Shocker: Nick Diaz rebooked to meet B.J. Penn in UFC 137 co-main event
(mmajunkie.com)Shortly after he booted Nick Diaz from a title fight with UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that reporters would "flip out" if they knew whom he was putting opposite B.J. Penn, whose original opponent Carlos Condit was promoted to meet St-Pierre.
And considering the past 48 hours, White is not too far off the mark.
The UFC president today tweeted that Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) has been re-booked to meet Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC 137, which takes place on Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
UFC Signs Tristar Gym Product, Francis Carmont for UFC 137 Debut
(bloodyelbow.com)While accompany his friend and training partner, Georges St. Pierre to Las Vegas yesterday for the now infamous UFC 137 press conference, French fighter, Francis Carmont, managed to also get himself a UFC contract and a fight on the same card as St. Pierre. Carmont's trainer, Eric Keefe, who works under Firas Zahabi at Tristar Vale Tudo in Montreal, revealed the news to Sherdog:
According to trainer Eric O’Keefe, Carmont was in Las Vegas Wednesday with Tristar Gym teammate Georges St. Pierre for the promotion’s UFC 137 press conference, and the 16-7 fighter signed the dotted line before returning to the Montreal area on a redeye.
No opponent has yet been named, but O’Keefe says that he expects an opponent to be offered in the coming days.
Nick Catone out of UFC 136 fight against Aaron Simpson
(mmafighting.com)The injury bug has hit Nick Catone once again.
"The Jersey Devil" has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 136 fight against Aaron Simpson due to an undisclosed injury, sources close to the fighter confirmed with MMAFighting.com.
The 30-year-old, who has only fought once since January 2010 due to several different injuries, including a serious back injury, most recently defeated Costantinos Philippou at UFC 128 in March. No word on the severity of his most recent ailment or who will replace him against Simpson.
Nick Diaz Responds With a Video: 'I'm Sorry I Didn't Make It to the Beauty Pageant
(bloodyelbow.com)Unless you've been under a rock all day, you're probably aware of the Nick Diaz situation by now. He was removed from his UFC 137 welterweight title fight with Georges St. Pierre because he missed two press conferences and went MIA. Well, he's alive and well and chose to make a Youtube video to explain himself. Sort of. He doesn't address at all why he missed the press conferences, but he says he's ready to fight. About 16 times. He filmed the video while driving, on the way from San Francisco back to Stockton. He says he was trying to get on a plane to go to the press conference. He started by saying that he thinks Carlos Condit getting the fight with GSP is "ridiculous". He went off after that:
"Funny, one second I'm about to come into some money, do a little boxing, you know, f*uckin, probably lose some teeth. But um, I'm ready to get paid, ya know. So, I'll fight whoever, whatever, anything ya know. I'd definitely rather fight GSP of course. Ya know, I was ready to do some boxing, and they didn't like that. So they got me outta that, and they got me in the fight with GSP for the same money, or more money, or whatever. But now it looks like they get to save money, and I don't get paid, and I'm locked in a new contract. All these dealmakers making deals. All I know is I'm ready to fight. I'm sorry I didn't make it to the beauty pageant. But, ya know, I've never not showed up to a fight. I've never backed out of a fight in my life, that's not what I do. So I just wanted to throw that out there."
Who's going to fight B.J. Penn at UFC 137? Dana White hints at "crazy" option
(mmajunkie.com)Of all the phone calls he had to make following Nick Diaz's no-show of a press conference in support of UFC 137, Dana White wasn't thrilled about informing B.J. Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC) that he had poached the fighter's original opponent, Carlos Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC), to headline opposite welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
"B.J. doesn't know anything," White said today following a sudden announcement that Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) had been bounced from his fight with St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC). "I'm sure I'm going to have one seriously pissed off Hawaiian to deal with."
Greg Jackson Will Not Train Georges St. Pierre or Carlos Condit
(bloodyelbow.com)Coming out of today's bombshell announcement that Carlos Condit would be replacing Nick Diaz to face Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight title at UFC 137, several questions immediately began to surface. One of the big ones - how would Greg Jackson, trainer to both St. Pierre and Condit, handle this situation?
Now, just a few hours after the big news, we have our answer. Jackson will not train or corner either man. He spoke to Ariel Helwani at MMA Fighting to clarify:
Teammate protocols are pretty clear in this situation so everybody knows what happening. I step out, the other coaches -- John [Danaher], Phil [Nurse] and Firas [Zahabi] -- will take care of GSP and probably [Mike] Winkeljohn and some of the other guys here will take care of Carlos. But I step out of it, so I won't be cornering either guy. They'll fight each other. Those are the new teammate protocols. We knew this would be coming -- it will probably be coming again --but this time we are very well prepared.
