Okay, so Nick Diaz is on the cover of the November issue of Black Belt magazine, and here's a good portion of his interview with the mag. I think after reading this, a lot of Nick Diaz's detractors will start to feel a different way about him. Check it out.
So, what do you think of the interview? Does it change your perception of Nick Diaz, at all? Also, just share your general thoughts on the man, both as a fighter and as a person. And moreover, what do you think the future holds for Diaz? Are there any fights you would like to see him in any time soon, since nothing as of now is set in stone?
Over the past 2 years, Nick Diaz has solidified himself as my favorite MMA fighter. Not much of an accomplishment, lol, but I was certain no one would ever pass up Tito Ortiz in that honor, but Nick did. Why? Well, simple... his fights are the most entertaining in the sport, and he's a true warrior. The man will fight literally ANYONE on this earth. How many people can you say that about? Not many, but Nick Diaz isn't scared of anyone or anything. How can you not love that? And the best thing about him is that against literally ANYONE, he stands a chance of absolutely beating their ass. He's been establishing himself as one of the best boxers in MMA, and he's up there with the all time greatest Jiu-Jitsu fighters to ever fight MMA. The guy's just unbelievable. Watch this fantastic video a fan made just a few days ago for proof.
And what do I want next for Diaz, huh? To be completely honest, my dream is for him to go up to 206 pounds, and kick Fedor's ass, if Fedor doesn't lose to Rogers. But even though last I read Diaz was around 200 pounds (though that could be untrue), I don't ever see that happening. But if it were up to me, that's what I would book, and I know Diaz would take that fight in a heart beat.
Moreover, while also seeming a little far fetch, Nick Diaz vs. Gegard Mousasi is something I would absolutely LOVE to see.
But, in the realms of possibility, a rematch against KJ Noons at 170 is something I definitely wouldn't mind seeing. KJ had a boxing match a while ago, and said he was coming back to MMA. He fought at 154 for that fight, but all things considered, I'd be willing to bet he walks around at 180. Diaz himself said the 170 weight class is perfect for his stature.
I guess a fight with Jay Hieron, which seems very likely, is something I wouldn't mind, but honestly... I'd like to see Hieron establish himself a little more before taking on someone like Diaz.
Another possibility is Diaz fighting in DREAM, and that's something I DEFINITELY wouldn't mind seeing. There are so many better fights for him in Japan than there are in Strikeforce. At least, in the 170/185 weight class.
But I guess that's all I have to say for the matter. How about you?
Nick Diaz is an outsider whose uncompromising stance as a fighter and as an individual put him in a unique position as a professional athlete. At the fairly young age of 26, Diaz is a seasoned veteran whose experience covers a broad spectrum of the mixed-martial arts landscape. He started fighting as a professional at 18 and has been at it ever since. Hes competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship as well as the defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan, and he is now under contract with San Jose, California-based Strikeforce.
Aside from the fact that this Stockton, California native was raised in a difficult environment, he has had to deal with the added setback of being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. However, Diaz refused to take prescription drugs like Ritalin, preferring to deal with the symptoms in his own way. Discovering that martial arts provided him with both a structure for his behavior and an outlet for his physical gifts, he came to adopt Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the help of Cesar Gracie, a teacher-student relationship that he still maintains.
Keep in mind that Diaz maintains a punishing training schedule that could floor the average mixed martial artist. He may not be a champion now, but you can bet that his path will soon lead to a title shot.
Black Belt: Youve been training hard for a specific opponent and he gets bumped from the card. How do you deal with the period when you dont know who youre going to face?
Nick Diaz: Thats probably the hardest part about mixed martial arts for me over the last seven fights. I never know who Im going to fight, usually. Ive never had like a whole month knowing who Im going to fight. If I did, I trained for that month for that person in particular and they changed my opponent.
So thats happened to you a lot?
Thats what happened this time. I trained for a certain guy and now Im training for a different guy, which is really de-motivating, especially at a time when I dont know who Im fighting. Once I know who Im training for, I start training real good and real hard.
