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[leelandk]

Long read. Nothing really too different from the Sherdog Radio interview, but here it is.

At only 24, Nick Diaz has been around the MMA block more than most in the biz. He's done his thing in the UFC, Pride and now is gonna start a gig with EliteXC.

He threw Pride's golden boy, Takanori Gomi, into one of the slickest gogoplata's anyone's ever been witness to in the US, but after getting the win tossed by the NSAC for smokin' weed, Diaz is set to get his game goin' again now that his suspension is over, but really could care less what you think about his situation.

Diaz talks about weed, Sean Sherk, organic livin', Gomi, MMA rules in the US, Blind Date, gambling in Vegas, steroids, Cesar Gracie and a ton of other stuff in one of the most honest interviews that's come across our desk.



With zero filter on 'em, here's Nick Diaz with Triumph's editor, Paul Tutka...



PT: So we get it out in the open right away since that's what everyone wants to hear… Do you still consider your win over Takanori Gomi legit even though the NSAC took it away from you after you tested positive for weed?

ND: I can't tell the difference that it's not a win. Other people that don't know the sport and are just lookin' at my record will consider that a loss against me, but whatever. Honestly though, I really don't give a shit what people think of me at this point anyways. I beat his ass, he knows it and everyone that saw it knows it.



PT: So why all of a sudden did they finger you for weed? You've obviously been tested before-and-after fights before this one?

ND: I don't even know man. I've given numerous amounts of piss test since I've been fighting. I've been tested at least nine or ten fights worth already and all of them I guess should have tested positive for weed. I can promise you that… all of them!



PT: So why weren't you nailed back then?

ND: I don't think they were ever testin' for it before. I think it costs more money to test for that. I think that for some reason maybe Nevada thought they'd start crackin' down more on guys and secretly added weed in there. But shit man, I really don't have a clue though. As fighters, there's a lotta shit that we don't know about. There's no handbook that everyone has access to. Unless there is and I don't know about it. Do you know?



PT: Never seen a handbook man.

ND: See man, people think that I think I'm an expert on this kinda shit or something cuz I like to talk, but I just wanna bring this shit up. Hey, I don't know anything man. I just wanna put it out there and see what happens. Cuz to me, having some sorta book of rules that says what's goin' down might be a good idea. It sure as shit woulda helped me out.



PT: So you're headin' into this EliteXC show in Hawaii, have you been told what's shakin' as far as if they're testing or what's up?

ND: I'm in the dark as usual man. As far as I know they don't test for weed in Hawaii, but who the hell knows anymore.



PT: So how did that piss test during the Pride show in Vegas go down?

ND: This little Mexican dude comes up to me right before the fight and I guess he thought I didn't wanna take the test or something, but the dude was hoverin' me while I'm gonna try and take a piss. It's not that comfortable to have some little dude sittin' their hoverin' you while you already can't piss. Him starring at me, demanding I piss doesn't help a guy wanna take a piss. So I try and take a minute to get a piss goin' and this dude comes back and all I wanted was another minute and he starts sayin' I didn't wanna take the test. This shit happens all the time. They did it to my brother too. Sometimes you can't just piss on demand. I didn't even ask for a minute and this dude was just lookin' for a reason to say I didn't wanna take it. He went and told everyone that I refused to piss for him and I didn't even know what the fuck was happening. Matt Hume came over and told me, "You gotta suck it up and do this for us," and I thought he was talkin' about the fight and trying to amp me up. And then they told me it was about the drug test and I was like, "What the fuck dude? Of course I'll do it." I was like, "I don't take steroids dude, come on."



PT: So when you headed to the ring were you all pissed, for lack of a better word, about what just went down?

ND: Nah man, it wasn't even an issue then. I was just annoyed that this short Mexican dude was hoverin' me. I don't know his name or anything man. Apparently he worked for the athletic commission, or at least that's what I'm told. He was just a little fucker that wouldn't give me a minute.



PT: So for those of us that have never taken a piss test before, how does it go down? Do they have some speech of what they're gonna test you for?

ND: Nah man, they just tell you to take a piss. I have no idea what they do with those samples. I don't know what they do to make sure none of 'em get mixed up. I had no idea except that they needed me to take a piss right then.



PT: So when you tested positive for weed, what did the commission tell you?

