It certainly looks like Nick Diaz doesn't want to play ball.
The former Strikeforce welterweight champion and upcoming UFC le-challenger no-showed a press conference today in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where he and welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre were supposed to answer questions from the media about their UFC 137 bout.
"Nick is extremely happy about the opportunity to fight GSP, but old habits die hard," Diaz manager Cesar Gracie today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com).
St-Pierre showed and complained that Diaz's absence was unfair because he had interrupted his training camp to attend the press event, according to a report today in the "Winnipeg Free Press."
Gracie said his fighter's absence is regrettable, but he also said Diaz will be in attendance for a press conference held Wednesday in Las Vegas.
"Nick is going to be there tomorrow, and we'll go from there," he said.
UFC 137 takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main card, which St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) vs. Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) headlines, airs live on pay-per-view.
Of course, the no-show comes as little to surprise to those familiar with Diaz's relationship with the press. The former Strikeforce fighter no-showed a conference call for the first defense of his le, a rematch with former EliteXC leholder K.J. Noons.
"Nick doesn't really do the conference calls with a guy he's fighting; he just never has," Gracie then told reporters. "It's just not in his psyche. He's too busy training right now to answer any questions."
UFC president Dana White often has lamented Diaz's inability to "play the game," and during a meeting that eventually would produce a UFC contract and booking against St-Pierre, he tried to broach the topic.
But even White couldn't predict whether he'd gotten through.
"That is the million-dollar question, my friend," White said. "I sat down, and I talked to him, and we'll see how that went."
Fans are invited to Wednesday's presser, which takes place at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT local time) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.