UPDATE:
Nick Diaz has finally arrived in Las Vegas. For details, click here.
ORIGINAL STORY:
It’s happening again. UFC bad boy Nick Diaz, who has a history of failing to show up for pre-fight obligations, is missing in action just days before the biggest fight of his career, as he challenges Anderson Silva in the main event of this Saturday’s UFC 183 pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
In the first episode of UFC 183 Embedded, which you can watch above, the story was covered, as cameras were in the airport when Diaz failed to get on his scheduled flight to Las Vegas.
Since then, UFC President Dana White has addressed the situation. White appeared on The Jim Rome Show on Wednesday and spoke about the subject.
“Nick is being Nick,” said White. “We don’t know where Nick is. I literally Instagram’ed a picture of him on a milk carton today (picture available below). He’s M.I.A..”
White continued, “First of all, we have a show called UFC Embedded, they showed up there Sunday to start filming him — couldn’t find him. We went through his management team and they set it up, they said ‘what we’ll do is we’ll set up a team dinner, you guys can film at the team dinner.’
“None of them showed up at the team dinner, then nobody answered their phones when the guys started calling. So then yesterday Nick was supposed to land in Las Vegas at 2:20. He missed his flight. His management team called and said, ‘book him another flight at 7:30.’ Not only did he miss the first one, he missed the second flight. His bags made it to Vegas and he never did.”
UFC’s Vice President of Public Relations Dave Sholler announced at the UFC 183 open workouts on Wednesday that Diaz was at the airport the previous night but “elected” not to get on his flight.
For what it’s worth, Diaz’s agent, Llyod Pierson, claims UFC knows exactly where the Stockton MMA star is.
“It’s just the spinning at work,” said Pierson. “This isn’t the old Nick not showing up. There were some logistical issues. Everything is on schedule now.”
Pierson continued, “Everyone knew what was going on. The camera made it seem like he missed his flight. He didn’t get on his original flight and everyone knew he wasn’t getting on his original flight. Everyone knows where he is. He’s fine. Dana knows where Nick is.”
While White doesn’t seem thrilled with this series of events, he did mention that it’s something he’s come to expect from Diaz, and said he’s confident he will show up to the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the site of Saturday’s bout, ready to compete.
“There’s a lot of things he doesn’t show up for, but he always shows up for the fights,” said White. “So I’m counting on him showing up.”
White continued, “I did it to myself again. I made a fight with Nick Diaz, a big main event fight. You know, when you get him in the office and you sit down, and he’s like, ‘Well, you know, I feel like I haven’t been paid right. Pay me right.’ He’s being paid right for this fight. It doesn’t matter how much you pay him, he’s not going to …I did it to myself, so I can’t sit here and cry about Nick Diaz. It’s Nick being Nick.”
Diaz vs. Silva headlines UFC 183, which takes place this Saturday night, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Make sure to visit MMANews.com on Saturday evening for the best UFC 183 live results coverage on the web.
#WhereIsNickDiaz #UFC183 #UFC pic.twitter.com/CFYjXxKRnJ
— Dana White (@danawhite) January 28, 2015
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