Is Nick his own worst enemy?

UFC: Nick Diaz Situation Comes Down to Being Professional, Accountable

March 14, 2012.
E. Spencer Kyte
The Province

Nick Diaz has always got excuses when issues come up, but he never seems to be able to prevent them from happening in the first place.

All the drama surrounding suspended UFC welterweight Nick Diaz could have been avoided.

I’m not just talking about the current conundrum facing the former Strikeforce champion following his positive test for marijuana metabolites after his UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit either. I’m talking all the way back to September when things went sideways fast for Diaz, the UFC, and his title fight with Georges St-Pierre.

All of it comes down to being accountable, and taking responsibility for your own career.

There are always excuses from Diaz, no matter what situation arises.

When he missed several stops on the UFC 137 press tour last fall, Diaz said he didn’t think it was a big deal, referring to the media obligations as a “beauty pageant” before wondering why no one from the UFC was there to ensure he made it to the must-attend events?

When he lost to Condit at the start of February, he declared his intention to retire since the judges clearly screwed him out of the interim welterweight championship, just like they’ve screwed him in every other decision loss he’s incurred over his career.

In the wake of his positive test following the bout, his legal team is now arguing that the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has no basis to suspend Diaz in the first place because marijuana metabolites do not appear on the banned substances list adopted by the NSAC from WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency.

But as Kevin Iole noted in his column detailing the on-going Diaz saga in Las Vegas, Diaz seems to have put himself in a bind thanks to his pre-fight medical form, where he answered “No” to the question “Have you taken/received any prescribed medication/products in the last 2 weeks?” In a sworn affidavit submitted by his lawyer in response to the NSAC’s complaint against him, Diaz says that he stopped smoking marijuana eight ( days prior to competing at UFC 143.

Undoubtedly, there will be some excuse for the error if/when the questionnaire becomes the basis for upholding the suspension or levying a new one against Diaz; that’s just how the pattern goes.

At some point, the pattern needs to stop.

Instead of offering excuses and explanations after the fact, Diaz needs to start being accountable for his actions and handling his career in a more professional manner.

Don’t let there be missed flights, skipped press engagements, and positive tests for marijuana metabolites in the first place. Quit offering up conspiracy theories on why you lost, threatening to take your bag and go home, and making yourself out to be the epitome of hard done by, as there are a lot of fighters who have it worse, but who still manage to meet all their obligations, accept their losses, and fail to cause the slightest ripple in the UFC waters.

Diaz, meanwhile, has returned like a cannonball into a kiddie pool.

It would be one thing if there were a handful of others who have endured similar situations as Diaz has over the last six or seven months, but he’s flying solo on this one. No one else misses media obligations without explanation. No one else threatens to retire when they lose a decision. No one else has to say, “Well marijuana metabolites aren’t actually on the banned substances list” because no one else puts themselves in that position in the first place.

If Diaz and the people around him can’t navigate his career properly in all areas, maybe he needs to surround himself with better people?

At the very least, he needs to stop finding other people to blame for the wholly avoidable uncomfortable situations he keeps finding himself in.

Growing up and being accountable for your own behaviour.... hmmm a very new and novel concept.

Is there any question to that? ofcourse he is his own worst enemy

Quote :

Instead of offering excuses and explanations after the fact, EVERYONE needs to start being accountable for THIER actions and handling THIER career in a more professional manner.

Corrected.

Yeah, I'm with gecko on this;

This isn't even a question. of course he's his own worst enemy! That's common knowledge.


Could Diaz be a guy who flies straight-as-an-arrow and is never involved in any kind of controversy whatsoever? I doubt it. That's just not who he is. And on top of that, I'm not sure I would even be a fan of his if he was like that. We already got hundreds of those guys.

This is who he is, and if he chooses not to ptetend to be something else, I have no problem with that.
Some might say "But isn't it dissapointing to you as a fan? Doesn't it bother you that he let's you down all the time?"
No, it's not dissapointing. Because it doesn't let me down. He's still the same fighter I followed back in his early UFC days, it's just that now he's a bigger target.
No big deal, IMO.

If my kid wanted to be an MMA fighter, I'd probably get him a Rich Franklin autographed whatever. Diaz is not who I'd want him to model himself after. He is his own worst enemy without a doubt. And if he'd pursued a different line of work, he'd probably have a file 2in thick with his employer. I think that's just how he's wired.

No doubt about that.
I would never tell my son "Be like that guy."
Then again, I also would never tell my son "Go to the bar and shoot Bacardi all night and go home with the first girl who offers you a blowjob".

Not that those things aren't awesome. I just wouldn't recommend it to my son.

DEP wrote:

If my kid wanted to be an MMA fighter, I'd probably get him a Rich Franklin autographed whatever. Diaz is not who I'd want him to model himself after. He is his own worst enemy without a doubt. And if he'd pursued a different line of work, he'd probably have a file 2in thick with his employer. I think that's just how he's wired.

butterknifeninja wrote:

DEP wrote:

If my kid wanted to be an MMA fighter, I'd probably get him a Rich Franklin autographed whatever. Diaz is not who I'd want him to model himself after. He is his own worst enemy without a doubt. And if he'd pursued a different line of work, he'd probably have a file 2in thick with his employer. I think that's just how he's wired.

I remember that thread, good ol' Vance worked all day so his employee could go meet Rich, then she had Ace call her boss on the phone and shoot the BS for a bit. Pretty awesome.