30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, February 3, 2012

Do you ever root for the "bad" guy?


"He's the most disrespectful human being I've ever met and I'm gonna put the worst beating you've ever seen on him in the UFC."


That's what Georges St-Pierre said about Nick Diaz after the Diaz-Penn fight back in October. Unfortunately... GSP is injured and won't have the opportunity to back up his words... at least not yet.

Instead, Carlos Condit will take on Diaz tomorrow night in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

I'm writing as if I'm an expert on the subject... but really I know little about mixed martial arts & the fighters that represent the sport. Which is why I did my homework on Mr. Diaz... and from what I've heard, read, and seen... he tends to be portrayed as a "jerk" or the "bad" guy.

But back in November, I had the opportunity to meet Diaz at an autograph signing at Milo's Wide World of Sports Collectibles in San Jose... and he was as cool as ice.



He talked to his fans and took photos with them. An acquaintance of mine had over 70 items signed and Diaz didn't even flinch.

Collectors could get an 8x10, a photo op, and Nate's autograph for $20.

My buddy Mike helped promote the signing, so I ended up getting this personalized 8x10 for free...


Plus I picked up this 11x17...


for $10, because I helped out another guy by standing in line and getting things signed for him.

The winner of the Condit-Diaz fight will defend his title against St. Pierre... and there's nobody GSP would rather fight than Diaz. It doesn't look like a lot of people will be pulling for Diaz tomorrow night, but he'll have at least two people cheering for him: Me & GSP.

Are you a MMA fan? If so... who's your favorite fighter?

I've watched my share of fights and have a handful of MMA relics and autographs, however I can't exactly call myself a fan. A few years back, I was a little more into it... and actively cheered on Matt Hughes... and eventually cheered for B.J. Penn.

But tomorrow night... I'll be pulling for Stockton's own... Nick Diaz. Not because I want to root for the "bad" guy, but because I want to see GSP take on Nick for the title and witness the worst beating I'll ever see in the UFC.

Happy Friday everyone. I hope all of you had a great week. Sayonara!

6 comments:

AdamE said...

Back when I used to be a fan of wrestling (the fake kind) my favorites were almost always the bad guy. (Rick Rude, Jery "The King" Lawyer (pre WWF Lawler when he was a bad ass and bad guy), Hall, Nash, Norton, etc, etc)

(there are two Diaz MMA fighters, Nick and Nate. I think they are brothers and I think I have the two of them straight in my head but I could be wrong. Sorry if I do)

I have followed MMA for years and Diaz is definatly has the bad guy persona. But I don't think it is a persona I thin khe actully acts that way, so much so even I who roots for the bad guy can't stand him. When GSP says he is the most disrespecting person he is pretty much right. It wouldn't surprise me to see Diaz knock someone out than spit on the guy. In his last fight when the ref told the fighters to touch gloves he flipped the guy off and walked away then cussed him and flipped the bird multiple more times during the fight. He is a total piece garbage.

I'm pulling for the no name guy because it would be more embarrassing for him to loose to a nobody.

Captain Canuck said...

I don't follow it too closely, but will watch the big pay-per-views over at my in-laws.
Gotta go with GSP as my fave. He's the best pound for pound fighter in the world today. Scary good.

But as a whole, I prefer teh heavyweights over anything else. There's not much excitement to me watching two tiny 185 pound guys fight.

Eric L said...

I LOVE MMA! I don't really have a favorite fighter, I just love a good matchup. I remember getting VHS tapes of the early UFC fights from my small town video store and have been in love with the sport ever since.
I personally love guys like Diaz or Chael Sonnen or Brock Lesner who play the heel quite well. You can't have good guys if there are no "bad" guys.

1967ers said...

I know nothing about MMA. That said, I have to root for GSP or abandon my citizenship. I'm sure I read that somewhere.

1967ers said...

I know nothing about MMA. That said, I have to root for GSP or abandon my citizenship. I'm sure I read that somewhere.

Fuji said...

adame - yeah, they're brothers... people were hoping nate would show up too... but he didn't.

i've read that he's pretty disrespectful... which explains why gsp wants to get at him so bad.

captain - i watch the main events too... but the guys i've always rooted for seem to fall around the welterweights

eric - damn...you go way back. i think the first time i watched it was when royce gracie was kicking everyone's butt. i wanna say there wasn't any time limits, they just got in a ring until someone won.

1967ers - i like how gsp carries himself... he's very respectful.