Monday Morning Reverie: Head Scratching
May 12, 2008
by Mike Sloan (msloan@sherdog.com)
Is there anybody in the room willing to stand up and explain to me why Nick Diaz (Pictures) isn't one of the most marketed and popular fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts?
I don't expect him to be at the level of Chuck Liddell (Pictures) or Randy Couture (Pictures). But aside from the MMA diehards, the native of Stockton, Calif., seems to toil in relative obscurity. That baffles my mind beyond explanation.
For starters, the Cesar Gracie (Pictures)-trained fighter has some of the sport's slickest jiu-jitsu. His boxing arsenal also ranks among the top of the heap, and though his striking isn't on par with Anderson Silva's, his technique bests at least 95 percent of MMA's combatants.
And most importantly, which is quite bizarre, he's been a participant of some of the greatest, most exciting fights the sport has ever seen, particularly in the UFC. Whether he won, lost or got robbed of a decision, it wasn't rare for him to nab UFC fight of the night honors.
Yet Diaz jumps around from organization to organization these days with little more than a cult following. He's similar to the great Erik Morales of boxing fame in that his immense talent coalesces with his hunger to do whatever it takes to win, save for the fact that "El Terrible" was an absolute superstar in his sport. Diaz is far from one in MMA.
I haven't been able to put my finger on why Diaz is shunned by the bulk of MMA fans in America. Granted, he hasn't fought in the UFC since November 2006, and his last fights in the Octagon weren't promoted to the extent of main card bouts, but there has to be some sort of lingering reason why Diaz isn't marketed as much as many of his peers.
Is it because of his reported marijuana use and failed urinalysis after his unbelievable gogoplata submission of Takanori Gomi (Pictures)? Is it because his UFC record is right at .500 and his professional ledger isn't as glamorous as that of some other fighters? Is it because he wasn't a cast member on any seasons of Zuffa's reality TV game show? Is it because, save for when he feels he got robbed in a fight, he isn't an overly vocal personality outside the cage?
He is arguably the most exciting fighter in the sport, yet he commands but moderate fanfare. He toppled a solid Japanese contender in Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) in dominating fashion on the Dream card this past weekend, but almost nobody in the United States saw it.
Maybe after his next fight he'll begin to really start pulling in some attention. Because regardless of whether he faces Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), Shinya Aoki (Pictures) or some alcohol-laden hobo behind Arby's, it'll be the best fight on the card.
May 12, 2008
by Mike Sloan (msloan@sherdog.com)
Is there anybody in the room willing to stand up and explain to me why Nick Diaz (Pictures) isn't one of the most marketed and popular fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts?
I don't expect him to be at the level of Chuck Liddell (Pictures) or Randy Couture (Pictures). But aside from the MMA diehards, the native of Stockton, Calif., seems to toil in relative obscurity. That baffles my mind beyond explanation.
For starters, the Cesar Gracie (Pictures)-trained fighter has some of the sport's slickest jiu-jitsu. His boxing arsenal also ranks among the top of the heap, and though his striking isn't on par with Anderson Silva's, his technique bests at least 95 percent of MMA's combatants.
And most importantly, which is quite bizarre, he's been a participant of some of the greatest, most exciting fights the sport has ever seen, particularly in the UFC. Whether he won, lost or got robbed of a decision, it wasn't rare for him to nab UFC fight of the night honors.
Yet Diaz jumps around from organization to organization these days with little more than a cult following. He's similar to the great Erik Morales of boxing fame in that his immense talent coalesces with his hunger to do whatever it takes to win, save for the fact that "El Terrible" was an absolute superstar in his sport. Diaz is far from one in MMA.
I haven't been able to put my finger on why Diaz is shunned by the bulk of MMA fans in America. Granted, he hasn't fought in the UFC since November 2006, and his last fights in the Octagon weren't promoted to the extent of main card bouts, but there has to be some sort of lingering reason why Diaz isn't marketed as much as many of his peers.
Is it because of his reported marijuana use and failed urinalysis after his unbelievable gogoplata submission of Takanori Gomi (Pictures)? Is it because his UFC record is right at .500 and his professional ledger isn't as glamorous as that of some other fighters? Is it because he wasn't a cast member on any seasons of Zuffa's reality TV game show? Is it because, save for when he feels he got robbed in a fight, he isn't an overly vocal personality outside the cage?
He is arguably the most exciting fighter in the sport, yet he commands but moderate fanfare. He toppled a solid Japanese contender in Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) in dominating fashion on the Dream card this past weekend, but almost nobody in the United States saw it.
Maybe after his next fight he'll begin to really start pulling in some attention. Because regardless of whether he faces Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), Shinya Aoki (Pictures) or some alcohol-laden hobo behind Arby's, it'll be the best fight on the card.
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