UFC
Dana White willing to give Nick Diaz another shot at title with UFC 137 win over B.J. Penn
Oct 12, 2011 - 2:00:07 PM Dana White willing to give Nick Diaz another shot at title with UFC 137 win over B.J. Penn

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Nick Diaz cost himself a lucrative payday at UFC 137 by no-showing consecutive press conferences and being pulled from the main event against Georges St-Pierre. He was still given a shot at B.J. Penn on the same card, and should he win that fight, he'd find himself back into position to be given a title shot.

With what happened with Diaz with his first scheduled shot, that could potentially be a problem for the UFC. However, White says he'd be willing to give Diaz another shot, and doesn't think they're going to run into the same issues with him again.

"I saw him when Nate won, everything seems good," White said in an interview with MMAWeekly.com. "Seems like his head's in the right place and we're ready to go... Yeah, [I'm prepared to give him a shot if he beats Penn]. I don't see that happening again. If it does, I [wouldn't] even know what to say."

White says he can't make Diaz do anything, but he doesn't want him to do anything more than simply show up for those responsibilities.

"We don't babysit. He knows, we've talked, and I'd seriously be shocked if he didn't show up at another press conference," White said. "[I need him to] just show up, he's probably going to flip everybody off... I don't want him to not be Nick Diaz. I just need him to show up to stuff like that."

Penick's Analysis: It's not surprising that White would be willing to give Diaz another shot. It was a big enough punishment to his bank account by losing the fight with St-Pierre, and a win over Penn will certainly give him a bigger claim to a title shot than the win over Paul Daley did. Diaz just have to follow along with the bare minimum of what the UFC expects of him, defeat Penn, and then he'll get his shot at the belt.

[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]