Expect the unexpected

LAS VEGAS -- UFC president Dana White opened the UFC 137 post-fight press conference by saying that he had a big announcement to make but was waiting for Nick Diaz to arrive after a hard-fought and highly impressive victory over B.J. Penn so he could hear it at the same time.

We all had a pretty good feeling what it was: there was going to be another welterweight title shot changeup and Diaz, who had just accused welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre of not being hurt but rather afraid to fight, would be moved back into the slot to take on GSP for the belt instead of Carlos Condit.

What we didn’t realize was the exact impetus for the decision. And that was likely different than what we would have expected.

"I’ve known GSP since 2004 and he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen him like he was tonight. He flipped out after Nick Diaz was in the ring,” White said when he was finally asked about the news after Diaz arrived. "Nick needs motivation, he’s got it now. He’s going to fight Georges St-Pierre.”

The announcement was immediately met with a round of applause. But wait, there’s more.

“GSP said, and I quote, '(Diaz is) the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met and I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.'"

An angry GSP? This could get interesting.

White explained that they called Condit, who agreed to step aside and will likely fight on the same card as St-Pierre vs. Diaz, which they are hoping to do Super Bowl weekend 2012.

Was Diaz, who had already spent a number of minutes answering questions about his performance and his frustrations with the fact that Saturday night’s fight wasn’t already his welterweight title shot, excited by the news?

Nope.

"So I have to come off like that just to get a fight,” an angry Diaz interjected, evidently feeling like he’s constantly vilified. "You know what I’m saying? I’ve got to be the bad guy and point the finger."

Well, the fact is, he chose to point the finger and essentially accused GSP of faking an injury to duck fights.

Diaz’s trainer and manager Cesar Gracie went a step further while speaking to a small gathering of reporters.

"The man who didn’t show up at the press conference was here tonight and the man who did wasn’t. I’ll let that speak for itself,” Gracie said. In other words, Diaz skipped his media obligations but showed up in the cage, while GSP was there to answer questions but not answer the bell.

Which is to say, the welterweight champion must not be tough enough to fight through an injury (one that would completely hinder his ability to fight with any effectiveness, by the way.)

And I thought it was just Diaz who said ridiculous things.

So, Diaz is getting his title fight but he’s still unhappy. (He also rambled on about compensation for his sparring partners, and wanting to live in a better neighbourhood but not knowing how to buy a house in the middle of his training.)

And then he was offended when we all laughed, not realizing he wasn’t trying to be funny. I actually felt somewhat bad for him.

But I feel more for Condit, who’s missing out on his title shot through no fault of his own. Sure, it wasn’t his to begin with; but he was given it, signed a contract for it, and did all his preparations for it. (Although I’m sure he’s getting compensated handsomely for graciously giving up his spot.)

My question is this: there’s no doubt St-Pierre vs. Diaz is the right fight to happen next, but is it being put on the right away?

When Sonnen calls out Anderson Silva (and it looks like that fight might happen), and now Diaz does the same and gets it, it’s setting a dangerous precedent.

Fighters as the new matchmakers? As a fellow MMA journalist tweeted, "Can you imagine the Super Bowl teams being decided that way?”

But the fact of the matter is, this fight that looks like it will take place on Feb. 4, 2012 is what we were originally expecting on Oct. 29, 2011. It’s the fight we wanted, were anticipating and were pumped for.

I dare say we’re just a little more pumped for it now.

Oh, and by the way, both Penn and Mirko Cro Cop announced their retirements in the cage Saturday. But that became merely a footnote on this night, when another chapter in the UFC welterweight division drama was written.

DIAZ INCAPABLE OF JOY? Diaz said he thought he put on a poor performance, due in part because he couldn’t get the proper training he needed because his trainers weren’t being compensated as they should (and he didn’t blame them for that.)

“I didn’t fight a smart fight,” Diaz said. “I’m not happy with my performance at all. I felt good, but I wasn’t 100 per cent. Leading up to this fight, I went through a lot of hard times.”

If Saturday night was Diaz putting on a poor performance, I’d love to see the type of performance from him that he’d be happy with.

PENN REALLY DONE?

After getting his face busted up, Penn, who wasn’t at the press conference but was instead taken to the hospital, said he was calling it quits because he didn’t want to go home to his family looking like that anymore.

White, however, was uncertain of whether Penn will stick by his impromptu retirement announcement.

"B.J. is a warrior. What happened to him tonight never happened to him in his entire career. He said he wants to retire, we’ll see how that plays out ... What he's thinking tonight he might not think eight weeks from now."

I personally feel like it was an emotional response from Penn and don’t expect the retirement to stick. He said many times this week he still loves to fight and wants to do it for a few more years.

A LEGEND LEAVES ON AN ALMOST HIGH NOTE

It’s the end of the fighting road for Croatian kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop. But he didn’t go out quietly.

Sure, he was stopped for the third straight fight. But White was still complimentary of his performance.

“Cro Cop’s been a good guy since the day we signed him,” White said. “He’s disappointed with his run in the UFC. But I’m 42, for him at 38 to still be fighting with much younger guys is something. And he did what he planned to do. He said tonight won’t be a boring fight like his Frank Mir fight and it wasn’t.”

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