UFC 137 Nick Diaz vs BJ Penn... Noob question

[JDezi4]

Is this as huge a fight as I feel it is?

BJ Penn was my boy back in Pride (I really don't even know if it was Pride, but it was some MMA event in Japan)

And Nick Diaz was my boy in Strikeforce (being free, I watch Strikeforce a lot more than UFC obviously, and he was the star of Strikeforce)

Anyway, being not that keen on the sport, this just sounds to me like a huge fight. A PPV main event in and of itself...

So, am I missing something? Is BJ Penn a lot older (physically, if u get my meaning) than I think he is? Is Nick Diaz not as good as the lower tier competition at Strikeforce made him out to be?

Educate me!

Also, some prediction would be nice... I'd like to know who to bet on...

Thanks

[D.C.]

It's a very big fight! You have the "bad boy" of the division, and perhaps entire sport, facing off against the fighter whose pure skills are perhaps the highest touted EVER in MMA. At this point, it's a complete DREAM fight that's actually happening.

Diaz is on a 10 fight win streak, and is the current/was the Strikeforce WW Champion. Penn is coming off of a draw (a win, imo) with Jon Fitch, who has been the #2 WW for how long now?

Plus, their styles clash makes for FIREWORKS. Both have good boxing skills for MMA, Penn has the speed and power advantage while Diaz has the work rate and body work. They both have absolutely amazing BJJ, with Penn having a wrestling advantage.

I think we'll see a firework ridden first round, only for Diaz to take over as the fight goes on. I think he'll eventually finish BJ late in the third, his work rate and dedication to body work will simply be too much for BJ to deal with.

tl;dr It's a big fight, I'm pumped for it. War Diaz.

[D.C.]

Oh, also! BJ fought in K-1 Romanex and K-1 Heroes. He's never fought in PRIDE. He was ****ing around fighting HW's, MW's, and WW's when he could have been in PRIDE fighting Kawajiri, Gomi, Ishida, et al.

[Marshall89]

Why did Diaz back out of the GSP fight ???

[JDezi4]

Why did Diaz back out of the GSP fight ???

Agree... What's up with this?

[SuckaPunch]

Why did Diaz back out of the GSP fight ???

yeah, why is that?

i thought it was a UFC thing. however, when i found out that diaz is fighting penn (in a UFC event), i was like wtf?

can anybody care to explain what really happened? thanks.

[K-Yo]

He didn't regard the PR stuff as serious enough to attend, pissed Dana off and I think the punishment was a fight with BJ; my advice don't bet against BJ.

As previously stated, both have world class BJJ although BJ won a world championship after only a few years of training, anyone who knows BJJ knows that is pretty unheard of and is a feat that I don't believe will ever be matched. People will always look at the Edgar losses but to be honest Penn looked alright against a top 3 WW in Jon Fitch and even at this late stage in his career I'm picking BJ to beat Nick and will do it in impressive fashion.

[F l i c k e r]

The situation with Nick not fighting GSP goes like this:

Nick was supposed to go to press interviews to hype up the fight in Vegas and Montreal(i believe). He didn't show up to the Vegas presser. That was the first strike. Apparently, Nick and Dana talked it over and all Nick had to do was head out to Montreal which Dana had paid his plane ticket for to get there. Nick missed the first flight. He talked it over with Dana again, and Dana scheduled him another flight. He missed the second flight as well. Dana then talks to Gracie(whichever one runs his camp) and he didn't know where the **** Nick ran off to. Nick literally vanished, even from his own camp's knowledge. So Dana says **** it, takes Nick off the card, fills his spot with Condit.

So Nick then suddenly shows up on Youtube. Half assed explaining his reasoning. Honestly, I don't know what the hell he was talking about. You know how Nick gets when talking. Sometimes I just have no clue what he is talking about. But apparently he was on his way from San Francisco to the airport. Missed his flight and then found out that he was removed from the card.

So Nick doesn't fight GSP because he continuously missed flights that he didn't even have to pay for. Apparently not wanting to go to fight pressers to do interviews. Gracie(whichever one runs his camp) said something to the effect of Nick has fears about public speaking. Something like that but whatever. He loss his fight with GSP because he didn't want to get his ass on a free airplane ride to Montreal.

Nick was rumored to maybe even kicked out of the UFC. But apparently, BJ Penn was willing to take on Nick. So Dana then talks to Nick again. You know Nick, he doesn't say no to fights. So, Nick then gets back on the card, swapping places with Condit. So now it's Condit-GSP, Penn-Diaz.

And yes. Penn-Diaz is one hell of a fight. The boxing equivalent would be maybe Juanma-Gamboa? Or Dirrell-Ward? Something like that. Maybe Canelo-SergioM.

[$Bullsfam$]

This fight is a decently big fight, very good scrap at least but it ain't no blockbuster or something. Diaz is a good fighter but honestly hasnt proven himself top 5 material so this is a do or die fight for him so really its big for Diaz and I guess big but not as big for Penn.

If Diaz wins he can shut up all the critics. if he loses hes back to where he was before he left the UFC the first time, struggling to be relevant.

[WARQUEZ]

It's a bigger fight than the main event.