UFC
Dana White finding ways to work with Nick Diaz, says "I'll need to deal with him differently"
Sep 21, 2011 - 10:30:03 PM Dana White finding ways to work with Nick Diaz, says "I'll need to deal with him differently"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Nick Diaz's failure to "play the game" with the way the UFC promotes their main event fights earlier this month led to his removal from the UFC 137 main event. But it didn't lead to his release, and the UFC plugged him right back into the event in a co-main event slot against B.J. Penn.

White chalked up Diaz's no-show at the two press conferences scheduled for the event as Diaz simply not realizing that he was on another level in the UFC.

"It's very clear why he missed [the press conferences]," White said after Wednesday's UFC 135 pre-fight press conference. "He didn't want to go. He's fought in smaller organizations where the inmates run the asylum [and he's gotten away with that type of thing before]. When you come over here, it's a whole other ballgame. You don't run the show. I do. I'm going to make decisions sometimes that make the fans not too happy and piss people off here and there. But if you're going to run your business, you've got to do what you've got to do."

With Diaz, in White's opinion, not quite ready for what's required of a main event fighter in the UFC, this fight with Penn is a chance to "ease" him into it, and White now understands he'll need to deal with Diaz a little differently than other fighters in the organization.

"The kid wanted a fight, but he didn't like all the things that go along with fighting in the main event," White said. "So, we said, 'OK. We'll put you in the co-main and ease you into this.'"

"Here's the thing with Nick Diaz, which I'm not used to, but I'm going to get used to it: He's just a different guy. I'm going to have to handle him and deal with him differently than I do every other guy in the UFC."

White said that Diaz took the first step in complying by showing up to his interviews for the countdown show for UFC 139. Ultimately, though the relationship got off to a rocky start here, White says he thinks they'll be able to work together.

"I believe, and maybe I'm a little goofy, that I have a good rapport with this kid and we can work together."

Penick's Analysis: Really, I understood why the UFC made the move they did with this event, and even though the original fights were hyped and anticipated, the new matchups are still exciting fights. Clearly White and the UFC still know they can make something work with Diaz as a fighter, and they'll allow some concessions going forward, but they felt they needed to make a statement that Diaz skipping out wasn't going to be tolerated. Diaz now just needs to show up on October 29, find a way to beat B.J. Penn, and the UFC will likely give him another chance for that title fight. And actually, if he manages to get the title fight that way, he'll have gotten a lot more exposure than he would have otherwise.