After his loss to Josh Thomson at UFC on Fox 7, Nate Diaz didn’t go down gently.  Instead he took to BJPenn.com Radio and accused Thompson of “running scared shitless for his life” and making “bitch ass lady sounds” during the fight.  And we all know how distracting bitch ass lady sounds can be.  Also, despite receiving a head cut Stitch Duran said was down to the bone, Nate thinks referee Mike Beltran ended the fight early and would like a rematch against that Thomson motherfucker right now, thank you very much. (Let’s just forget about Nick throwing in the towel, okay?)

Last week Thomson found himself on BJPenn.com Radio as well and instead of sitting there making woman noises into the microphone he laid out some pretty serious accusations against Diaz:

I am going to say this directly to him: Nate, you didn’t make the weight, so how are you going to make the weight when we fight again?  That’s the thing that’s discerning.  We all let it slide because it was a huge fight, but you didn’t make the weight and you still lost.  So unless you plan on fighting me a 170 then I’m not really interested.

And there it is: Diaz Weight Debacle 2.0.  Not quite as serious the title bout charges Nick Diaz leveled against GSP, but if Thomson’s claims are true does that means weigh-ins have become more a general guideline than a strict rule?  You can’t exactly pull a Rumble Johnson and come in 12 pounds overweight, but if you’re a big name like Nate Diaz will the UFC and athletic commissions “let it slide” if you’re 8 ounces over and on a big card?  Nothing official has been said regarding the matter but if you watch the weigh-in it does seem like something fishy is going on.  Diaz initially comes in at 157; then after dropping trou for a second attempt there’s a lot of discussion in which you can hear Dana say “half a pound” and Burt Watson concurring “we can take him with the half,” before the official weigh of 156 is settled on.

(pic by Scott Peterson for MMA Weekly)

Josh Barnett and the UFC have engaged in a vigorous courting dance since the slow digestion of Strikeforce began, with UFC president Dana White letting go of nearly a decade of Barnett hating to state his newfound respect for Barnett and Barnett sounding willing to sign a non-compete agreement and give up on his passion of pro wrasslin. But alas, a deal was not struck over ‘a single stumbling block’ (my guess: a PPV cut).

But now Josh has appeared on the MMA Hour today to discuss his MMA future, and of course the topic of fighting in the UFC came up. His comments have reignited fans’ hopes that a deal can be struck:

“I would love to fight in the UFC next,” he said, before noting how many times fans have quizzed him about the possibility of fighting Frank Mir over the years.

“I’ve been a top 10 fighter longer than anybody active in mixed martial arts at this time,” he said. “And there’s a real good reason for that. To be in the UFC would mean to go back to where I already won the belt, to go back to where I was a champion at 24 years old, and try to cement my legacy as an MMA fighter. I don’t really feel I can create that legacy and finish on a high point unless I’m there.”

The admission will no doubt create new buzz, as in February, Barnett officially declined the UFC’s offer and turned his attention elsewhere.

Barnett said his management team is talking to all available suitors and has received offers, but that “the UFC would be the most attractive place to ply my wares.”

It wasn’t so long ago that people were hailing the UFC’s heavyweight division as revitalized and deep, but UFC 160 is a reminder that it’s the Cain and Junior division with very few prospects out there likely to shuffle them out of spot #1 or #2. Daniel Cormier is gearing up for a run at the light heavyweight belt. Alistair Overeem keeps shooting himself in the foot. At a time where the UFC needs heavyweight title contenders, having Josh Barnett sitting around twiddling his thumbs almost seems silly. Is he worth a percentage of PPV proceeds? The UFC might decide he is depending on how things shake out on May 25th.

(pic by Mark Smith for USA Today)

Just to cheer up your day, here’s more quotes that make it quite clear to me that we’ll probably never see Anderson Silva vs Georges St Pierre or Jon Jones. First, GSP talking about Anderson:

I always want a challenge depending on weight classes. I know you talk about Anderson Silva, but the thing is, I weigh 190-pounds. I know Silva weighs 230-pounds. He’s a pretty big guy. Listen, if the opportunity and the timing is good, everything is possible. It would be either a jump or we would meet in the middle.

