The Ten Things We Learned At UFC 137

Storylines to follow after UFC 137: BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz

How many of you believed that UFC 137 would be the Nick Diaz Show?

My hand isn’t raised. I picked B.J. Penn to beat Diaz, but with one caveat: if Penn couldn’t finish Diaz in the first round, he would lose a decision in the second and third. Low and behold, that’s exactly what happened. I’m no Nostradamus, of course. The above scenario was essentially a lock and everyone I talked with in Las Vegas this week shared the same sentiment.

But what I didn’t expect was Diaz not only handily beating Penn, but sending him into an early retirement and then going ballistic at the post-fight press conference as only Diaz can.

It was an enthralling night full of intriguing story lines that had plenty of impact on the future. Let’s take a look at the ten things we learned at UFC 137.

1. Nick Diaz is quickly becoming one of the biggest stars in the sport.

He never says the right thing at the right time. Ever.

He doesn’t understand why he should take time out of his valuable training schedule to talk to the media and hype upcoming fights – fights that depend on such marketing tactics to sell more pay per views and add zeroes to his check.

The chip on his shoulder is large enough to feel like a boulder, and he feels like the big, wide world outside of Stockton is out to get him.

When he does speak, it’s often confusing, rambling and full of the kind of nonsense that takes hours, if not days, to unravel.

And yet despite everything I’ve cited above, Nick Diaz is also becoming one of the biggest stars in the world of mixed martial arts. It’s a fact. No matter how you feel about Diaz, his mercurial attitude or his seeming unwillingness to cooperate in just about any situation you throw at him, he’s still one of the most intriguing stars in the sport.

His win over B.J. Penn was classic Diaz in every sense, but it was his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that perfectly illustrated why fans either fall in love Diaz or hate him more than anyone else in the sport.

He didn’t just insinuate that Georges St-Pierre might be faking an injury; he flat out said that St-Pierre pulled out of his fight with Carlos Condit because he was scared. In Nick’s mind, St-Pierre removed himself from UFC 137 because he was scared of Nick.

No, it doesn’t make sense, but the things Nick Diaz says rarely make sense. They don’t have to, because Nick is Nick and there is nobody else like him. From that post-fight interview all the way to the stunning post-fight press conference that saw Diaz capture an entire room of assembled media and hold them in the palm of his hand, Diaz was in complete control. He was so much in control, in fact, that Carlos Condit was removed from his scheduled title fight in favor of Diaz despite White’s insistence in the days leading to the fight that Condit’s title shot was secure.

We shouldn’t be surprised by Saturday’s events. Nick Diaz should no longer surprise anyone. But he does, and it’s going to continue earning him legions of fans.

2. We finally saw the real Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre is a carefully manufactured product. He never deviates from the public persona he’s cultivated over the years, and that makes him a fine spokesman for a sport still struggling for true mainstream acceptance.

At UFC 137, though, we saw a different side of St-Pierre. The guy who never allows himself to be drawn into a war of words with upcoming opponents finally had enough of Nick Diaz’s mouth.

After Diaz accused St-Pierre of faking an injury and being scared, St-Pierre’s entire demeanor changed, and he became visibly angry. He mocked Diaz and feigned terror. It was a completely new side of St-Pierre, and to be honest, it was refreshing. We’ve never seen St-Pierre view a fight as anything but an athletic competition, but Diaz changed everything with one simple sentence.

It’ll be interesting to see how St-Pierre performs against Diaz. He’s angry and feels disrespected. Will that lead to more mistakes in the cage, or will St-Pierre be able to control his temper? It’s just one more facet of an incredibly intriguing story line leading into Super Bowl weekend.

3. We saw the best – and the worst – of BJ Penn

B.J. Penn is one of the best one-round fighters of all time. His first frame against Diaz was classic Penn, filled with crisp counter striking and excellent grappling.

Unfortunately for the legendary lightweight, the second frame was also classic Penn. He tired quickly, allowing Diaz to pounce and batter Penn so badly that there was a real question if he would even answer the bell for the third round. It was a close call, but Penn pushed forward.

He should have stayed on his stool. Exhausted fighters are easy prey for Diaz, and Penn was no exception. Diaz picked him apart with pinpoint-accurate shots and thrashed Penn’s face worse than anyone else ever did. He beat him so completely, in fact, that Penn abruptly retired after the conclusion of the fight.

