LAS VEGAS -- Nick Diaz is here.After no-showing two UFC 137 press events, getting removed from a championship fight, then being reinserted into the event against his early MMA hero, MMA's bad boy is in Sin City, ready to fight BJ Penn.
In fact, Diaz was bright and early for his media responsibilities on Wednesday, arriving a full half-hour before his scheduled arrival time. But Diaz always manages to capture attention one way or another, and this time it was with his words.
Just days before stepping into his fight with Penn, Diaz was asked about the whirlwind journey that's corresponded with his return to the UFC. He gave up a potentially lucrative boxing opportunity to accept a chance at a big bucks matchup with champion Georges St-Pierre, but that fight was taken off the table after Diaz missed his previous press obligations. With the wild twists and turns in his rearview mirror, he said knowing what he knows now, he would have done things a little bit differently.
"I would have gone back to boxing," Diaz said. "If I had my chance to do it over again, I would go back to the boxing contract. It would have paid me more money, and I would have took my punches win or lose, and just do my job, fight and get paid."
Diaz's comments weren't said with any malice towards the opportunity he's given, explaining it as a business decision that would have paid dividends in both the boxing and MMA realms.
"Later on, I'm sure they would have me back here or somewhere," he said. "You want to see a pro boxer fight MMA? Now you have yourself a high-level pro boxer. In my opinion, I don't know, I don't think about it till it's all over with but I would have made plenty of money in boxing and would have made plenty of money later coming back so it definitely would have worked out if I had done what I set out to do and gone to pro boxing for a while."
Diaz will still have a chance to earn his much anticipated lucrative payday. If he beats Penn, he's a virtual lock to face the winner of the upcoming title fight between champ St-Pierre and challenger Carlos Condit.
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/10/26/days-before-ufc-137-fight-nick-diaz-regrets-passing-up-boxing-o/
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