White unsure on whether to cut Diaz, says financial blow from Diaz absence "pretty big"
(mmajunkie.com)UFC president Dana White said he's perfectly within his rights to cut Nick Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) from the contract he inked just three months ago.
But he is unsure whether he'll do so.
"I'm still blown away by this thing," White today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I've got to take a couple of days and figure this thing out."
As of now, the executive is still dealing with the fallout from Diaz's absence. The former Strikeforce welterweight champion today no-showed his second consecutive press conference to promote UFC 137, which prompted White to remove Diaz from a welterweight title fight with champ Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) and slot former WEC champ Carlos Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in his place.
"Shocked" St-Pierre believes Condit presents bigger challenge than Diaz at UFC 137
(mmajunkie.com)Count UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) among those shocked by Nick Diaz's press conference no-shows.
"I don't understand how someone can not show up to an opportunity like this," St-Pierre said during a Wednesday press conference at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Events Center. "I just can't believe it. It's amazing. I don't know what to say. It's crazy."
But now that the former Strikeforce champ has been yanked from a planned UFC 137 title shot, St-Pierre said he believes new opponent Carlos Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) now presents a stiffer test.
Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia II slated for UFC 136 in Houston
(mmajunkie.com)Nam Phan (16-9 MMA, 0-2 UFC) will get the opportunity to avenge a highly controversial loss to fellow featherweight Leonard Garcia (15-7-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC).
With would-be opponent Matt Grice scratched from the card due to injury, Phan instead will meet replacement Garcia next month at UFC 136.
Officials today announced that verbal agreements are in place for the rematch.
Nick Diaz pulled from GSP fight...Carlos Condit gets the call to fight GSP
(sports.yahoo.com)Nick Diaz simply won't play the game. He was banished once before by the UFC and it looks like its happened again to the elite welterweight.
During a UFC 137 press conference this afternoon in Las Vegas, Dana White announced Diaz has been dropped from the Oct. 29 main event. He's been replaced by Carlos Condit, who will face UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
Injured Matt Grice out, Nam Phan awaits new UFC 136 opponent
(mmajunkie.com)After replacing injured Josh Grispi, Nam Phan now finds himself without an opponent.
UFC officials announced overnight that fellow featherweight Matt Grice suffered an undisclosed injury and is off the UFC 136 fight card.
Officials are searching for a replacement for the fall fight card, which takes place Oct. 8 at Houston's Toyota Center.
Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck official for UFC 135 in Denver
(mmajunkie.com)It's a busy day at the Zuffa offices.
On the heels of a few massive announcements already made today, UFC president Dana White just announced that Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes have agreed to meet in the co-feature of this month's UFC 135 event.
Koscheck is a late replacement for Diego Sanchez, who was forced to withdraw from the matchup with a broken hand.
Attonito vs. Patrick slotted for UFC 140 in Toronto
(mmajunkie.com)Welterweights Rory MacDonald vs. Brian Ebersole and Rich Attonito vs. Claude Patrick have been added to December's UFC 140 lineup.
UFC officials today announced that verbal agreements are in place for the fights.
UFC 140 takes place Dec. 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The night's main card airs on pay-per-view, though it's not clear if either fight will be part of the broadcast.
‘Kid’ Yamamoto Draws UFC Newcomer Uyenoyama for UFC on Fox
(sherdog.com)Bantamweight slugger Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will make his sophomore trip to the Octagon against another veteran of the Japanese ring, Darren Uyenoyama, on the UFC’s Nov. 12 card.
UFC officials announced Tuesday that Yamamoto (Pictured) and Uyenoyama have agreed to square off at UFC on Fox 1, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Alistair Overeem Contract Details Emerge
(bloodyelbow.com)What's sort of getting lost in the news that Brock Lesnar will fight Alistair Overeem on December 30 is the fact that Overeem is now officially signed with the UFC. This coming a day after he denied a report from Swedish MMA site MMAnytt.se stating that he was on a plane to Vegas in order to sign his contract.
ESPN's Brett Okamoto has been tweeting details about Overeem's contract with the UFC:
Per my talks with Overeem and Lorenzo: #UFC offered title fight against Cain/JDS winner. Overeem didn't want to wait that long.
UFC 141 odds: Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem open dead even at -115
(mmajunkie.com)For now, a fight between former UFC champion Brock Lesnar and ex-Strikeforce titleholder Alistair Overeem is a toss-up.
Noted MMA oddsmaker Joey Oddessa today told MMAjunkie.com that he's opened the fight, which headlines a Dec. 30 event that's expected to be UFC 141, with both fighters at -115.
"It doesn't get much easier than this," Oddessa said.
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-BJ Penn via twitter
