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On Monday, Jon Jones put out his first statement since being arrested this weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence. He did this on Facebook. On the same day, Chael Sonnen filed for a therapeutic use exemption with the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the testosterone that put so many unflattering asterisks next to his name.

That went well. He got it. And he was even asked to become advisor on the subject, a kind of spokesman on the remedies of fleeting youth.

Also on Monday? Nick Diaz fidgeted before the NSAC and he and his lawyers tried to bridge a language barrier between marijuana and its metabolites. This didn’t go as well. Diaz was suspended a year and docked $60,000.

There were doctors called in both cases. Dr. Trainor (in Sonnen’s), and Dr. Sample (in Diaz’s). These weren’t pseudonyms. These were actual human beings. It has all the quality of fiction, but it’s happening.

It’s real. As real as it gets.

That’s why when Dana White’s “It’s Fiiiigggght Weeeeek!” tweet went out, it showed up like a plea to forget for a second about legal issues and hearings and keep the thing we’re all here for in focus.

UFC 146 is on deck -- the long-awaited, all-heavyweight card.

Only, the sad thing is even this couldn’t serve as a distraction. UFC 146 is the card that was drastically altered when heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem was popped for high testosterone levels. Now the UFC 146 we’re getting is entirely different from the original mock-up.

Needless to say, the UFC is going through a rough patch. In fact, at this point it requires imagination to not see the problems going on in MMA. Dana White may be prone to hyperbole, but you have to believe him when he says “bad s--- happens to me before my first foot hits the floor getting out of bed.”

The biggest concern before a fight used to be if all participants would make weight. In 2012, the year of globalization and network television, it’s a lot trickier. There are drug tests. There are loose cannon Twitter feeds to consider, breathalyzers, quack doctors and last-minute injuries.

As for after? There are a million experts who forecast the end of times when the television ratings and/or buy rates get reported. This past week the “Ultimate Fighter” produced a record-low rating on a spicy episode where Urijah Faber was to learn his next opponent. Right before that, the UFC on Fuel card that hosted a fight-of-the-year candidate between Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier also registered a weak rating.

Gentlemen, ignite your doom.

And then there’s this thing about the UFC watering itself down with too many cards. Too many free ones, too many pay-per-views, too many cards that appear on channels that barely exist. The negatives are always magnified. A fight card on a Tuesday? Blasphemy.

The problem with being Dana White in 2012 is that there are thousands of people telling Dana White how to be Dana White. Audaciousness has a way of feeding on itself.

The bigger problem is that propriety isn’t something so easily introduced to a company that has been mightily successful doing things their way.

But the UFC realizes some things will have to change internally to clean up the number of fiascos going on. In fact, Dana White recently told the LA Times that Zuffa will begin testing fighters for PEDs themselves to, among other things, “save the sport.”

“Yes, we’re going to do our own testing, order these guys into [a lab]; we’re sorting it out now,” he said. “You have to do this to save the sport. You can’t have these guys fighting on this stuff.”

That’s a step, at least. At some point there will likely be other changes, things like social media protocols and consistency in punishment for offenders. In short, there will something like definitive rules. After all, the word “professional” can easily stand in for a word like “conformity.” To uphold one, there will be degrees of the other.

And that’s a delicate balance. The fight game is sort of lunatic by nature, and that’s what happily separates it from other sports. The UFC has always done a great job of this. Yet chaos is better contained in the cage. It’s too hard to push enthusiasm for a global brand forward while putting out so many fires backstage.

Yet if we can bear with the smoke a little bit, then shout it out -- it's fight week!

Training camps have become their own game of roulette, and Dominick Cruz -- who trains fiendishly year round -- is the latest casualty.

Cruz tore his anterior cruciate ligament Thursday while prepping for his July 7 title fight with Urijah Faber, and now 2012 will pass by without the UFC bantamweight champion ever stepping into the octagon.

Bummer.

When 10 top contenders can’t beat you, ACL’s are around to remind us that there is such a thing as destructibility. Look at Georges St. Pierre, who suffered the exact same fate. It’s all eggshells before fight night, because injuries remain stubbornly indiscriminate (and prefight drug screenings have a way of coming back hot).