If Penn truly does stay retired, my hat is off to him. He delivered plenty of great moments over his career and has nothing to be ashamed of. But if he’d taken the fight game seriously at all times instead of every once in awhile, there’s no telling how great he truly would have become. We’ll never know.

4. Nelson may joke, but his new mentality paid dividends

Despite his constant joking and defensive mechanisms regarding his weight, UFC 137 was evidence that Roy Nelson had devoted plenty of time to getting in real shape for the first time in his career. He dieted properly and put a special emphasis on strength and conditioning, and the result was a slimmer, far more muscular Nelson with a stronger gas tank than we’ve seen in awhile. We’ll call him “Smaller Country.”

Sure, he tired in the second round, but getting punched in the face by an enlarged Mirko Cro Cop will do that to a guy. He returned in the third with renewed energy and finished what he started, earning himself an extended stay in the UFC in the process with a dominant win.

Nelson is going to continue working on his body and his cardio, and he’ll look even more in shape the next time you see him. He’s always been talented, but he’s finally putting in the time to become a legitimate heavyweight contender. He won’t get the winner of Velasquez/Dos Santos despite calling out the winner after his fight, but a bout with Cheick Kongo or perhaps even Fabricio Werdum wouldn’t be out of the question.

Any way you look at it, a motivated and in-shape Roy Nelson is a dangerous opponent for anyone in the heavyweight division.

5. Donald Cerrone’s time is now

I figured Donald Cerrone would beat Dennis Siver. Cerrone’s submission game is outstanding and Siver’s really isn’t, which means it was a bad style match-up for the German. What I didn’t count on was Cerrone going in the cage and using Siver’s own kickboxing strengths to utterly smash and destroy him.

Siver should have provided more of a challenge for Cerrone, but he didn’t. Not by a long shot. Was Siver overhyped, or was Cerrone just that damn good?

I’m going with the latter.

Leonard Garcia, who owns a ranch/training center with Cerrone in New Mexico, told me several times in the weeks leading up to the fight that Cerrone had taken his game to another level. He was beating up on light heavyweights and heavyweights, Garcia said, and nobody really wanted to spar with him.

I assumed Garcia was just hyping up his best friend, but he wasn’t. Cerrone truly is on a different level than he was just one year ago during the waning glory days of World Extreme Cagefighting, and he’s improving by leaps and bounds each and every time he steps in the UFC cage.

Barring any unforeseen injuries, Cerrone will fight one more time by the end of the year, likely on the New Year’s weekend card in Las Vegas. A win would give him a 5-0 record in the UFC, something that is almost unheard of in the modern UFC.

He’s already nearing title contention. The winner of Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson is virtually assured the next shot at Frankie Edgar, but I believe you can make a case that Cerrone is already more deserving of a title shot than either guy.

He scores another big win in 2011? Give the man a title shot.

6. Mitrione still has a long way to go, but we knew that

UFC 137 was supposed to be a real test for Matt Mitrione, a way to see where he stands among that middle tier of UFC heavyweights.

He did not pass the test. Not by a long shot.

This isn’t to say that Mitrione doesn’t have potential, because he does. The problem is that he’s still a very young fighter, at least in terms of his career, and we need to keep our expectations aligned with his level of experience. He’s shown so much potential in the past and so much drastic improvement that we automatically assume he’s going to go out and be a heavyweight contender, but that’s just not the case. Not yet, anyway.

Mitrione himself likes to say that he’s the most-hyped fighter in the UFC. That’s true. He tries to keep fan expectations in order, but we love seeing new heavyweight prospects come down the pipe and excel, and Mitrione is a product of our desire to see big, bad-ass heavyweights become contenders. Mitrione himself may never become heavyweight champion, and that’s okay. He doesn’t need to win a belt to be a success story.

7. Who is Cheick Kongo?

Cheick Kongo’s muscles have muscles, so it’s pretty fair to say that he’s one of the more intimidating fighters on the planet. Once in a blue moon, we’ll see the power striking skills everyone raves about and he’ll instantly turn into that guy you don’t want to meet in a dark alley. He can wage war with the best of them; all you have to do is re-watch his now-legendary battle with Pat Barry to understand what he’s capable of.

And then we have a night like UFC 137, where he spends the majority of the fight backing away from a guy with 5 professional fights and a stand-up game that, to be quite honest, isn’t the best in the business. To top it off, he decided he wanted a little wrestling action in the third round. Wrestling from a guy who really doesn’t wrestle all that well? It worked.