But don’t forget, I don’t want to sound bad, but Anderson has a big fight with Chris Weidman. Chris Weidman, I know him and believe me he’s the top guy Anderson Silva has ever faced. For me, Chris is my friend, and I believe he’s going to win.

Now, Anderson’s coach talking about Jon Jones:

Rogerio Camoes, one of Anderson Silva’s trainers, believes the UFC middleweight champion should face Jon Jones. Camoes, however, sees it more as a culminating bout in the career of “The Spider.”

“I would like to see this fight against Jones,” said Camoes, during a recent interview with Tatame. “I wanted to see this as his last career fight. He wins and retires.”

Georges talks about the timing needing to be good, and I don’t see better timing than right after his fight with Johny Hendricks. If after that he continues to wax philosophically about some future date where the fight may finally make sense, I’ll just consider that one a lost cause and never write about it again.

As for Anderson saving the Jones fight for the end of his career (something a former manager of GSP’s has suggested Georges wants to do for Anderson), that doesn’t sound like a very good plan either. First, Jon Jones has had an eye on moving up to heavyweight for a while now and is running out of contenders at 205. Maybe the jump wouldn’t stop Anderson Silva from challenging him (Andy has talked about heavyweight himself in the past, crazy bastard), but it certainly throws another obstacle in the way.

Then there’s the point that these are all best laid plans. As Georges mentioned, Chris Weidman could very well get on top of Anderson and win their fight. And if that happens, there goes both superfights, or at least the mega-allure of both as they exist right now. Hendricks is also the best stylistic matchup GSP has ever had to face. Jones is the only guy currently not in the crosshairs, and even then we all saw him almost get tapped by Vitor Belfort.

Simply put, the opportunity is there. The time is now. The UFC and fighters need to stop looking to the future and start planning for these superfights now, or we’re going to look just as dumb as boxing did when Pacquiao v Mayweather died an ignoble death.

(pic by Mark J. Rebilas via USA Today)

Pregnancy:

Invicta FC atomweight “Fancy” Laura Sanko is pregnant with her first child and has withdrawn from her planned fight at Invicta Fighting Championships 6 on July 13th in Kansas City, Missouri. In Sanko’s place, Cassie “The Hulk” Robb now faces Livia “T-Rex” von Plettenberg on the preliminary card.
…
While Sanko will no longer be competing at Invicta FC 6, she may still be a part of the event. On April 5th, Sanko served as a cageside interviewer at Invicta FC 5 and she received rave reviews from observers who tuned in to the event’s live Internet Pay-Per-View stream.

As WMMA gets bigger, pregnancy might become a bigger pain in the ass than knee injuries. They take longer to get through, even before you take into account any maternity leave that comes after.

(pic via HG Performance Marketing)

I’m used to seeing slanted stories in the political world, but it’s interesting when it happens in MMA. Check out this article, ‘XFC lightweight champion Nick Newell unwilling to defend title, stripped of belt.’

In a lengthy statement posted on the promotion’s website and various media platforms, Prisco claims Newell is unwilling to compete against Holtzman out of fear. Says Prisco:

“I think Nick knows what I believe. He was going to lose. Nick knows he can’t defend himself when someone like Scott puts him on his back. I believe Scott is one of the most talented 155ers on the planet. He’s training on the west coast right now with Benson Henderson for that very reason. In my eyes, I saw the fight going 1st round stoppage – Holtzman by ground and pound.”

Meanwhile, Nick Newell’s side of the story clarifies what I think is a key point:

First of I AM NOT UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE XFC. XFC promoted a fight that didn’t exist yet.

The headlines are misleading and imply that I was stripped of my title because I refused to fight when in fact I just chose not to renew my contract with the XFC. I am not scared to fight anybody. I have been through too much in my life to be scared of any man. All you have to do is look at one of my fights to see my heart & my fearless style. This has nothing to do with me being scared. It is more so just an attempt to bully me into a contract.

XFC trash talking me and trying to slander my name upsets me more then anything but they are promoters. XFC is promoting, thats what they do. They have to try and make their guys look as good as possible and I’m not one of their guys so it is at my expense.

Rumor has it Newell is angling for a UFC contract, which would certainly explain why he isn’t jumping back into another deal with the XFC.

UFC fighter Tarec Saffiedine’s 2 year old shows off some pretty decent sparring skills on the ol’ clothes hamper.