The big difference between Cruz and St. Pierre? St. Pierre’s injury took Carlos Condit with him.

In Faber’s case, he’ll still be dealt a fresh new face, likely in the form of Brazilian Renan Barao or the 21-year old Michael McDonald. Neither one of them provide a gussied-up, trilogy-fight storyline, but both stand a fantastic chance of dialing Faber’s mystique back for good -- which is to say, both have the power to derail Faber’s trilogy fight with Cruz forever.

In a game centered on hype, situations change at far greater speeds than belts. Very likely, whoever wins the rejiggered UFC 148 bout will have the placeholder belt and will wait out Cruz’s timetable for recovery to unify things.

And this is where things fall into a familiar sludge.

How many titlists and top contenders can be on the shelf at once? How many actual and theoretical belts can we introduce without it becoming charades? Whatever the case, matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby are becoming fluent in the laws of attrition. Taking a look at the tops of the UFC’s weight classes right now -- with all the conditions, exceptions, suspensions and voluntary sabbaticals -- most are a total mess.

St. Pierre will fight only once this year (hopefully), and Anderson Silva possibly the same (but hopefully not). Junior dos Santos is fighting in his first title defense in a few weeks (knock on wood), yet the top contender he was supposed to face -- Alistair Overeem -- is suspended. Likewise, Nick Diaz is suspended at welterweight.

Circumstantially, the latest contenders are putting themselves on hiatus, too. Nate Diaz says he’ll wait out Frankie Edgar/Benson Henderson, a fight that’ll likely take place in September. That means the earliest we see No. 1 contender Diaz again is in December. It’s even rockier for Johny Hendricks at welterweight. If he waits out the tentative November showdown between Condit and St. Pierre, he won’t surface again this year.

Title fights in 2012 are becoming scarce. Out of eight weight classes, we’ve had three in five months, and are on pace for maybe 14. Even the flyweight coronation was postponed due to a bumbled math job in Australia. Big fights are being made, and big fights are falling through. It’s the nature of the fight game to roll with the punches, but what a collision course of rotten luck.

What can you do? To use the most common refrain in MMA right now, it is what it is. The UFC can’t issue a memorandum that says, “tread light before the fight.” With Cruz out for the next nine months, it means opportunity for either Barao or McDonald. And the UFC has always been very good at branding optimism and opportunism above all else.

As for this year they have to, because that's what's for sale.

Leading up to the biggest fight of his life this weekend at the UFC’s third live show on Fox, Nate Diaz has had to answer more than a few questions on behalf of his brother.

Of course, this will only strike you as odd if you don’t know who Nate Diaz’s brother is, and if you’ve spent any time at all around MMA, if you are indeed reading this right now, that’s probably impossible.

Even as he stands poised for an opportunity at becoming the No. 1 contender for the UFC lightweight title, Nate remains the lesser known of the fighting Diaz men. His older brother, Nick -- he of the impulsive retirement announcement and ongoing marijuana suspension -- remains the bigger draw, the bigger perceived talent and in most tangible ways the all-around bigger deal.

All of this is despite the fact Nate actually has three more UFC appearances (15, in all) and three more Octagon wins (10) than Nick. Despite the fact he’s proven to be the more reliable Diaz, the kindler/gentler Diaz and -- if all goes well on Saturday night -- stands a decent chance of going on to become the first Diaz to wear UFC gold.

Also, you know, not to mention the fact that if we take him at his own word, Nick Diaz’s MMA career is already over.

Among two different men, such an unequal dynamic might be a problem -- but not with these two. Throughout his career, Nate Diaz has consistently credited his brother not only as a coach and training partner but also lists him first on his official UFC profile page when asked: Do you have any heroes?

We have no sense at all that Nate Diaz wants to fight his way out of his brother’s shadow. In a sport where fighters are seemingly constantly leaving one training facility for another over some perceived slight, where egos run rampant and where there are as many spats and hurt feelings outside of the cage as inside, there has never been a hint of significant strife between the Diaz brothers.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. When asked about his brother’s future this week, Nate Diaz contended that Nick still isn’t interested in returning to the cage (despite the fact he has a lawsuit pending against the Nevada State Athletic Commission) and in his brother’s stead he (Nate, that is) will carry the family’s honor into battle on Saturday night against Jim Miller.