Kongo suffers from an identity crisis. He doesn’t quite know what he wants to be when he steps in that cage. He’ll shy away from his strengths or be completely tentative when he should be going for the kill. He’s a strange one, and I’m not quite sure what to make of him.

8. Hatsu Hioki’s American-style win

Hatsu Hioki’s win over George Roop wasn’t a vindication for Japanese mixed martial arts. Far from it.

But none of that mattered last night. He needed to avoid the curse that has followed Japanese superstars into the Octagon over the past two years. In short, he desperately needed a win. He got one, and he did it in a most unlikely way: by using smothering, Chael Sonnen-esque top control from the mount and good old American wrestling. Instead of standing and trying for an exciting fight – which most Japanese imports tend to do on their first night in the big show because they are used to the Japanese mentality where exciting fights are more important than wins – Hioki realized he was being outgunned standing and decided to take the fight to the mat.

It was a smart move. It wasn’t pretty, not by a long shot, but it was smart. Hioki earned a razor-thin win and moves on to fight another day. He’s not ready to face the likes of Jose Aldo or Chad Mendes just yet, but he gets to stick around. He won’t single-handedly revitalize the failing Japanese MMA world, but he’ll have his chance to face the top fighters in the world. That’s all he’s asking for.

9. Tyson Griffin’s time is over, for now

I remember the days when everyone pined for a rematch between Tyson Griffin and Urijah Faber. It was the featherweight fight that would finally decide the best in the world. I wanted to see that fight in the worst way.

My, how things change.

Faber is now a perennial contender at bantamweight, runs several successful businesses and is one of the most popular fighters in the sport. Griffin, meanwhile, had to cut from lightweight to featherweight just to avoid being released from his UFC contract. He scored a win over Manny Gamburyan in his first outing as a UFC featherweight, but the second time around was an unmitigated disaster.

Griffin missed weight by three pounds and couldn’t lose any more water, so his bout with Bart Palaszewski became a catchweight fight. Guys who miss weight don’t exactly become Dana White or Sean Shelby’s favorite fighters. Griffin topped off the weekend by getting absolutely steamrolled and knocked out by Bart Palaszewski on the first televised fight of the night. The knockout was so bad, in fact, that Griffin had to be assisted by several security guards for well over a minute because he could not stand under his own power.

Griffin is 3-5 since UFC 90 in 2008. He doesn’t have a truly great win since beating Clay Guida in a barnburner back in 2007. Featherweight wasn’t the magical answer to everything that ailed him, which leaves him between a rock and a hard place. He was a fan favorite for a long time and that probably allowed him more leeway when it came to his contract, but those days are done and gone. I expect his UFC days to be done and gone as well.

10. Carlos Condit is getting royally screwed, but they’ll make it up to him

Dana White says Carlos Condit agreed to step aside and allow GSP to fight Nick Diaz. Condit’s agent, Malki Kawa, says Condit did no such thing and that St-Pierre chose to fight Diaz over Condit. The entire situation is he said, he said at this point, so we’ll focus on the other stuff.

It’s a shame. Sure, you can argue that Condit wouldn’t even have the title shot in the first place if Nick Diaz hadn’t gone crazy and missed mandatory media events. That’s completely true. But the fact remains that Diaz did, in fact, miss mandatory events and was pulled from the title fight for not being a professional.

Condit accepted the title fight and immediately jumped on a plane to Las Vegas to fulfill those obligations that Diaz couldn’t be bothered to attend. He accepted every interview and did everything he was asked to do, all while preparing for the biggest fight of his life. His title shot was delayed when St-Pierre pulled out with a knee injury, but figured he’d get his chance in a few months, after St-Pierre healed. He was patient, as he always is.

Instead of facing St-Pierre on Super Bowl weekend, Condit will likely step in the cage with someone like Josh Koscheck or Jake Ellenberger. He’ll no doubt face an extremely dangerous welterweight, and it won’t be an easy fight. In essence, Condit will have to earn his title shot all over again, and a loss means he’s going to the back of the line yet again.

I understand why we’re seeing Nick Diaz thrust back into the title fight with St-Pierre. It’s easily the biggest money fight that the UFC can make for 2012, and you sure don’t want to risk that kind of big-money fight when you have a chance to put it together. You strike when the iron is hot, as the old saying goes, and the iron is hotter than it’s ever going to be.

None of that means much for Carlos Condit at this point. He’ll put on a brave public face, and I’m sure the UFC will compensate him for losing the title fight. But deep down inside, he has to be crushed, and nobody can blame him for feeling that way.

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