UFC 137: GSP VS Condit

[No More Sorrow]

LAS VEGAS – Nick Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) now says he regrets his decision to pass up a boxing contract for a return to the UFC.

Three days before his UFC 137 headliner opposite B.J. Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC), Diaz said a trip to the square circle would have benefitted him more in the long term than the continuation of his MMA career.

"If I had my chance to do it over again, I would have gone back to the boxing contract," the former Strikeforce champion said today.

Diaz was on the precipice of a move to boxing as part of his previous contract with Strikeforce, which in March was purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa, LLC. Boxers Jeff Lacy, Fernando Vargas and Sergio Martinez were floated as opponents.

In the end, though, UFC president Dana White convinced the outspoken fighter to sign a new deal, and a big deal at that – a shot at Georges St-Pierre's welterweight title at UFC 137.

Of course, that never happened. Diaz lost the opportunity by no-showing a press conference in support of the event, and in a shocking turn of events, he was re-booked to meet Penn, a former training partner. (St-Pierre was later forced to bow out with a knee injury, and Diaz vs. Penn was rebooked as the main event of the Oct. 29 pay-per-view card.)

Diaz, who's previously trained alongside champion boxer Andre Ward, has made no effort to hide his displeasure about fighting Penn, and what he said is a lower pay scale for the new bout.

Boxing, he lamented, would have paid more.

"I would have took my punches, win or lose," he said. "Just done my job: fight and get paid."

Prior to signing his new contract, Diaz has often railed at what he perceives as a win-at-all costs mentality in the UFC. Today, he said the UFC he's returning to is nothing like the one in which he currently finds himself. It's far more of a business and less about fighting.

But when it comes to his own business, Diaz believes he missed out by not taking the boxing matches for a later return to MMA.

"I'm sure [the UFC] would have had me back here, or somewhere," he said. "You want to see a pro boxer fight MMA, and then you have yourself a high-level pro boxer that's coming back. So in my opinion – I don't really think about it until it's all over with – but I figure I would have made plenty of money here, and then would have made more money later.

"It definitely would have worked out if I had done what I had set out to do."

UFC 137 takes place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Main-card action airs live on pay-per-view while preliminary fights air live on Spike TV and stream on Facebook.

MMAJunkie.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

Thought this newer pic of BIG Country was funny.

 

[Troy]

Diaz just keeps saying the wrong things, three days before he gets to mainevent a UFC PPV he is saying he regrets his decision to sign with them. This guy is crazy and should be grateful that he gets such a big fight right away.

Hopefully Nelson keeps that look for the fight.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Yeah, exactly. He needs to keep his mouth shut and fight that's what he's getting paid for and that's why the UFC signed him.

And yeah i'm hoping he keeps that look it's awesome.

 

[No More Sorrow]

The shuffling deck of UFC 137 squashed the Nevada State Athletic Commission's plans for out-of-competition testing of the headliners.

However, one competitor did not and could not escape a pre-fight drug test: Nick Diaz. And as it turned out, he took headliner status.

Thankfully, the NSAC received notice on Wednesday that Diaz passed a test for drugs of abuse and is cleared to fight, NSAC executive director Keith Kizer told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Diaz was not tested for performance-enhancing drugs.

The NSAC requires all potential licensees who have failed a previous drug test in the state to test clean before they can again be licensed, Kizer said.

Diaz tested off-the-charts positive for marijuana following his spectacular victory over Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33. As a result, the bout's result was changed to a no-contest, and he was suspended for six months and fined $3,000. More than a year later, he was to be tested in advance of his fight against Eddie Alvarez at "EliteXC: Night of Champions," but the event, which was scheduled to take place in Reno, Nev., was canceled.

After budget cuts eliminated out-of-competition testing, the NSAC reinstated the testing program in June after a change to the commission's funding statutes that rerouted some of the fees generated from live events to the program.

Kizer said this week's drug-test result on Diaz was also forwarded to the California State Athletic Commission, which in 2009 declined to license the fighter for a bout in Strikeforce against Jay Hieron when he no-showed a pre-fight drug test. Diaz later tested clean for three fights under the Strikeforce banner in California.

On Saturday, the former Strikeforce welterweight champ takes on B.J. Penn in the main event of UFC 137, which takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The bout originally was scheduled as the pay-per-view event's co-headliner before welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre was forced to withdraw from a headliner opposite Carlos Condit due to a knee injury.

MMAJunkie.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

LAS VEGAS – There was a time, not all that long ago, when stepping into the cage with striking specialist Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (27-9-2 MMA, 4-5 UFC) was considered an awfully risky proposition.

But with Filipovic currently mired in 2-3 slump, the aura of invincibility that he once carried into combat no longer exists.

Nevertheless, his UFC 137 opponent, Roy Nelson (15-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC), believes Filipovic is still a worthy opponent. Sure, the losses have damaged the Croatian's fighting reputation, but Nelson believes it's still an honor to step in the cage against one of the sport's all-time greats.