ND: Well first off, it's not like I smoked just before the fight and was fighting high out there. I don't know if that's what they thought. You've got all these people taking these fucked up prescription drugs, drinking alcohol and that's what really fucks you up. People are dying on this shit, but they wanna call me out for taking marijuana. People are on all these anti-depressants and ritalin or some doctor is giving your kid methamphetamines, but the world doesn't want people smokin' pot. They'd rather kill them with all this other shit though.

I can see why maybe Nevada might not want people smoking weed. You can't drink alcohol and smoke weed cuz you'll get nauseous. They don't want people throwing up all over their poker tables I guess. When you're nauseous the last thing you're gonna wanna do it waste your money and play poker. People smokin' weed would ruin the whole Vegas experience. People are driving drunk and dying but alcohol makes everyone too much money to scrap that. Let's scrap weed instead. This isn't a war on drugs, it's a war on people's fucking freedom here! Nevada wants people to be hypnotized by their blinking lights and shit going off saying, "Bling, bling, bling, bling bling… look over here!" Vegas wants to put you in a trance, get you drunk but oh no, don't smoke weed in Vegas, it's a buzz kill. Vegas fucks up lives with drinking and making people broke, but they're not cool with me beating Gomi cuz I smoke weed. How fucked is that!



PT: So with that said, the US is probably the strictest country when it comes to smokin' weed but allows a ton of other health related stuff pass cuz there's a ton of money tied up in it.

ND: See that's what I'm talkin' about! Check this out. I think people would probably be pretty pissed off to find out the kinda shit their shoving in their body everyday. My mom went over to Paris with my grandparents and she brought back some of what they call junk food, and it was good man, even though it was junk food. They don't fill their shit with all those preservatives. You eat their shit and feel full. You eat the shit from here and you're hungry right away. It's not real food dude. You're eating all the preservatives and shit that'll keep that garbage on the shelves for months. You're not putting food in your body. You're putting all those chemicals, preservatives and trans fats into yourself. That's why people feel like shit all the time, cuz their bodies are full of chemicals and preservatives. They mass produce this shit cuz it's cheap and has a long shelf life. Kids are buying it everyday cuz they're never full. These stores can stock their back shelves with this crap, leave it there for years and then there's always enough to go around. Nothing goes bad, so they don't have to cleanup spoiled food cuz it sits there forever and never goes bad. It's win-win for them. Meanwhile we've got all these kids with ADD and all sorts of shit that is killing them.



PT: Yeah man, that's how it is in most of Europe. People shop pretty much everyday at their local market and pickup a ton of fresh stuff instead of what most of us do in North America.

ND: You know what man, that's what I'm fight for. I'm fighting for life. I'm fighting so I can live a life where I can afford organic food, cuz that's shits expensive. That's what I'm fighting for. I'm fighting so I can live strong. Dude, I can't even go out to get something to eat with my friends anymore man. They all think I'm weird cuz I don't wanna put all that shit in my body. I don't even dig chicks that eat that shit or meat man. I'm not quite vegan cuz I do eat fish and eggs, but no cheese or other dairy. I
don't need no red meat rotting in my stomach. All that shit is full of pesticides and steroids, no thanks man. I don't think eating meat is good for you if you're fighting. There's other ways to get your protein. I eat food now that makes me feel good but allows me to keep training like I do.



PT: So did you feel like crap when you were eating meat?

ND: Yeah man, I always felt like shit when I was taking in all those preservatives and steroids they were pumping into all this beef. I would get crazy heart burn and other shit that you just don't need when you're training. It's ridiculous man. Just the thought of it to me right now is outrageous. I get the protein I need. I eat eggs a lot. Some days I'm just hitting those green drinks when I'm trying to fast a bit. I fight real light. I'm fighting at 160 these days, so I don't even need meat regardless. It's a lot easier to make weight now too. We don't even need as much protein as they make it sound. They're foolin' everybody about how much protein they need so they can sell all this extra meat to us, or all these extra supplements and shit. I'm not trying to sound like an expert or anything though man, on none of this shit. This is just stuff that I wonder about and then make decisions on. It works for me. I'm not a nutrition expert, I'd like to be, but I just don't buy a lot of the shit they try and shovel down our throats about what "we" need. Cuz dude, I'm doin' just fine not eating beef everyday.



PT: So with a lot of what you talk about goin' down in the US, would you ever make a move to a country that is a lot more liberal when it comes to weed, or a country that offers more than grocery stores full of food packed with preservatives?