“I feel like I perform for both of us," Nate said during open workouts in New York. "I don’t want to let my team down; my brother down. He helps coach me, and I hope I can go out there and do good and make everyone look good."

Nate Diaz came to the UFC as a work in progress in 2007 and the fact that we’ve watched him experience some growing pains along the way -- while his brother was dominating the competition in EliteXC and Strikeforce -- likely has a lot to do with why we continue to view him as the lesser of two Diazes. Only in recent appearances have we started to see what he’s truly capable of, with his first round submission of Takanori Gomi and thorough beatdown of Donald Cerrone in 2011.

If he defeats Miller to solidify his status as No. 1 contender, we might have to start thinking of him on equal footing with his better known brother. If he becomes UFC champ, well, then he might wake up one day and find himself the more accomplished of the two.

Dan Hardy admits he would love the chance to fight Nick Diaz if the welterweight decides to come out of retirement. More »

Is it wrong to kind of like a George St. Pierre-less welterweight division?

Not that we don’t want him back in November, but these last few months have been kind of fun, yeah? For starters, the St. Pierre injury story is great in itself. No fighter has been able to legitimately challenge him in years. Can a knee injury do it?

Because to be honest, the novelty of St. Pierre ho-hummingly dominating opponents one five-round fight after another had started to wear off. It was still an impressive run, absolutely, but -- come on. In sports, we’re supposed to get drama. We like two-minute drills. We like half-court prayers. We like a man on third, two outs in the bottom of the ninth, down by one.

What’s been kind of nice about St. Pierre being out to start 2012 is that it’s allowed us to envision a welterweight division without such a dominant champ. And what that vision looks like are razor-thin title fights and a serious group of contenders who would trade the belt back and forth between themselves for years.

From a business standpoint, you don’t mind the St. Pierre model. A dominant champ entices casual fans to watch and see what the fuss is about. Hardcore fans will tune in as well, if for no other reason to make absolutely sure they are watching when he loses.

But from a sports fan perspective, I think most would admit they’re ready to see what “St. Pierre in trouble” looks like again. The eye injury he suffered during the Jake Shields win was certainly adversity he had to overcome, but it’s not like the outcome of that fight was ever in question.

So, here’s the question: Can any of these welterweights we’re getting excited about during St. Pierre’s absence actually beat him when he comes back? As I did in October with the lightweights, let’s sort out which of these guys has the best shot at being the one to end St. Pierre’s reign.

The “if stars align and everything imaginable goes your way then maybe ... but still probably not” Group: Dan Hardy, Diego Sanchez, John Hathaway, Rick Story, Dong Hyun Kim.

Go on, laugh at Hardy even being included on this list. Hey, he’s about as long as a long shot can be. But if the organization is willing to hang on to him after four fairly miserable outings, then what’s to say they wouldn’t reward him with a title shot quickly if he were to get hot again?

Sanchez is interesting because if I’m a UFC welterweight I say to myself, “Man, I should call out Diego. I’m pretty sure I can beat him and he’s a big name to add to my résumé.” The only problem is I do that, then I get to the third round of the fight and Sanchez is still coming forward, spewing blood from the nose I’m pretty sure I broke with my knee in the first round and, suddenly, I’m scared. Not sure of what exactly, but definitely scared. This will happen in the next two years: A rising prospect calls out Sanchez and loses.

The “Any way we could combine these two?”: Thiago Alves, Martin Kampmann.

I think last weekend’s fight summed up both fighters pretty well. Kampmann is a gamer with tremendous will but he lacks elite-type athleticism. Alves is the opposite -- he might be the best athlete in the division but he’s vulnerable to mental lapses.