Do you think in a way thats an advantage? Police dont know who theyre going to face specifically, but they still have to be prepared. In a way, youre also ready for anybody.
Yeah, but I just think about what history shows. Any time anybodys ever gone into battle, whoever doesnt know what theyre up against usually loses.
You could probably narrow down your list of opponents by now.
The only times Ive ever lost are when I didnt know enough about my opponent or didnt know who my opponent was. Thats the biggest challenge for me, knowing who it is, getting on the ball real quick, and finding out how to deal with him.
How do you stay alert and ready for that next opponent? How do you get through that period?
I pretty much have to push myself and I have to rely a lot more on good judgment instead of that adrenaline and energy I would get from knowing who Im going to fight. Its kind of automatic then. But now I know who Im going to fight so Ive just got to be really smart about making it into the gym anyways, putting in the same effort and getting ready.
In general, how do you maintain your level of competitive interest in MMA?
I want to be really happy, so I use training to stay balanced. I use the other things I do throughout the day to balance things out.
So instead of thinking MMA all the time, you pursue a normal life.
You cant really [think about MMA all the time]. You have to have some sort of life. Thats the hard part, though. You have to have a life to balance. This has to complement that and thats got to complement this, you know?
Tell me about prepping for the fight you had with Frank Shamrock.
Franks another guy who is really capable in a lot of different fields, right?
For me, I know Frank and where he came from. I work harder than him and I know his tricks. I know what his mentality is. He thinks he knows exactly what I do, but he didnt know that I came from his backyard.
I have the same sort of mentality as Frankhe thinks the same way I do. I think the same way he does on account of him. He brought a lot to the table when it comes to mixed martial arts and training jiu-jitsu. When he fought Tito [Ortiz], I heard a lot about that fight.
Was his meeting with Ortiz an MMA landmark? Did he prove a lot to you in that fight?
Yeah, and some of these people who looked up to Frank were so up his ass for the five years that I was training in the beginning. So many guys would come in with wrestling shoes, but I would tap them all out with chokes and arm locks and sweeps and stuff. I would train with a gi and despite all that they would show up and try to act like Frank. They wanted to lift weights and do steroids and paint their hair. This is the sporty type of attitude.
Is being sporty more of an attention thing?
Yeah. They want repercussions from training. They like the look. They didnt like the way they looked doing martial arts in a gi. They thought that was dorky or something. They dont like karateits just sort of a dorky thing or something. They like to be cool, more like jockslift weights, you know. Here in America they felt better trying to impress their girlfriends than they did walking around with ninja skills and a karate gi. I heard a lot of people from the Lions Den would call it pajamas.
Its the mentality that is mostly concerned with having a strong and big upper body. Thats why wrestling remains popular. Do you think thats why steroids are such a factor?
Yeah, but these guys liked to hang out together to do all that stuff. Id go right in and tap all of them out and they wouldnt like that. I was younger than them, too. Id wear a gi and they were against that. So I had to go where there was an instructor who could tell people that this is the way. Because theyre not going to listen to anything, even though I was tapping them out. Thats how ignorant people are. Even when they see it right in front of their faces theyre not going to believe it. Im tapping them out.
Once I got into the academy everybody had the same mind-set as me, so I thought, Great, well all learn jiu-jitsu together and train together. Sometimes I tried to get those guys to train and theyd be like, You go run and lift weights like we did and then well train with you. And Im like, Dude, why are you doing all that when Ill beat you? Its obviously not helping you. I actually went through that with a lot of people from the time I was 16 until I was about 19.
Your brother Nate fights for the UFC and you used to fight for them. Do you give him advice about how to handle things?
Yeah, I do. I give him the heads-up about what they do. He understands that theyre not completely all for you over there. You have to watch out and be ready for what youre doing. Its geared to that sportier athlete.
Im at war. As far as Im concerned, this is warfare and Im a ninja warrior and Im taught to kill in the most efficient way possible. Thats the sort of mentality Im going in there with.