ND: You know what bro, that's a good subject to get on. Everybuddy I know is always like, "I wanna get outta Stockton and move to like Vegas, or LA or San Diego." As if they couldn't cut it here. All these fuckers leave and then end up back here. They're like, "Stockton sucks," but then they're back here. Most of the people that come back to Stockton come back cuz they couldn't cut it where they thought it was so much better. I have no reason to get out of Stockton. When I get some money and get my own house, I'd post up here. I don't need to get outta here. I just need to get right.



PT: So as a guy that is boarder line vegan and makes sure he knows what he's putting in his body when he eats, how tough is it to go out for dinner?

ND: Dude, I can't even go to any restaurant, cuz before I can even sit down they will plant this basket of bread that is full of so much artificial shit. And I'm talking nice expensive restaurants like say… Chili's. Or like, ummmm…. what's that expensive one, you know… Red Lobster! I used to fuckin' love Red Lobster. But man, you get to Red Lobster and they put this basket of bread in front of you with this cheese in it and it's disgusting man. I go there and people are just grabbin' at this shit and I'm just like, "You know what dude? That shits gonna go right to your ass!" Once you find out what good natural food is, you aren't down with eating shitty, fake food anymore. You don't wanna be tricked into buying that fake shit. You want the real thing every time.

I have friends that smoke weed, but they won't smoke shitty weed dude. They only smoke the best stuff out there. And I'm like, "Why don't you drive a couple blocks down to where you pick your weed up at and go to a health food store and buy some good, real food?" Everybuddy, get that bomb food yo and enjoy it. You can get the same tranquility that you get with smoking weed as you do with eating good food. But people don't realize this man. They keep eating all this mass produced stuff and then they feel like crap all day. Nobuddy knows what they're missing man, cuz they buy into all this marketing that is everywhere around them. I'm lookin' out my window right now and all I see is trucks with marketing on the sides of them that are full of garbage. It's never ending dude and it sucks. I've got corn fields of either side of me when I'm drivin' around and all that corn is gonna go into high fructose corn syrup that they're gonna put into my Gatorade, so that's why I don't drink Gatorade. And that makes me mad man, cuz I want my Gatorade! Thank god they started making Vitamin Water, cuz I can't go to a store and by Gatorade anymore cuz of all the high fructose corn syrup that's in there. Put some real sugar in there man. I wanna run off some real sugar, not this high fructose shit!



PT: So do you ever grow your own fruits and vegetables in your backyard?

ND: I'd like to, but it's too time consuming for me. That's what I mean though man. That's what I'm fighting for. I'm fighting so I can have a life where I'm able to live my life the way I wanna live it. Where I'm growing my own shit and eating it straight from the earth. I wanna make enough money so I can keep running in triathlons, eat organic foods and grow my own food in my own backyard. I wanna be back in the time where I can go out my backdoor and shoot some rabbits and eat 'em, cuz it's nice like that man. I want it as natural and real as it gets.



PT: You think you could do that man? Could you kill an animal, prep it up and eat it? Cuz man, the saying is, if mass production slaughter houses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian, but cuz stuffs vac sealed, cleaned and ready to go, they eat it. Most people wouldn't have the stomach to do it all themselves. Do you?

ND: If most people had to kill it, clean it and then cook it, there is no way they'd do that man. No way in hell. Hell no!!! No one would do it. I think I could do it man. If you and me went out and were hunting and shot a deer, we'd probably be so hungry from working for our meat that we'd do what we needed to to eat that deer. And then that meat would sustain us for a while man. We wouldn't need to go out and shoot another deer for a while man. At the same time though, I don't want a big ball of meat sitting in my stomach all week trying to digest that. But yeah, if it was back in the day and I was out in the woods all week and needed to shoot a deer to survive, I know I could do it. If it's an animal that is also eating real food in the wild and I shoot it myself and know exactly what's been done to it, then yeah, I would have done it. And now I hear these news stories that they want to vaccinate our meat! Are you kidding me man. How wrong does that sound man? People have no idea what the hell they're putting in themselves man, but I get nailed by the commission for smokin' weed? That's just so messed up man. Parents are feeding their kids food that is full of god knows what, but everyone gets pissed if I'm gonna fight and smoke weed.



PT: You don't drink any booze either, right?

