UFC
Nick Diaz skips flight to Las Vegas, missing open workouts for UFC 183; Dana White, Dave Sholler comment
Jan 28, 2015 - 3:25:29 PM Nick Diaz skips flight to Las Vegas, missing open workouts for UFC 183; Dana White, Dave Sholler comment

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

It appears Nick Diaz just can't help himself.

The UFC 183 headliner is not in Las Vegas yet for his fight this weekend with Anderson Silva, and UFC President Dana White said on Wednesday that he didn't know where he was.

"Nick is being Nick. We don't know where Nick is. I literally Instagram'ed a picture of him on a milk carton today. He's M.I.A.," White said in an interview with Jim Rome early Wednesday (transcribed by MMAFighting.com). "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."

According to UFC VP of public relations, Dave Sholler, in a separate interview with MMAFighting.com, Diaz was spotted in the airport, but for whatever reason chose not to get on his flight, missing Wednesday's open workouts in Las Vegas.

"We had staff that saw him yesterday in the airport and he elected to not get on the flight," Sholler said. "His bags did arrive. Again, I can't speak to why Nick decided not to get on the flight, but we're moving on as if the fight is happening Saturday. We're very confident he's going to be here today."

White, Sholler, and the UFC are assuming Diaz will show up when it's time to fight this week, but White admitted that he did this to himself by giving Diaz another prominent spot.

"The problem is this: it's too late," White said. "I already made the fight. We're sitting here on Wednesday. There's a lot of things he doesn't show up for, but he always shows up for the fights, so I'm counting on him showing up."

"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."

Penick's Analysis: I know that this is part of what makes Nick Diaz who he is, and I suppose it's endearing to some that he continues to do these things, but at some point enough is simply enough. Now, I expect him to show up for weigh-ins, and to show up to fight on Saturday night, but to even bring that very basic level of professional responsibility into question is just ridiculous. As White resigns himself to saying here, it's too late to do anything about it, but it's the type of thing that should make them not give Diaz any further concessions after this event.

[Nick Diaz art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]