Inside MMA managed to get an interview with the always-fascinating Nick Diaz and they were nice enough to share it with us here at Bloody Elbow. This interview is particularly compelling because Nick opens up about his admiration for the guy he's meeting in the main event at UFC 137, B.J. Penn. He also talks about how Penn is tougher to gameplan for than Georges St. Pierre would be, and what he thinks Penn's gameplan is going to be against him. He even opens up about the missed press conferences. It's one of the better Diaz interviews I've ever seen so you should definitely check it out. Here's HDNet's description of it and for those that can't watch it for whatever reason, there are some choice quotes from the interview after the jump.
"Just days before his return to the UFC, Nick Diaz sits down with Inside MMA to discuss his upcoming fight and long relationship with BJ Penn. Plus Diaz tells us why Penn is more of a threat than GSP, what really happened that day at the press conference, and why his heart may not totally be in this fight. A must see interview from start to finish!"
"My biggest obstacle for this fight is overcoming my personal faith in B.J. Penn because, you know, pretty much...I don't look up to a lot of guys but I've looked up to B.J. Penn for a long time. You know he came from my school, you gotta understand he came from my academy. You know, whether he says he does or he doesn't, that's where he came from and where he started learning jiu-jitsu. I actually had his first mixed martial arts fight on video, I'm not even sure if he's seen it."
"He knows me, I know him. You know, I wouldn't have picked this fight by choice, that's for sure."
"I think he'll probably try to slip the jab, throw the overhand right, you know. Make a bodylock or single leg takedown. Maybe push me against the fence."
"It's like everyone who fights in the the UFC, they're like, on the same team or something. And they fight each other. I don't agree with that. I don't think that' s good for fighting."
"I was supposed to be fighting for the title. It wasn't me that went back on that, it wasn't me, you know? They went back on that. People want to blame me for spoiling that deal but they spoiled that deal for the the fans, it wasn't that I spoiled that deal. You know, you tell me what to do and I'll do it. Nobody's saying 'show up for the press conference or you're not fighting'. Yeah right, like I'm not gonna show up and people are gonna know I don't wanna fight. I do wanna fight."