ND: Barely man. I might have a drink once in a while, but hardly ever. I'd probably get drunk off of one glass of wine. I drank when I was pretty young and figured it wasn't something I wanted to do much of. Alcohol is so bad for you if you're a fighter man. Weed is not bad for you as an athlete man, and I should know, I run triathlons and feel fine. I'd never be able to run those if I drank. It's not healthy for you man. Alcohol will dehydrate you, it will restrict you and will kill your training man.



PT: So without weed, would you be as good a fighter as you are now?

ND: I don't know if I'd even be a fighter without weed man. I mighta been in school too much to have been smokin' weed and training. And from there, who knows. I mighta been going to school enough to become an electrician and worked my ass off in some shitty building in downtown Stockton.



PT: How did school go for you then?

ND: I never got that into high school cuz it was cranksta gangsta there man. I had a lot of anxiety about going to school .Everybuddy always wanted to fight at school man. I had a girlfriend and even she wanted to fight me man. Everybuddy was doin' crack, emo'd out, wearin' red belts and shit. Everybuddy's probably like yeah, whatever, but dude, my high school was fucked man. Hell, I even got stabbed there man. Tokay High School today is a happy place. No emo kids. When I left that school man people kinda started mellowing out to what it is now. There wasn't as much crank goin' around. There wasn't as much gang stuff goin' down. People started smoking weed and mellowing out. But even before I got there, I don't think it was like that. I guess it was just bad timing for me. Cuz when I was there everyone was on
methamphetamine, dope or a ton of other shit. I'd end up getting involved in gang violence and I wasn't even in a god damned gang! Tokay's cool now though. I swim there a lot when I'm training. The school really mellowed out. They're got a new style now and nobuddies ghetto now. I think they built a bunch more schools for the kids in the crazier neighborhoods.



PT: How's your bro doing?

ND: My brothers a real amazing little athlete man. He can adapt to any situation. But yeah, my brother got me in enough shit back in the day too. People would think sometimes I was him and I'd get in fights. But I guess he got the same thing from me. So we were both getting each other into fights and didn't even know it.



PT: So how old were you when you left school and what did you do with yourself?

ND: I stopped going to school sophomore year and started training jiu-jitsu. I wanted to go back and that's when I met the Lodi High wrestling coach. He was trying to get me into Lodi High so I could wrestle. I really wanted to wrestle. I think I would be even a better fighter now if I had a bit of competition wrestling under my belt. The school wasn't goin' for it though. I guess they thought I was dangerous or something. They just thought he was some goofy coach that wanted this dumb kid wrestling for him. But that was cool, cuz I just shifted all my focus to training jiu-jitsu and kinda just said fuck everything else.



PT: Do you regret not finishing school at all then?

ND: You know, I don't regret not finishing school cuz I wouldn't have been able to do with what I did with fighting. It takes a lot of time and effort to do what I've done. Even just proper rest and sleep takes time up man and school woulda got in the way for sure. School woulda taken away from training and training away from school. But yeah man, I woulda loved to have been able to finish school. I wish I spelled better man, cuz I spell like shit. I'm doin' better now cuz I'm always typing and always reading magazines. I'm always reading about the bullshit people write about me.



PT: Like what kinda stuff do they write about?

ND: I don't even know anymore man there's so much of it. But there's always a bunch of shit I read about me that is never true. Whatever people write about me always comes out ass backwards. I'm reading this shit and I'm just like, "Wow dude, you aren't even close!" But whatever, I'm sure those guys know who they are. I don't need to call 'em out.



PT: So fast forward a bit man and you hooked up with UFC. What happened with them and how'd you end up getting dropped by them?

ND: Bottom line, I didn't do my job as a UFC fighter. People can say whatever they want, but I just didn't do my job properly. I realize that now, but I didn't know what the hell I was doing half the time man. I didn't go on Blind Date, which I shoulda done a long time ago. That was my job, but I didn't wanna do it then. I just didn't wanna be apart of it man. It wasn't my thing. I didn't agree with it man, but that's kinda gotten me to where I am now. Not doing what I didn't wanna do is what got me where I am today. You know man, I just wanted to fight but didn't deal with the other stuff like I should have.



PT: So there's no beef with you and Dana White or the rest of the UFC like people say?