I dont want to sit next to you and have a conversation and lunch and have an interview together and talk and shake hands. Im like, Fine, if the media wants to talk to me or see me or ask me questions, they can hear about whatever.
The UFC thinks [marketing] is good for the sport, but we dont need to worry about that anymore. Im sorryI just dont believe that we do. Its not like were marketing Crystal Pepsithis things here to stay now.
Im sorry that it scares people and that theyre not mature enough to understand that violence is a part of life. Its just the way it is and its not my problem. Thats just the way I feel.
I dont mean to be bad for the sport. Im sorry if Im bad for the sport. I dont necessarily love this sport, either. I love jiu-jitsu and martial arts and competition, but mixed martial arts and what it is today, I dont necessarily love it. Its just not an easy job. And people like to point their fingers a lot and think its a ballgame and they think its an easy job, and its not that easy. I need to look like this killer to my adversary. I need to have that mental edge and I will have it. Its the most important thing if Im going to be fighting.
And you dont want to piss away that mental edge by doing promotional stuff.
Yeah, Im not going to sell out to anything like that. Ive already said Im not going to, so how could I now? Its just bullshit anyway. Im going to put on an act and then go fight somebody? Im going to go in there and fight for my life, but then I have to go and act like I like this person? Its hard.
When I got into this, I was 17 years old. I had this mentality and it worked for me, but I just turned 26 and I had a girlfriend for five years and its harder. Her sisters kids have to see me go out there and fight and I have to try and act sportsmanlike and its kind of hard. So this isnt my favorite thing to do on Earth. People are calling me a creep and telling me that Im a monster or whatever, but I dont especially enjoy this.
I dont think you enjoy going to your job eight hours a day, do you? So I can smile and act nice and be a good sport, but Ill do that when I get home. At the same time, this has caused me a lot of problems. People who dont agree with how I feel have a hard time understanding me. My ex-girlfriends dadin five years I never met this guy. He was probably intimidated by me. He probably intimidates everybody hes ever met in his life, but he doesnt want to meet me. That sucks a lot.
I got into this sport as an angry, rebellious, mad kid. I was going to be nothing and nobody and all that stuff, coming from nowhere like Stockton. I was real angry about that and I had a really hard time trying to do good in school, especially when they moved me around a few schools and it just wasnt easy for me, so you know I was angry.
You get a lot of things out of fighting if you work hard. For instance, I had a girlfriend and I started to have a normal life after a while. Then you have something new to work for instead of just being angry. I had a potential family and stuff like that to take care of. Now that Im making money, thats actually a possibility.
You didnt have much to look forward to before.
Yeah. But for me the only problem was that five years in I wasnt concentrating on that until I started to see repercussions. Then I started to think about that, but by then I was just acting like an asshole.
I had to start from scratch when I broke up with my girlfriend. Im at this point where Ive fought for all these years straight and now Ive made some money. I still live at home with my brother and my parents, but I want out now; Im ready to go do something. Im at a crossroads.
Youve got to have people to trust, for sure.
But fighting makes it hard. Youre putting people off on account of training. You have to. Nobody understands that if youre out there, youre going to get your head pounded into the mat. Gil Castillo told me that. Hes always stressing out about his girlfriend. Hed be fighting and training and hed want a personal life or just a life, period, but he couldnt take care of both.
Its a lot of physical stress and all of a sudden you have mental stress. Id be like, Oh, dude, you have no physical to carry you through the mental part. He would say that nobodys going to know what youre going through, not your mom, not your girlfriendonly you. Youve got to think about that if youre going to fight mixed martial arts. Nobodys going to understand how fucked up and hard that shit is. So youve just got to make the best of all the good things. If you cant, then youre in trouble.
Im trying to be 100 percent happy and manipulate myself into being angry, into being happy, into being all these things. I have to trick myself with all these emotions and Im going to have to be strong enough to trick myself with it all the time. So I dont ever just get to be a normal human and be emotional or some shit like that. Ive got to block all that off.
