Penn, UFC squabble via Internet vids
Just what UFC 137 needed, more drama …
You might have assumed the UFC’s Oct. 29 event in Las Vegas had already filled its quota for tomfoolery after Nick Diaz’s antics got him bounced out of a fight against Georges St. Pierre and into one with B.J. Penn last week; especially after longtime scribe Dave Meltzer cited anonymous sources on Thursday telling his Wrestling Observer newsletter that Diaz was also considering withdrawing from his consolation fight against Penn as recently as Monday.
Unfortunately, the theatrics were not quite finished.
Witness Penn and the UFC swapping allegedly incriminating Internet videos these past few days, with first Penn, then the company president, then Penn again releasing short clips of the former multi-divisional champ either saying or not saying bad things about Diaz at the behest of UFC interviewers. Or, not at their behest. Depending on your point of view.
It started this week when Penn posted a YouTube video of himself sitting shirtless by a hot tub, telling a reporter from Shoot Media that representatives from the fight company had pressured him to bury Diaz during filming for an upcoming “Countdown” special. Penn said he was uncomfortable with the interview because he respects Diaz as a former training partner and didn’t want to trash him.
“It was crazy …,” Penn said. “At the end of the whole thing, they forced me to say, 'You gotta say Nick Diaz's name now, you gotta say his name.' And I was like, 'What?' They were like, 'Say you're gonna beat Nick Diaz. Say you're going to beat Nick Diaz.' And I said, 'I'm going to beat Nick Diaz.’ I wish, if I was really being more smart, I would have said, ‘At UFC 137 my hand will be raised ...’
“At the end of the day,” Penn added moments later, “we’ve got to fight. I have to do a fight at UFC 137 and I just don’t want it to be built up off BS.”
While we still don’t know exactly why those particular words bothered Penn so much (as a professional MMA fighter he does believe he’s going to beat Diaz, right?), hackles were clearly raised in the front office. UFC President Dana White quickly released his own video to the popular MMA Underground forum, showing “uncut” outtakes from Penn’s “Countdown” segment where an off-camera interviewer simply asks him to include the date of the UFC 137 pay-per-view as he monotones, “On Oct. 29, I will defeat Nick Diaz.”
After dropping that fairly innocuous statement, Penn cracks a smile and asks someone off camera: “Did you guys need that to make sure he signs the contract?”
So yeah, that little jab seemed worse than the "forced" trash talk Penn was mad about in the first place.
As if those two video releases didn’t read like some sort of subtle joke about the way the MMA news cycle normally operates, Penn’s people put out a third video on Friday showing a different interview, from a different fight (reportedly against Kenny Florian) wherein a UFC interviewer (jokingly, maybe) tells him to: “Hype the fight ... tell me you’re going to beat the s--- out of [Florian] and then kill Anderson [Silva] right afterward.”
To this, Penn laughs, albeit uncomfortably. And yeah, it comes off a little weird, though any statement implying Penn should call out the UFC middleweight champion can’t really be taken seriously. Did Penn’s people successfully underscore their point that the UFC occasionally massages the way fighters state things in the name of "hyping" a fight? Sure, but the sometimes painfully scripted black-and-white interviews that routinely kick off UFC PPVs have made that clear for years.
So what did we accomplish here? Not a lot. The entire video exchange was so strange -- and in many ways typical -- that it’s hard to tell who is right and who is wrong, or what they’re really even arguing about. If nothing else, the true irony may be that, in Penn’s desire to avoid any “BS” in promoting his fight with Diaz, this fracas sort of just adds another layer.
http://espn.go.com/blog/mma/post?id=4264
I was planning on rooting for Penn for the first time in my life -- that lazy ing poly-trash got -- simply because I'd rather cheer for a bucket of horse than a Diaz... but things change. I hate Baby Jane way more than the Diaz sisters; mostly because the Diaz s are about to become 100% irrelevant.
so you admit you were wrong?
For more information on Pride you can call Chael Sonnen directly..
ok so you admit your post about diaz was stupid as
With every single post you are admitting that you are in obsessed with me princess..
Last edited by dbreiden83080; 09-23-2011 at 07:58 PM.
lol @ your erotic posts for ace
Who's following who around like a love-sick little troll?
One of the greatest cards of all time.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit (for UFC welterweight le)
- Have to go with GSP but wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the toughest le defenses for him.
Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn
- Many people hate him, not exactly a big fan myself, but he has a great chin and BJJ.
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
- Big Country!!!
Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
- Lets see if he is worth all the hype
PRELIMINARY CARD ( e TV)
Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver
- Cerrone deserves to be in the LW le picture.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit (for UFC welterweight le)
Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
PRELIMINARY CARD ( e TV)
Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit (for UFC welterweight le)
I really hope GSP finishes this one so people lay off him about all the decisions lately. Condit is gonna bring it but lose to the more well rounded St. Pierre. GSP just mixes things up too well for Condit to handle it. Rory Macdonald put him down over and over so GSP will have no trouble there and submitting GSP from the bottom is basically impossible..
Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn
This is a real pick em fight and i may change the pick after i see the countdown show. I gotta see how hungry BJ looks in camp. On paper Nick sets the kind of high pace that BJ has had trouble with in the past but this won't be a wrestling match it will all be about the striking. Nick is bigger with the reach edge and has great cardio. He can go 3 hard rounds all out but can BJ? We'll see should be a great great scrap..
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
I'm a fan of Kongo but Meat-Head is on the way up and Kongo has not looked the same since the Cain fight.. Meat-Head VIA KO..
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
Kind of the same thing as before. I love Mirko but he is just done. Last fight in the UFC and hopefully MMA for him.. Time for the legend to hang it up..
Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
PRELIMINARY CARD ( e TV)
Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver
War Cowboy!!!
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit (for UFC welterweight le)
- GSP's jabs will set up the TD's and I actually see him submitting condit in the 3rd/4th round. If Condit wins, which he totally can, it's by KO before the championship rounds.
Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn
- I finally have an excuse to pick BJ in a fight. No doubt Dana put it in BJ's head that he can fight GSP again with a win, so we'll see if the "real" BJ Penn shows up. I think he will.
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
- Meathead is quicker and stronger than Kongo's previous fight with Barry, Meathead by skull smashing.
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
- Nelson via crucifix, don't even want to predict this fight but I wanna keep my percentage good
PRELIMINARY CARD ( e TV)
Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver
- Cowboy is on a roll, hope he gets a Top 5 guy after this fight or maybe Lauzon
The thing about BJ is while he has fought in a lot of big fights
He's lost most of them..
BAD NEWS!!!!
weird and sucks, this was 3 hours ago...danawhite Dana White
I just land in NYC and what do I always say!? I have to deal with bad everyday!! GSP is out with an injury!!! #oneofthosedays
GeorgesStPierre Georges St-Pierre
Very focused right now. pic.twitter.com/t9pLJcXX
http://twitter.com/#!/GeorgesStPierr...54816522915840
UPDATE 2: According to Dana on twitter in response to a fan: Diaz vs Penn is new main eventlatimespugmire Lance Pugmire
by JoshGrossESPN
UFC leaders tell me Georges St-Pierre hurt his knee in training camp in Montreal, and is awaiting a doctor's exam right now. #UFC #MMA
Nick Diaz pre fight interview:
http://www.ufc.com/media/ufc-137-diaz-pre-intv
Last edited by ace3g; 10-18-2011 at 04:12 PM.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Knee wtf with the knee?
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
Dustin Jacoby vs. Brad Tavares
PRELIMINARY CARD ( e TV)
Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver
Tyson Griffin vs. Bart Palaszewski
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen
Eliot Marshall vs. Brandon Vera
Danny Downes vs. Ramsey Nijem
Chris Camozzi vs. Francis Carmont
lets see who they add to the card (or move up from prelims), and according to Dana, Diaz vs. Penn will be 3 rounds not 5. Plus he said they will sit Condit and wait for GSP to get healthy.
Last edited by ace3g; 10-18-2011 at 08:26 PM.
I bet Curran Jorgensen will be in main card
Trainer Firas Zahabi discusses champ Georges St-Pierre's UFC 137 injury
http://mmajunkie.com/news/25716/trai...ie.com+Feed%29St-Pierre sprawled on a sparring partner's takedown attempt, trainer Firas Zahabi today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). Then the champ circled away, the injury became apparent.
"After he cooled down, I knew he couldn't fight anymore," Zahabi said. "I've been around, I've seen injuries, and I know that that kind of injury is going to take at least two to five weeks of not standing on it for it to be really good (and) sturdy to fight. That's just me estimating with what I've seen in the past."
As to the exact nature of St-Pierre's injury, Zahabi confirmed that it was a sprain but could provide no further specifics. He wasn't present when the fighter went to the doctor after the training session and received an MRI that confirmed he couldn't compete at the pay-per-view event, which takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
"I don't know what the medical term is," Zahabi said. "I don't know which tendon, or ligament, or whatever is sprained. I'm not a doctor, but I know he's [had] an MRI, he got tested, and he won't be able to fight.
It's a bummer for sure, but that's still an exciting main event.
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