ND: No man. If I would have known the things that I know now, I would have done my job to the fullest while I was with them. I kinda just wanted to fight and not worry about anything else. Cuz the UFC is not like boxing man. There's a lot of acting and other shit that goes along with it and I just wasn't ready for that stuff back then man. I just did like a skit for Showtime and to me that's not normal. All this kinda shit is new to me man. I don't know if anyone with these promotions takes into consideration that all this other stuff is new to some guys, but it is. It was all new to me at the time man and I didn't really have anyone explain to me what needed to be done. Dana White did sit me down and talk to me and tell me that I needed to get my shit together. He said I should be calling this PR guy every couple days to see if he needs me to interview for anything or do some PR shit. You look at Forrest Giffin and see what the power of TV has done for him. So yeah, I see maybe what I shoulda done different while I was there.

You know, they wanted me on that one season of Ultimate Fighter with all the older guys, but I couldn't go dude. I didn't know what they were gonna do with me living in this house man. I just wasn't down for it man. Were they gonna make me look good or make me look bad man, I didn't know. I just wasn't down for playing that game. There's so many scenarios on how that coulda gone. But I'll tell you this man, I coulda won that whole show. I don't wanna sound cocky man, but I coulda won it. I didn't really wanna fight Matt Serra either. Even though he's not my teammate, he does come from Renzo Gracie's school and I respect that. I don't know if anyone else does, but I have a certain level of respect for guys fighting under the Gracie name. That's how it was when it first started. I remember watching Lincoln Tyler versus Caleb Mitchell and was just like, "Why are you fighting this dude trying to represent the Gracie name? What the fuck's wrong with you?" That's just how I am. Plus man, I'd already beaten Chris Lytle, and probably woulda just beaten him again, so what's the point? Then I woulda just fought Matt at the end man and he's a Gracie brother. Renzo's cornered me before and I couldn't disrespect them like that either. Cesar was kinda telling me to go on the show, but I was just like, "Dude, this is not my thing." I
never thought business back then man. That's not where I come from and that's kinda got me to where I am today.



PT: So you're happy Matt ended up winning it all then?

ND: Yeah man, he deserved it. He's one of the best jiu-jitsu guys around. You know what man? I don't even think Shonie Carter knocked him out with that spinning back fist. It was kinda a bad call in my opinion. Matt kinda went down off that and everyone in that place was screamin' knockout, so they just went along with it. He wasn't completely out but was on the floor. For a guy like me that's been around for a while, you knew at some point a guy like Matt Serra was gonna be on top.



PT: After getting tagged by the NSAC, everyone kinda wondered what you were up to man, but we know that after you trounced Gomi's ass, Cesar Gracie had a black belt for your waist.

ND: Yeah man, when I walked into that fight I was a brown belt.



PT: So guess Cesar didn't hold up that same ban the commission put on you in his school?

ND: Oh hell no man! Ha!!! Absolutely not! And the funniest thing, Cesar tested positive for weed too.



PT: Yeah man, what went on there?

ND: Ok, check it out! My teacher tested positive for marijuana, but that doesn't make any sense whatsoever cuz he never smokes weed.



PT: So what did you stoners give him so much second hand smoke that it came up in his system?

ND: No, no, no man, it's bullshit. There's something goin' on here for sure. We've all been making jokes for the longest time and joking with him to get high with us, but he never touches the stuff man. It's absolutely hilarious that he got busted for that when he doesn't even smoke it. It didn't bother him or nothing man cuz it's not like he was plannin' on fighting again anytime soon. I've tried a bunch of times to get him to try it but he just laughs at me. But it's not like we get people in the school and then try and get 'em high, that's not what goes on. We don't even smoke around him man. It's not like we're all packed in a car and call Cesar in to inhale the shit. I can guarantee you that Cesar has not ever smoked any weed. That's a goofy call there man. You know what I honestly think. I think they switched the samples with my brother's on that show, cuz how Cesar tests for it is beyond me.



PT: You've boxed professionally before too, but even though you got tested for an MMA event, you weren't allowed to box during your suspension either, right?

ND: Yeah man, you're right. And I know that when I boxed I took a piss test too and never got tested for weed. But yeah, the commission won't let me box either. MMA and boxing and two totally different sports but are governed by the same commission. That makes no sense. We don't tell our rock stars to take a piss test after a show. You don't go and tell TOOL's Maynard James Keenan, "Hey dude, don't smoke weed ever again cuz we're gonna test you after every show." We'd have no good music left if that's what they do. I'm a martial artist. He's a musical artist. We're both artists man. What I do as a martial artist is truly a form or art and I don't think we should be restricted. Now we're back to them trying to control us man. So then what about pro wrestling? What they do is way more dangerous than what we do and takes athleticism to do it. Why is the commission not testing them? These guys are jumping off of ropes pumped full of roids but the commission doesn't test them! Why the hell am I being drug tested when the biggest steroid users of all go through the country and nothing happens to them?