It’s not a terrible idea to go for a takedown in the final minute of a fight you’re winning to remove the flash KO threat, but in these circumstances (Kampmann has five submission wins in the UFC against one TKO) it was bad judgment. And the worst part is, fair or not, we’ve sort of come to expect this from Alves. For the record, though, of these two, I still give Alves a better shot overall at ever holding the belt.

The potential feel-good story of the century: Jake Shields.

If this were Hollywood, wouldn’t you lay everything you’ve got on Shields having a monster year in 2012 and claiming the belt in 2013? In the movie world, St. Pierre would be made out as a way more sinister foe in their first fight and maybe, after the loss to Ellenberger, movie Shields would go on some month-long drinking/partying binge that threatens to end his fighting career. But by the time the credits rolled, he’d be pointing up to the sky with a title belt around his waist.

It could happen. We know the guy is talented. He’s 33 and hasn’t taken a ton of damage despite a lengthy career. And I still think, for whatever reason, we caught Shields on an off night at UFC 129.

The blazing hot prospect and the simmering hot prospect: Rory MacDonald, Erick Silva.

Some of you will no doubt have MacDonald higher on your list, but I can’t quite pull the trigger on a 22-year-old whose biggest win is arguably over string bean Nate Diaz. Don’t get me wrong, I love MacDonald as a future titleholder, just not sure if you can rank him higher than these other guys right now.

Silva, same thing. He certainly looks the part, but so far both opponents he’s fought in the UFC took the fight on short notice and both came within friendly confines of his home country.

The old faithfuls: Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch.

These guys have been here for years and they’ll continue to be here through at least 2013. Fitch’s loss to Johny Hendricks could mean nothing. It was 12 seconds. He was facing some serious ring rust. If you think it’s the last we’ve seen of him, it’s probably because you just don’t like him and it’s clouding your judgment.

Koscheck gets the opportunity to avenge his friend’s loss against Hendricks in May. It’s a surprising fight to me because you’re risking a possible No. 1 contender to a guy who, as long as St. Pierre has the belt, can’t really be a No. 1 contender. Koscheck is high on this list because of his skills but frankly, a lot of things outside his control need to happen if he’s ever going to win the welterweight title.

The "highly" unlikely: Nick Diaz.

He’s probably getting a one-year suspension. If that’s the case, he can’t fight until February 2013. What kind of fight does he pull when he gets back? There will still be a lot of interest in a St. Pierre fight, even if St. Pierre isn’t even holding the belt, but do you really like his chances in that fight after such a long layoff? I don’t. So, would he get a “tune-up” fight first? Even if he did, it would be against a legitimate guy with a real chance at beating him. If that happens, he probably needs to win two more fights to get a title shot. Sorry, but there are just enough unknowns right now that I no longer love Diaz’s chances. He still claims a high spot on this list though because when he comes back, a matchup against St. Pierre is so marketable the UFC will so its best to put it together.

The favorites: Carlos Condit, Jake Ellenberger, Johny Hendricks.

In that order. Condit sits at the top thanks mainly to the intangibles on his side. He’s getting the next opportunity to do it -- at least that’s what it looks like. St. Pierre will be dealing with a very long layoff and he’ll be competing for the first time on his reconstructed knee. Stylistically, he faces an uphill battle in my opinion but not an insurmountable one. If he can stay on his feet, he’ll hit St. Pierre. He’ll get taken down but he’s terrific at escapes and he’s very tough mentally. He won’t be intimidated and he’ll keep working even if things don’t go well early.

Ellenberger is actually my favorite to get it done from a stylistic standpoint. I think he’s the most athletically gifted of the three and I like his standup a little over Hendricks’, although they both clearly hit hard. It would be good if he was a little bigger, but St. Pierre isn’t a huge welterweight either. He’d be very dangerous in a fight against the champ, especially early in the fight.

Hendricks is right there as well. He has the game changer in the left hand and, although St. Pierre would frustrate him a bit in the speed aspect, he’s not an easy opponent to control.

When it’s all said and done though, I guess this is all for naught because it’s very difficult to see anyone unseating St. Pierre. My guess is he makes this whole knee-injury, layoff ordeal look easy. That is, after all, the St. Pierre we’ve come to know.

