Five years ago today, Nick Diaz no-showed his press conference to hype his scheduled fight against George St. Pierre. The following is our coverage of that crazy turn of events.
Dana White on Nick Diaz no-showing press conferences: “This is crazy. This is beyond insane.”
When asked if White has considered requiring fighters go to go through psych testing before booking them. White said no, he’s booked 1,600 fights and this has never happened.
White said this is a big setback financially. “It’s a huge blow. We spent a lot of money on this. Just in flights, we’ve spent 15,000 dollars that he never showed up for. Those are just flights in the last couple days.”
White said all Diaz had to do is show up. He said he didn’t have to answer anyone’s questions, but he at least needed to show up and sit there. White said Diaz said he would do the media appearances even though he is notoriously shy about doing any interviews.
GSP said it blows his mind because he worked so hard to get to the top level that someone else would jeopardize this. He said if he won, his life would have changed completely.
GSP said he doesn’t like doing the media appearances and the stare-downs. “I have to do it. I do it every single time because it’s part of the promotion.” He said he’d rather be in the gym, but he doese it because he has to.
LATER THAT DAY…
Dana White said regarding Nick Diaz: “Maybe he did crack under the pressure. Maybe he folded under the spotlight.”
When asked if Nick has cracked, White said, “Who in the room is really shocked and can’t believe this is happening right now?”
GSP chimed in: “Nobody. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your family and your kids. It’s a little bit selfish thinking the way like that. It doesn’t make sense.”
White said Condit was the first and last replacement fighter considered.
White said B.J. Penn doesn’t know yet that he wasn’t offered the spot. “Well, he probably knows now. I’ll find out in about 30 minutes what his reaction is by phone.”
When asked if he shouldn’t have seen this possibly coming and maybe send somebody there to put him on the plane. White said Nick snuck out of the back door of Cesar Gracie’s house. White said he called Nick Diaz and he wasn’t shocked. He laughed and said he knew they’d have problems with Nick, but he didn’t think it’d go this far. He said he’d have never made the fight if this was going to happen. “Why waste my time, money, energy, and embarrass everybody,” he said.
He said GSP flew from Montreal on Monday night, did a full day of press appearances in Toronto, and then flew to Las Vegas for a fight that’s not going to happen now. He said Diaz has disrespected GSP.
THEN CARLOS CONDIT WAS NAMED NICK’S REPLACEMENT…
Carlos Condit’s camp sent out a press release shortly after the news was released that Condit was stepping in for Nick Diaz against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137. Here’s Condit’s initial reaction to getting this fight:
“The timing was perfect for this to all come together,” Condit said. “First I want to thank the UFC for allowing me this opportunity and also my agent Malki Kawa who saw an opening and took advantage of it. With me already fighting on that card, I will need to make some adjustments to get ready for a new opponent, but my actual training is still right on schedule.”
“It’s an honor to be able to fight for the championship, especially against one of the legends of our sport in Georges St-Pierre. I’ve been fighting for nearly a decade and there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that has gone into that. A lot of sacrifices have been made both personally and professionally, and I’m looking forward to showing the UFC that I am deserving of this opportunity.”
GSP said he would finish Nick Diaz, a contrast to his rep for not finishing fights, but does that apply to Condit. GSP said yes, he still plans to finish Condit.
He said it’s not that he’s typically a bad finisher, just the guys he faces are very good about getting out of things. He said for instance Dan Hardy is made of rubber. He said he tends to overanalyze, and he’s working in his training on fighting more on instinct in the future.
Below is the video UFC produced to hype GSP vs. Carlos Condit…
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