Do you think what happened to Josh Barnett is going to shake a lot of people from the tree in terms of steroid use?
Theyre all on steroids, though, you know? All of them are on steroids, dude. Obviously, he was trying to cycle off and they got him.
Theres a certain type of person who does steroids. I just dont fall into that category. If you do steroids, you cant stop. You have to do them. Even if the steroids were placebos, it would be a mental issue and you would still need steroids because youre aware of your testosterone level and how it goes up and then drops, but it wont go back up to 100 percent unless you use steroids again.
So youre screwed once you start.
Yeah, steroids turned me off from the very beginning. I think I was brought up with certain good habits and one of them was to not stick needles in my ass. (laughs)
Maybe some people arent that lucky. But maybe you grew up and saw some of those people become pro wrestlers. No one told them not to do it and now you see what happens to them. They just turn into caricatures.
And I always thought it was kind of funny. So much of steroids is for looks. When I started fighting, most of the time I would have a confrontation with people I didnt get along with: jocks and high school kids. Not to cry about how I didnt have this or that and whateverbut they did. And we were both there. I wasnt going anywhere, so we clashed. They did steroids and I never did.
Wow, they were already using stuff like that in high school for football and stuff?
Yeah. When I was in high school, the whole football team was on steroids. The whole football team. The wrestlers were on steroids and they were weird. You would always hear stories about people getting carried away. Youd hear about this guy smashing someones head.
A roid rage kind of thing.
Yeah, and so people would be so intimidated by these guys, but I wouldnt punk out. At the same time, they wouldnt invite me to come play football with them. So I had a lot of anxiety involved with going to school every day and having to think about fighting or getting jumped. So this never went away for me.
In high school I started fighting in mixed martial arts, so by the time the confrontations stopped in school I was fighting in MMA. People didnt want to fight with me anymorethey wanted to be my friend. But then every three months or so I would have a serious fight, so its hard to sleep now. Its the same anxieties, the same energy.
I dont like to use emotional words like anxiety, nervous or excited. People abuse these words to market medicine for kids. They tried to stuff Ritalin down my throat my whole lifeits methamphetamines. They try that with every single kid. You might not be doing your homework and you get thrown around a few schools and [your assignments are] going to look shitty compared to the other kids, so you dont do it at all. Then they decide, Hes not paying attention. He needs Ritalin.
As far as Im concerned, they use emotions to market drugs and I think its negative; I dont agree with it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people are weak.
Is that why you prefer a natural approach?
Yeah. I know that if I poke at somebodys mental aspects, theyre not all there, either. They might have anxiety or depression. If were going to get political and start talking and doing interviews together, I might be able to poke at this stuff. You might not want to have me sitting right next to one of these guys in an interview.
Im just too conscious of what makes people tick and what makes people the way they are, mostly because Im trying to figure out a way to beat them, to be a more efficient killer, if you will. I want to figure out exactly what makes you tick. I feel like Ive got the right information, especially if I know where you come from and who your friends are. If youre from another country, that makes it a little trickier, but then I like to think about all the things you dont have over there. You might not have a lot of our bad habits, like all the emotional things that come into play, but over there theyre missing a lot of things in general. They dont have good boxing training over there, or good wrestlers. The whole rest of the world doesnt have all three, so by the time they start coming out and having competitors, well just decide on what theyre not good at.
Your opponents gotta watch out, man.
My opponent is gonna have to be rock solid or something, because Im going to figure out what [of theirs] is not and Im going to attack that. Thats the idea. At the same time, Ive always gone this way like [a kind of] insurance.
I used to have a girlfriend, but I didnt bring her to shows and stuff. I wasnt going to walk in and show that Im happy and have a normal life. A lot of times I wouldnt, and thats not a normal life. Even acting like you have a normal life is not having a normal life. You can quote me on that. Acting like you dont have a normal life is pretty much not having a normal life, because putting on that front for 24 hours is just crazy.
And then you have to live with it.