Jake Shields insists Nick Diaz will not walk away from MMA, despite his temporary suspension dished out by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. More »

OMAHA, Neb. -- UFC president Dana White has addressed what he sees as "totally biased" and "completely unfair" behavior by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

White's comments stem from a hearing on Feb. 1, during which the NSAC ruled unanimously in favor of granting professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. a one-fight license to compete on May 5, despite the fact he faces 90 days of jail time.

In December, Mayweather pleaded guilty to a reduced battery domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges. The following month, a Las Vegas judge agreed to postpone Mayweather's sentence to allow him to fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 5.

The fight could generate more than $100 million for the city of Las Vegas, according to Mayweather's lawyer, Richard Wright.

To White, the decisions made by the state's governing bodies not only defy logic, they fail to coincide with similar scenarios UFC fighters have faced.

"I don't know what to say," White said. "I'll just be honest about it. Holy s---. That's crazy."

In 2011, UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen applied to the NSAC for a second's license, which would not allow him to fight in Nevada, but would grant him the right to corner fighters and serve as a coach on the reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter."

Sonnen, who received a one-year suspension from the California State Athletic Commission for high testosterone levels during a fight against Anderson Silva in August 2010, failed to receive a license from the NSAC.

White is also awaiting a ruling from the NSAC regarding welterweight Nick Diaz, who tested positive for marijuana metabolites after a loss to Carlos Condit earlier this month. It was the second time Diaz has failed a drug test in Nevada.

Precedent suggests Diaz faces a potential one-year suspension and monetary fine for the positive test. On Jan. 31, the NSAC handed down that exact sentence on professional boxer Matt Vanda, who tested positive for marijuana in 2010 and 2011.

To White, comparing the two cases and considering the NSAC's decisions in each are mind blowing.

"The boxer guy, who smokes marijuana a second time, is not going to jail," White said. "He gets a year suspension and they take 40 percent of his purse.

“

Floyd Mayweather is going to jail. It's been put off so he can fight and then he gets licensed to fight? Am I the only guy on this planet who thinks that's crazy?

” -- Dana White

"Floyd Mayweather is going to jail. It's been put off so he can fight and then he gets licensed to fight? Am I the only guy on this planet who thinks that's crazy?"

The promotion had planned to book Diaz to an immediate rematch against Condit before being notified of the failed test. When the positive test was announced, White issued a statement that he was "beyond disappointed."

The NSAC is expected to sentence Diaz at a hearing in April, according to reports. While White eagerly awaits the result of that hearing, he's baffled that Mayweather will be simultaneously training for a fight against Miguel Cotto.

"How about this?" White said. "The Nevada [State] Athletic Commission royally kissed Mayweather's a--. This guy is going to jail, but the judge is allowing him to not go to jail until he has his fight.

"We'll see what happens [at the Diaz hearing]. We'll see if inconsistency prevails again."

Like most, I’m anxious to know whether B.J. Penn will fight again.

Honestly, I didn’t take his hint at retirement this past October too seriously -- only because it came immediately after a very difficult loss to Nick Diaz and without a ton of conviction. He still has good years left. Very few pro athletes walk away from those.

When I met Penn for lunch on Friday in Las Vegas, I went in thinking he might not explicitly tell me, "I’m coming back," but I admit I expected something at least along those lines.

It’s been three months since the Diaz loss: certainly not an eternity but enough to dull the sting of defeat. And enough time, I thought, for Penn to start itching again.

After spending more than an hour with him, though, I can’t tell you whether Penn is retiring. But I can tell you he’s much more serious about it than I thought.

For the first time in more than a decade, Penn says he’s living a "normal" life. If you’ve followed his career, you know he’s not a guy who is back in the gym 48 hours after a fight.

Throughout his career, for better or worse, Penn’s approach to the sport has been to train hard for the fight, fight, then enjoy life ("party" is one way he described it) for six to eight weeks.

Right now, because Penn is unsure whether he’ll fight again, he’s not purposefully trying to live it up before heading to a grueling training camp. The result is that he’s living a normal life instead of one always on one end of the spectrum. And he likes it.