And hey, I don't care if my opponent is taking steroids. Those people are hurting themselves more than anyone. I see these guys training in the gym and there is no way a regular human being can be that explosive and crazy everyday.



PT: Have you ever been offered juice?

ND: Well, kinda, but I think I have that aura coming off of me where most guys are pretty sure I don't take steroids.



PT: You say that, but Royce just got busted and he's the last guy anyone woulda thought would have taken anything.

ND: Yeah, that didn't really bother me all that much. Don't really have an opinion on that. I'm sure he had his reasons for what he did. All I know is that me and steroids don't really go together.



PT: So all the roids are really doing for these guys is supplementing their workouts. It doesn't do anything for them technically. Do you think they really have an edge in martial arts?

ND: Yeah, all it does is has them more ready to train for longer. But dude, once these guys crash, and I swear I've seen these fuckers crash, they are just done! You know how you know? You get these emotional looks on their faces. I like this guy, and I hope I'm not wrong cuz I hate to talk shit on him, but Phil Baroni has made some pretty fucked up faces. Some of the faces these guys make in the gym are unreal dude. I don't mean to stereotype, but the guys that are having these intense emotional looks, are usually the same dudes that are testing positive for steroids. It's weird dude.



PT: Do you ever get emotional when you're training, or better yet fighting?

ND: No dude. I'm not an emotional fighter. If I'm acting crazy, it might just be an act to fuck with your head. But sometimes I feel some real emotion coming off guys. They win a fight and they are just like beyond outraged with emotion. It doesn't even look like they won a fight. Sometimes after I win I don't even know what to say and I really feel like an asshole when the mics there, in front of all these people. Then you get these guys who think they're the absolute shit and you listen to them and they sound delusional. Sometimes these guys get so worked up they make idiots out of themselves. Some guys cry after fights for Christ's sakes. So what, now they're gonna be cry babies after a fight? I just can't see myself getting emotionally involved in a fight to the point where I'm crying like a baby after a fight. I think being too emotional heading into a fight totally clouds your judgment and makes you do stupid things in a fight.



PT: So even though you've fought Sean Sherk before, let's say you fight him again and again he barely edges you out and later you find out he juiced. Are you pissed?

ND: Let the guy juice man! Let him juice! That guy… I wonder how much juice he can do before his body totally falls apart. These kinda guys are gonna keep juicing and juicing and juicing and then all of a sudden they die from some weird fucking thing out of nowhere. So let these guys juice man! They're just putting themselves in the grave earlier, but I guess they think it's worth it.



PT: So you wouldn't be pissed at all man?

ND: Yeah, I don't especially want to fight a guy that juices, but whatever.

But now that we're talking about testing and juicing I'm thinking about how crazy it was that I was busted for weed again. I bet you any money that they don't test anyone in the NBA for weed. You can't bro, cuz there'd be no one in the NBA anymore.



PT: How many guys in the MMA game do you think take steroids and how many smoke weed?

ND: Shit, I don't know dude. That's a good one. I don't know about steroids for sure, but let's say for jiu-jitsu, it's gotta be like 79% smoke weed. Ah, scrap that man. I think it's probably more like between 85 and 90%. And check this out… most guys that take steroids are the same guys that have never trained with a gi on. Most guys that are testing have come from a background like wrestling or hell, even football or weightlifting. But the thing is man, in a fight, the jiu-jitsu guys are the strong ones.



PT: How do you mean?

ND: I trained with this little dude the other day. Some small dude from Fabio Gurgel's school. This little mofo was such a good black belt man. He blew me away. I couldn't even hold his ass down. I haven't been training with a gi in a while, so I'm no crazy gi wizard these days, but this kid was strong man. I grabbed him and foot locked him and I think he said something like, "That's illegal in jiu-jitsu," but I was just like, "I don't give a shit dude, I'm tired!" Cesar made me train with this little fucker at the end of the night and he was so strong dude. He gave me all I could handle. That kid had freak jiu-jitsu strength. It's not so much that he could lift me up over his head and slam me, but that sustained strength he was letting out while we grappled you're not gonna get from steroids no matter how much you juice. Pick me up and slam me man, whatever, but what kinda strength do you have on the ground when we're grappling. That's when it matters most. Guys like Sherk can slam you and run you up against the cage, but these guys never finish fights on the ground like true martial artists. This kid Cesar had me train with was the real freak man, not these juice heads.