"As an athlete, it's always a special fight," Nelson told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Anytime you can fight a legend just to say you can fight the best in the world, that's the one thing you always take opportunities for: to go, 'Hey, I fought the best in the world.'

"For me, I just want to fight the best in the world, and Mirko is one of the guys that I've always held up there as one of the guys I want to fight."

In some ways, Nelson can probably relate to Filipovic's position. After all, "Big Country" is trying to snap his own two-fight losing streak after dropping back-to-back decisions to Frank Mir and Junior Dos Santos. Of course, those performances were marked with a severe knee injury and a case of walking pneumonia, so perhaps they're not the fairest measure of what Nelson has left in the tank.

"They were two different fights, two different Roys," Nelson said. "One was a guy that didn't throw enough punches. The other guy just hit a wall. I was just there and gave whatever I could."

Meanwhile, Filipovic's losses to Mir and Brendan Schaub each came via knockout. It would seem to suggest the 37-year-old kickboxer's chin might be failing him, but Nelson doesn't necessarily agree.

"If he had no chin, they would have knocked him out in the first round," Nelson said. "It took them all three rounds for them to basically wait for him to make a mistake and then capitalize on it."

But what about Filipovic's recent lack of aggression? What about his seeming inability to evolve beyond the PRIDE wrecking machine of a bygone era into the complete package needed for success in today's game?

Complete misconceptions, said Nelson.

"I think Mirko is probably a better fighter now on a technical aspect because he's seen so much, so he's definitely looking for that opportunity," Nelson said. "He's a very patient guy to capitalize and strike when he needs to, and that's the one thing that scares you when the guy has more experience – somebody like a Randy Couture, where he didn't really make his improvements until his late 30s or early 40s. The more experience you have, the further you can go in this business.

"I think when he knows the other guy can capitalize on his mistakes, he's a little more gunshy. But everybody's a little more gunshy when you know the other guy can hit you just as hard as you can hit them. He's definitely fought different guys in the UFC where he's pulled the trigger and knocked them out. It's just when that guy's not doing anything to make him scared or make him want to do something different, he can definitely pull the trigger and knock them out."

In short, Nelson believes Filipovic is still capable of greatness in the octagon. That said, Nelson isn't concerned. "Cro Cop" may have the physical tools to remain relevant in the UFC's heavyweight division, but Nelson thinks the loss of the intimidation factor makes Filipovic an easier target.

"'Cro Cop' is still the same guy from four or five years ago," Nelson said. "He's just doesn't have that aura around him where you're like, 'Oh my gosh, he's going to kill me,' – where you're already defeated before you go in there. That's where a lot of guys used to get defeated."

MMAJunkie.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

LAS VEGAS – Former NFL player, ex-white-collar worker and all-around knucklehead Matt Mitrione knows Saturday's UFC 137 co-main-event with Cheick Kongo is a big one. A really big one.

For a fighter just two years and five fights into his pro MMA career, a victory could prove he belongs with the world's top heavyweights.

And though still green in the fight game, Mitrione truly believes it's a matchup that was tailor made for him at this point in his career.

"I see it as the right opponent at the right time for me," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Wednesday. "But it's definitely a step up for me compared to the caliber of competition I've faced already. But I'm excited for it. It's something I wanted."

Mitrione (5-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Kongo (16-6-2 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) co-headline Saturday's pay-per-view main card from Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Events Center. With the recent cancellation of a title fight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit, Mitrione was promoted to one of the co-headlining slots previously occupied by new headliners Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn.

That spot on the card means nothing to Mitrione, though. Sure, he never would have taken up MMA after an unheralded four-year career with the NFL – and he never would have quit his white-collar job at an insurance company – to fight for a living if he didn't think he could be very good at it.

But the difference between very good and world class arguably lies in the outcome of the Kongo fight. After all, the co-main-event slot means nothing unless he can do something with it.

"I'm arrogant enough to always think I could get here," Mitrione said. "But I'm still an 'also-ran.' I haven't done anything yet. I haven't accomplished anything just because I'm a [co-headliner]. I'm a co-main because GSP got hurt. I'm not supposed to be here. Really, I really haven't accomplished anything. I'm just taking up a spot.

"If Kongo isn't the gatekeeper, he's the dude that's just mad tough. He's kind of where you find where you're at, the upper-end measuring stick, if you will."

With Mitrione already at the not-so-young age of 33, it's easy to wonder what could have been. What if the former Purdue University defensive tackle had taken to MMA earlier in life? What if all those years as a football player had been devoted to MMA instead? What would his 5-0 career record be if he has another decade of experience?

Mitrione, though, said it's pointless to ponder.

"I would have been a flash in the pan, if I was even a flash," he said. "I might have been cooked up in the pan. I'm mature enough to be able to handle this career now. When I was younger, I was a dumb ass, a drunk, and a I partied too hard, so I probably would have [expletive] it up somehow. Just being honest there."

