met to declare an EliteXC lightweight champion, the bout was stopped when a cut was opened up on Diaz’s eye. Before his first fight with Noons, Diaz said the only way KJ would beat him is if he cut him. Oddly enough, that is what happened. It’s tough to lose a fight by a cut, and the loss has not sat well with Diaz.
“Noons won on a cut. He is only a paper champion. His days are numbered,” Diaz has said.
Diaz had plastic surgery recently to remove scar tissue around his eyes that tends to open up in his fights.
“Having the surgery has made me more confident,” Diaz said.”I’m not worried about getting cut, which has plagued me my whole career.”
When I saw Diaz call out KJ Noons, I saw a rejuvenated fighter. A fighter who has a reason to fight again. An uncrowned champion who made the case to claim his throne.
EliteXC is going to have to make this match now, and a lot of people are going to watch it. We haven’t had a serious MMA grudge match in quite some time, and this fight will fill that void. If there is one thing better then a title fight, it is a title fight with bad blood.
I hope Diaz brings the same intensity into the rematch that he brought into his KO victory over Robbie Lawler and his complete destruction over Takanori Gomi. He has no choice. Noons is powerful,has a good chin, and is looking more impressive in each fight. If Diaz wants to take that title, we need to see the aggression that has made him successful in the past.
I’m really looking forward to see how Elite handles this situation. This could be a great match to promote for a CBS Saturday Night Fight. They could really build this thing up and save face for the Kimbo/Colossus debacle.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 12:48 pm by Larry Vollmer.
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Please—I am a huge MMA fan, but that post-fight ring confrontation was either:
1) a pathetic filler for the broadcast because the first three fights were so quick; or,
2) a shameless WWE-style set-up to try to put some “heat” on the fight.
Personally, I hope the answer is the former, because I truly thought Elite XC had the chance to develope into a legitimate promotion. After that ridiculous display, it seems that EliteXC may be destined to be the “XFL” to UFC’s superior “NFL” brand.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Gary Shaw told Nick Diaz to go out to the cage and confront Noons . One thing EliteXC is lacking is grudge matches and build ups towards matches. They are putting on great fights, but there is no story around them.