Nick Diaz ’embodies MMA as it actually is’
Two years ago, after Nick Diaz dropped Frank Shamrock with a hook to the ribs and laid in nearly two…
Two years ago, after Nick Diaz dropped Frank Shamrock with a hook to the ribs and laid in nearly two dozen unanswered shots to win a technical knockout in San Jose, Calif., he did something that no one had done in any of Shamrock’s previous 34 bouts. He picked him up and said, “You need to get up, because you’re a legend.” Later that night, Diaz introduced his family to Shamrock and his wife. He bowed to them, and thanked them for the opportunity.
Not long before that, Diaz explained on a conference call with reporters that those out of shape — “a cancer patient, a fat person, if you will” — ought to smoke more marijuana, given the benefits of smoke-induced coughing for core muscles. “I’m not a doctor or a f—ing scientist,” he said, “but I’ve smoked plenty of weed. And, you know, I think in my opinion it’s pretty damn good for you.”
Diaz, 27, might at a given moment be an old-school martial artist, a sneering reprobate, a burnout, a good kid from a rough town, or all or none of those things. As Strikeforce’s 170-pound champion, scheduled for a January 29 defense against Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, he’s better at fighting than nearly anyone in the world, but doesn’t seem to much enjoy it. In a sport where the rewards go to those willing to play a role, his inability to settle on just one is a liability. It also makes him the one fighter who may most embody MMA as it actually is right now.