“I’m enjoying my time away from the sport. That’s where I am right now,” Penn said. “I’m living a regular life instead of living the roller coaster. I haven’t [lived a normal life] in 15 years.

“I’m trying to find myself a little bit -- not as a fighter trying to come back to the sport but just as a person.”

Penn says he’s still in the gym on a regular basis, but he's there strictly for his enjoyment of the sport. He’s not forcing himself to do the drills he doesn’t want to do, and he’s not putting his body through the rigors of sparring sessions.

When he doesn’t feel like going, he doesn’t. Although, he says, "usually I want to go."

Most of the time retirement isn’t on his mind, but it’s an impossible topic to avoid when every fan Penn interacts with obviously wants to know whether he’s done. When he does think about the sport and his career, he actually thinks more about the past than the future.

“I just honestly sit back and reflect and look at how it went,” Penn said. “I really do feel I could have done a lot better in a lot of different situations. I’m heartbroken with the way some of the fights went. The way my UFC 94 fight [against Georges St. Pierre] and my fights with Frankie Edgar went, I’m heartbroken about those fights.

“I feel I could have made better choices, but I don’t feel a major urge that I’ve got to go fix that right now.”

He was unaware of the recent comments made by UFC president Dana White on the promotion’s intent to hold a show in Hawaii as early as this year.

“

I'm trying to find myself a little bit -- not as a fighter trying to come back to the sport, but just as a person.

” -- B.J. Penn

We talked about the chances the UFC would have selling out a 50,000-seat arena in Hawaii (pretty good, Penn and his brother J.D. thought, if B.J. is headlining), but we did so hypothetically. Even a main event in Hawaii isn’t a guarantee Penn would return.

“We would just have to sit down and talk about what made sense,” Penn said. “That’s amazing they are finally deciding to go to Hawaii, but I wouldn’t want to waste Dana’s time, getting his hopes up on something he wants to put together.”

I mentioned to Penn that if he does fight again, he should be certain that's what he wants. But does he worry at all about the time being lost while he’s deciding?

Penn is 33. He’ll turn 34 in December. Even if he ends up taking off only six to nine months and then returns, that’s still a significant chunk of time considering he’s not far away from an age where a reasonable decline in performance is expected.

He nodded and said he’s thought about that part. He'll have to live with it.

“That is something that either way, I’m going to have to accept,” Penn said. “I’ve thought about it, but even if you are in your physical prime, there’s still no sense going back if your head isn’t there.”

At the end of the day, I still believe what I did in the beginning -- that B.J. Penn will get in the Octagon again eventually. That’s nothing more than a guess, and right now, my guess on the topic is as good as Penn’s, which is as good as yours.

“I want to tell [my fans] that their guess is as good as mine,” Penn said. “I don’t know.”

It’s been a whirlwind week in the UFC’s alt-title scene -- and it begins and ends with Nick Diaz.

For all his warts, Diaz had achieved a sort of cult status before his fight with Carlos Condit at UFC 143, and the terms of endearment were his alone. Innocent people who vaguely associate cannabis with the Donner party of the 1840s were starting to find warmth in his mean mugging. New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was picking him to beat Condit, saying to the extent of his knowledge, “he’s a tough guy.”

This happens to be the universal perception that we tinker with. By the time Diaz’s second-grade teacher was cameoing on UFC Primetime, we were seeing Diaz in a different light. Or, younger in the same light. Either way, always a tough guy.

The thing everybody was growing to appreciate was this: Here was a truly unyielding person. The subtext was even better: Here was a human being.

None of that has changes in the aftermath of Diaz testing positive for marijuana metabolites after UFC 143. It’s the second time he’s tested positive in the state of Nevada, with the first occurring after he gogoplata’d Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 in 2007. That time, his THC levels were three-and-a-half times over the legal limit. If you are a fan of Nick Diaz, you are a fan of everything that goes into Nick Diaz, whether it’s heart, drive, contradiction or exotic subtances.

And if you were a fan of his a week ago and you aren’t today, you’re verging on hypocrisy.

