Why is the UFC 137 main event between B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz such a timeless and monumental match up? For me, it's because fighters like Penn and Diaz are why I'll always be more of a fan than a journalist.
Trumpeted as the first non-Brazilian to win a BJJ world championship in the black belt category, the scrawny Hawaiian kid that meekly made his way into the cage looked commonplace and far from menacing. He seemed like just another fighter in just another fight.
This was during an era where most submission specialists were flailing punches like school girls or butt flopping uncontrollably like a dog with the runs dragging himself across the carpet. Instead, Penn erupted into a violent storm of strikes and left his first three opponents broken and asleep on the canvas before screaming something about Hilo and rappelling up into the arena rafters, exiting with a "WTF just happened?"sort of panache like Batman.Mere moments after manhandling BJ Penn in the main event of UFC 137, Nick Diaz made it clear who he wants next in Ultimate Fighting Championship’s octagon.
“Where you at, Georges? Where you at, (expletive)?” he shouted as he paced the cage.
Georges – well, that would be UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Diaz, who was originally scheduled to face St-Pierre at UFC 137 before being pulled from the title bout after missing two media events, will get a second chance at the title after an eye-opening unanimous decision over Penn at a sold-out Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
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