In fact, he said it took the birth of his oldest son – which came just days after his NFL career ended – for "Meathead" to mature. Sure, he's still an admitted goofball. (Just watch "The Ultimate Fighter 10" for proof.) His carefree demeanor still rubs some people the wrong way.

But don't mistake his humor for unprofessionalism. After traveling the country to search out the best training and training partners possible, the heavy-handed fighter is confident he'll continue changing minds. "TUF 10" got people to notice him, but he hopes the skills he displays at UFC 137 will keep them interested.

"I think people probably see now that it was just me dicking around," he said of his time on the reality show. "It wasn't my true personality. But that [expletive] was stressful man, being in that environment and having favorable editing and then my antics on top of that. I mean, really, I hated me too on that show. I didn't want to watch. In fact, I stopped watching that season.

"Like I said, it was a gift and curse at the same time. It got me a ton of notoriety. Everybody hated me, but they also wanted me to lose, so they paid attention to my fights and saw that I'm not as big of a douche bag."

MMAJunkie.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube;5cWCjw-xtOg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5cWCjw-xtOg[/video]

 

[No More Sorrow]

If you ask Bart Palaszewski, it's not up to him whether he has a fight on Saturday. It's up to his opponent, Tyson Griffin.

"Tyson comes to fight for the most part, so as long as he's down, I'm always down," Palaszewski told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

That "for the most part" could easily be substituted with "when he doesn't lie on people." Griffin (15-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has that striking Kryptonite of wrestling as one tool in his toolbox, and that's why Palaszewski (35-14 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is cautiously optimistic about what's going to happen when they meet.

The featherweight bout serves as the final preliminary-card fight prior to the pay-per-view main-card of UFC 137, which takes place Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Palaszewski vs. Griffin airs live on Spike TV while additional preliminary bouts stream live on Facebook.

It's Palaszewski's first bout in the octagon after an injury delayed a scheduled debut at UFC 130, and it's also his first as a featherweight after spending the bulk of his career at lightweight.

It would seem logical, then, for Griffin to put the fight to the ground since it would force Palaszewski to use up energy reserves that might not be as full given his new physique.

Palaszewski knows this, and that's why he's been honing his wrestling technique for the past 14 months. Sure, striking is and will always be his first love, and he prays Griffin won't take the easy path. But if that happens, he'll be ready. He's practiced in camp.

"Taking an Olympian down or a world champion down – even though I had to set it up with strikes – as soon as we hit the mat, I was like, 'Did he hit the mat, or did I hit the mat? Am I out? What's going on?'" Palaszewski said. "It's definitely a big confidence booster."

And perhaps Palaszewski is being a bit unfair when he talks about how Griffin fights. The Xtreme Couture fighter hasn't exactly carved out a reputation as a lay-and-pray artist. Sure, he's wrestled in fights, but it's not the kind of wrestling that makes you run for the refrigerator. In fact, opponents such as Frankie Edgar, Nik Lentz and Evan Dunham all out-grappled him.

Maybe Palazewski is just projecting. If someone punched him like he punches opponents, he'd probably dive for the legs, too.

"Am I impressed with his standup? I think it's good, but I think I'm on a different level, striking-wise," said "Bartimus." "So I've just got to be careful of his wrestling and go have some fun."

Will Griffin let him do so?

MMAJunkie.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube;e2qyrvGZAJ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e2qyrvGZAJ4[/video]

 

[No More Sorrow]

Weigh in results for the show.

MAIN CARD: (Pay-per-view)
Nick Diaz (170) vs. B.J. Penn (169)
Cheick Kongo (234) vs. Matt Mitrione (255)
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (235) vs. Roy Nelson (252)
Jeff Curran (134) vs. Scott Jorgensen (135)
Hatsu Hioki (145) vs. George Roop (145)

PRELIMINARY CARD: (Spike TV)
Donald Cerrone (156) vs. Dennis Siver (155)
Tyson Griffin (149)* vs. Bart Palaszewski (146)

PRELIMINARY CARD: (Facebook)
Eliot Marshall (204) vs. Brandon Vera (205)
Danny Downes (155) vs. Ramsey Nijem (155)
Chris Camozzi (185) vs. Francis Carmont (185)
Dustin Jacoby (185) vs. Clifford Starks (186)

 

[No More Sorrow]

Watching this pumped me up for this fight so much more.

[video=youtube;ODnlfV1ib5s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ODnlfV1ib5s[/video]

 

[Troy]

Normally I get UFC PPVs but I am going to skip this one and just read the results. Without the GSP fight I don't think that it is strong enough or worth the money.

Hopefully Cro Cop goes out there and tries to finish with the high kick. I want to see that highlight reel knockout and it would be a shame if it didn't happen in UFC.

 

[Crippler]

only reason i'm watching this is the Diaz/Penn fight

 

[Troy]

Diaz ended up winning by unanimous decision. I thought that Diaz would win but I thought that he would finish Penn.

Kongo also won by unanimous decision and Nelson beat Cro Cop by TKO in Cro Cop's final UFC fight.