PT: That Sherk fight you had was close man. Do you think he really won?

ND: No man, I won that fight. Everyone should watch that fight carefully and see how it went down. Who took more shots? He did! I never got hit once with anything decent. The punches he threw at me did nothing. I hit him with real punches. He never kicked me. He got kicked in the head at least twice. I never got kneed in the face. He got kneed in the face. I never got taken down. He got taken down. But I guess cuz he was more active on the bottom he won. I think if we fought with Pride rules, I woulda won that fight.

I think Pride's rules determine more who wins a fight than in UFC. I wish I saw more organizations coming out with Pride rules. I love Shooto's rules too. Shooto is a great organization. Their rules are a bit different. They have those eight second counts in there, but I like it man. I think it's real creative and makes for good fights. If you don't wanna get stomped in the head while you're families watching, Shooto is for you! People don't realize, but Shooto has some great fighting and part of it is because of the rules they have. Why does everyone need to have UFC rules these days? With the rules they have now, they are muffling the technical aspect of the sport. They've taken out a big chunk of what could be very technical fighting. The UFC made their rules so that it favors the wrestlers more. They got guys who get points on the scorecard for takedowns, they don't do shit on the ground except throw some shitty little punches, then they stand it back up and the guy just does another takedown and scores more points. That's not real martial arts dude. They're forcing good martial artists to change the way they fight to play their game.

And then I've gone to shows where they have these refs that have no idea what they're doing. I was at this one show where I had to almost jump over the fence to save this one dudes ass cuz he was getting chocked and the ref didn't know what was going on. The guy tapped already, but this ref was in the clouds man. He didn't know where he should be based on what was going on, so he couldn't see shit! When I first started watching fights, I'll admit it man, I didn't know what was happening all the time. I didn't know what to look for. I didn't know the direction things were going to go in. But they're putting these guys in shows to ref and they have no idea what they're doing. I was almost right over the fence yelling at this guy who finally figured out what was going on and then this guy was all wigged out knowing he did wrong. We need to be educating people man. With all the money going around in this sport man, they need to put some of it into educating people of what's really going down. If a dude taps, he deserves to be let out.



PT: What's your opinion of what Babalu did to David Heath?

ND: It was kinda mean dude. But it sounds like there was more to it. I don't really know. I personally would never do that to anybuddy. I hold my shit tight until the ref pulls me off, but I'll let go all the time once he steps in.



PT: So having fought Gomi, do you think he really is the best guy at that 155-160 weight?

ND: No, I don't think he's the best. I think Sean Sherk is probably even better than him. I guess he's beaten some good guys, but I couldn't feel that when I fought him. I guess he has a good record which looks even better now that they took my win off of it.



PT: So you and Jake Shields hooked up with EliteXC and are headin' down to Hawaii this weekend. Everyone talks about the UFC's 170 class, but where is Jake ranked in your mind?

ND: Jake's on the same level as the top guys in the class. He's right up there with GSP and Matt Hughes. Actually, I'd be surprised if these guys could go five minutes with him. Cuz after they fight him for like five minutes they'll be discouraged as shit to have to go at it with him again. Jake's a freak! One of the most underrated guys in MMA. Jakes Shields will get on you man and you cannot get the mofo off of you. If Shields gets on you man, your nights over. It's not even jiu-jitsu man. He's just a freak. I guess his fighting isn't the most exciting stuff you're gonna see, but no one can handle this guy. No one wants to fight him. Jake was offered that fight against Josh Neer, but it was too short notice for him. I think if he went, he'd be killing everyone in the UFC.



PT: And how do you see your bro doing in the UFC?

ND: I think he'll do just fine man. He's got that fight coming up on the 19th. I don't really know much about the guy he's fighting. I'd much rather they give him a guy like Roger Huerta so we knew what he was dealing with. Nate would kick Huerta's ass anyways.



PT: And how bout you and Mike Aina in Hawaii.