Yeah, so if I have to live with that, and youre not, that gives me a whole lot of confidence in a weird way. It gives me a whole lot of things, but it doesnt give me a whole lot of other stuff, but it gives me a whole lot of one thing and thats confidence to know that Im going to smash you, because you havent suffered and you havent given up the things that Ive given up. You expect to come in here and beat me and then youre going to wear a bunch of pink colors on top of this and youre going to bring your happy wife and kids that I dont have and I might not even potentially ever havea happy life.
For all I know, everybodys just going to go ahead and keep calling me a creep and saying, Oh, what an asshole punk kid because I talk shit or the way I look or whatever. So for all I know, its going to be the same way that it has from the start. For all I know, by the time I actually do start to have a life, then Ill start to take an ass whooping.
So when I go in to fight somebody, I take all these things into consideration. I look at your family, I look at who you have. Youre going to bring your kids in? Youre going to tell me that youre going home, you have a happy familyoh, youre married now? You have to tend to your kids, you have to worry about them having dinner? You cannot. Even if you explain things to them and you think that its OK because youve explained it and you know that youre in the right because you had to do whatever, theyre not going to understand. No ones going to understand. Thats what I was talking about. Its your head getting pounded into the mat, not theirs. Nobodys going to understand but you.
Except another fighter.
Maybe another fighter. And if not that fighter, then hes definitely not going to beat me. There are plenty of people who havent taken care of what they needed to take care of, and they think they can have this mentality, and they can go out there and still lose. Where Im at right now, youre doing something right if youre beating me. Whatever it is, you did something better than I did. You were taking care of something.
Unless it was a decision.
Yeah, or a stupid doctor.
So, what do you think of the interview? Does it change your perception of Nick Diaz, at all? Also, just share your general thoughts on the man, both as a fighter and as a person. And moreover, what do you think the future holds for Diaz? Are there any fights you would like to see him in any time soon, since nothing as of now is set in stone?
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Over the past 2 years, Nick Diaz has solidified himself as my favorite MMA fighter. Not much of an accomplishment, lol, but I was certain no one would ever pass up Tito Ortiz in that honor, but Nick did. Why? Well, simple... his fights are the most entertaining in the sport, and he's a true warrior. The man will fight literally ANYONE on this earth. How many people can you say that about? Not many, but Nick Diaz isn't scared of anyone or anything. How can you not love that? And the best thing about him is that against literally ANYONE, he stands a chance of absolutely beating their ass. He's been establishing himself as one of the best boxers in MMA, and he's up there with the all time greatest Jiu-Jitsu fighters to ever fight MMA. The guy's just unbelievable. Watch this fantastic video a fan made just a few days ago for proof.
[YOUTUBE]8UKt6vA8p4U[/YOUTUBE]
And what do I want next for Diaz, huh? To be completely honest, my dream is for him to go up to 206 pounds, and kick Fedor's ass, if Fedor doesn't lose to Rogers. But even though last I read Diaz was around 200 pounds (though that could be untrue), I don't ever see that happening. But if it were up to me, that's what I would book, and I know Diaz would take that fight in a heart beat.
Moreover, while also seeming a little far fetch, Nick Diaz vs. Gegard Mousasi is something I would absolutely LOVE to see.
But, in the realms of possibility, a rematch against KJ Noons at 170 is something I definitely wouldn't mind seeing. KJ had a boxing match a while ago, and said he was coming back to MMA. He fought at 154 for that fight, but all things considered, I'd be willing to bet he walks around at 180. Diaz himself said the 170 weight class is perfect for his stature.
I guess a fight with Jay Hieron, which seems very likely, is something I wouldn't mind, but honestly... I'd like to see Hieron establish himself a little more before taking on someone like Diaz.
Another possibility is Diaz fighting in DREAM, and that's something I DEFINITELY wouldn't mind seeing. There are so many better fights for him in Japan than there are in Strikeforce. At least, in the 170/185 weight class.
But I guess that's all I have to say for the matter. How about you?