Nick Diaz Reflects on UFC 143
Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz shocked the MMA world when he announced his retirement at UFC 143, moments after losing a controversial decision to Carlos Condit. Diaz has been quiet ever since, but he recently broke his silence in an interview with Spike's "MMA Uncensored."
"I think I could have gotten that fight to the ground and finished the fight or been a little more dominant throughout some of those other rounds," Diaz said. "Or in some of the later rounds, had I put a little more pressure into the first two, but… Honestly, I felt it was smarter to play it safe and go ahead and push forward and win the rounds. I've lost fights before where I'm landing more punches and I'm moving away from the guy."
Many MMA fans seem to share Diaz' point of view, even though I feel the Octagon-side judges got it right at UFC 143. Diaz certainly was the more aggressive fighters during the fight, but Condit's strikes were more effective.
"So, the way that they score things at the end doesn't really seem very consistent to me," Diaz added. "I come back and I learn from my mistakes last time and it doesn't really make a difference in the end. So, if anything I proved that this isn't really working out. Because of all these fights I've lost, I'm usually winning the fights. You watch and the guy's taking more damage. It's just kinda irritating to me that we're rewarding people in mixed martial arts for trying to move away and not finish the fight."
Diaz' failed post-fight drug test certainly didn't help things, prompting the Nevada State Athletic Commission to temporarily suspend his license. Interestingly, Diaz could have applied for a therapeutic exemption to use marijuana, avoiding the entire fiasco with NSAC.
Given the fact Diaz has a medical prescription to use marijuana in California, his punishment probably won't be as severe as many initially thought.
Diaz is definitely one of the most entertaining MMA fighters out there, and fans can only hope he eventually changes his mind.
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