ND: Yeah man, I don't know that much about him either. I hate fighting guys I don't know much about, the little known guys. I assume he's pretty good though man, cuz I doubt they'd bring me and Jake over just to kick all their guy's asses. I'm expecting a tough fight for sure.



PT: Well thanks Nick. Good luck this weekend man and maybe drink some water before the fight so you can take a leak on the spot.

ND: Yeah man, no kidding. Thanks dude. And don't forget RTTR is where its at in terms of MMA forums groups. Rep the Leelandk guy.

Source

Edit: Last two sentences of this interview may have been fabricated.

[Unreal]

nice read

repd

[Dan0]

Gotta wonder with the Sherdog interview and now this one, and Nick saying he will do his job, I gotta wonder if they are considering bringing him back to the UFC.

[rivethead]

great read. Long, but great. I think it's funny how he thinks Red Lobster is expensive. He's right that it's crap, though.

he's less insane in print. repped.

rh

[Krazikarl]

That whole "I have no idea what the rules are" business is nonsense. Anybody can go onto the website of the ACs and get all of the rules. Hes a professional fighter, he should take 15 minutes and figure that shit out.

Yeah, they dont list exactly what they are going to test you for, but what the hell do you expect? They give you a list of things you cant have. Pot is on that list for everybody. That means they can test for it if they want. Maybe they dont every time, but that doesnt mean its a good idea to risk it. Of course they arent going to tell you ahead of time "THIS TIME WE ARENT TESTING FOR POT". Come on now.

Minor racisms on the "Mexican dude" aside, thats what they are supposed to do in piss tests: watch you pee. Guys HAVE gone in with catheters and faked the tests. So, some guy has to watch you pee. Thats why they had that whole Whizzinator thing in the NFL.

I'm kind of worried about Nick. Unlike some other fighters, he really doesnt have the ability to do anything in life besides fighting. Hes making enough money to live on now, but hes going to hit his mid 30s and not be able to fight anymore, and he hasnt made enough to save up big bucks. Whats he going to do then?

I agree with him on food in the US (although I can eat pretty much anythign without feeling sick), and am glad that he seems to have patched things upu with the UFC. I'd like to see him fighting again in the UFC.

[BIG FLO]

He should move to Luke Cummo's farm.

[rivethead]

Originally Posted by Krazikarl

That whole "I have no idea what the rules are" business is nonsense. Anybody can go onto the website of the ACs and get all of the rules. Hes a professional fighter, he should take 15 minutes and figure that shit out.

Yeah, they dont list exactly what they are going to test you for, but what the hell do you expect? They give you a list of things you cant have. Pot is on that list for everybody. That means they can test for it if they want. Maybe they dont every time, but that doesnt mean its a good idea to risk it. Of course they arent going to tell you ahead of time "THIS TIME WE ARENT TESTING FOR POT". Come on now.

Minor racisms on the "Mexican dude" aside, thats what they are supposed to do in piss tests: watch you pee. Guys HAVE gone in with catheters and faked the tests. So, some guy has to watch you pee. Thats why they had that whole Whizzinator thing in the NFL.

I'm kind of worried about Nick. Unlike some other fighters, he really doesnt have the ability to do anything in life besides fighting. Hes making enough money to live on now, but hes going to hit his mid 30s and not be able to fight anymore, and he hasnt made enough to save up big bucks. Whats he going to do then?

I agree with him on food in the US (although I can eat pretty much anythign without feeling sick), and am glad that he seems to have patched things upu with the UFC. I'd like to see him fighting again in the UFC.

Nick is 24, he has 11 years before he reaches his mid-30s. You could have spent 15 minutes on the internet to find that out. I even think he has a Wiki page, geez.

And he was complaining more about the guy interpreting his inability to pee as an unwillingness to take the test.

rh

[Chute]

Go to www.proelite.com and under the forums there was a live conf, chat with Diaz. There is more interesting stuff there, real good answer for fighters who smoke dope.

[ILJO]

Nick Diaz is right about a lot of shit. He dropped out of high school in 10 grade but hes no tard. He knows whats going on. I really respect the guy. Great read.

[Noob]

Originally Posted by ILJO

Nick Diaz is right about a lot of shit. He dropped out of high school in 10 grade but hes no tard. He knows whats going on. I really respect the guy. Great read.

He's got some interesting ideas. Some of them better than others. I'm not sure I would blanket him with the statement that "he knows what's going on," though. He's not quite that with it.