That’s because this latest positive test isn’t so much news as it is consistency. Our perceptions may be fickle, but Diaz is still Diaz. His image doesn’t get hurt too badly for getting popped for marijuana again, even if his career spirals as a result. It’s not considered a performance-enhancing drug (though this can be contested); it’s a lifestyle choice that Diaz has never hid from. It’s illegal, and that’s what matters to governing bodies. What might not matter is the anticipated year-long suspension that the NSAC may impose. When asked, younger brother Nate Diaz texted ESPN.com that Nick intends to stay retired.

As crazy as it sounds, maybe Diaz really, truly is “through with this s---.” It would be par for the course for a guy who can’t be corralled into such nuisances as protocol and rules.

And with Diaz out of the picture, the welterweight division just as suddenly opens back up. Now it’s Condit’s decision to wait on Georges St. Pierre to fully recover from a torn ACL -- and GSP says that could be by November -- or defend the strap. Since Condit fought only once in 2011, it’s hard to imagine him catering to St. Pierre’s timetable, particularly when you look at how quickly he jumped at the Diaz rematch that was not to be.

Who benefits the most?

It could be Johny Hendricks, who has two things on his side -- timing and merit. It doesn’t hurt that he knocks people out with his big left hand, like he did to Jon Fitch at UFC 141. But Hendricks, who is riding a three-fight win streak, is ready to roll. So is Condit.

The monkey wrench could be Jake Ellenberger, who fights Diego Sanchez on Wednesday in Omaha. Should Ellenberger win, he too would have a case for a title shot. Remember that Condit and Ellenberger fought in 2009, a split decision so close that it would best Diaz-Condit in controversy if only the stakes had been as high. A rematch would do better business than no fight at all.

If Hendricks-Condit is made, there’s a chance that the UFC looks at Josh Koscheck-Ellenberger. Before Ellenberger signed on to fight Jake Shields, he was publically calling out Koscheck. This could be tabbed a No. 1 contender bout, even as St. Pierre rolls back into the fold.

The bottom line is, the division opens up to contenders that a couple of days ago it looked closed off to. And whomever it is that gets that shot can thank Diaz, who is the game’s greatest paradox.

For a guy who refuses to yield, at this point that’s all he can do.

If you've followed Nick Diaz's career at all, maybe even just caught a glimpse of the recent UFC Primetime, you know this if you know anything about the man: He does what he wants.

That is, until he can't anymore.

That's where to begin and end with Diaz. And while the results of what he does (or doesn't do) can be sometimes frustrating and infuriating for fans and friends around him, how can anyone really hate on the guy?

Hear me out.



Diaz is a walking "who cares" to the world. Don't we need people like that to keep us sane?

In 2007, after Diaz tested positive for "off the charts" levels of THC following his bout against Takanori Gomi, I slammed him. Last year, when he failed to live up to his duties as a professional fighter and appeared to cost himself, the fans, his teammates and his promoter a giant fight against Georges St. Pierre, I let him have it.

But for what? To pretend like Diaz would read my columns and the lightbulb would turn on? No, I wrote those pieces because I saw a talented guy throwing everything away. I hate that. It's horrible in its unvarnished reality to take in.

Remembering Diaz for what he did in the ring against Gomi would be so much better than remembering him for what happened next. But that’s not how it went down.

Well, he didn't beat Carlos Condit on Saturday, so the scenario is different. But the price is much higher. And, not that this is anyone’s concern but mine, I can't wade into this again. Not this time. Or the time after that.

Nope.

Truth be told, in some strange way I have more respect for Diaz in the wake of his second positive test for marijuana in Nevada -- not because I condone his actions (the merits of marijuana as a performance enhancer can be debated another day), or because suddenly I’m fine with his lack of professionalism. Of course, I’m not. But the point remains, I have more respect for Diaz today because he's his own guy, consequences be damned.

And they be damned.

Probably to the tune of a year’s suspension and a 40 percent fine of his purse. That's a lot of money for a guy who long complained about how little money he was making. If the inability to fight, if the steep toll of what could be an $80,000 penalty, if the lessons of the past ... if none of these things matter to Diaz, then so what? Let it be.

He'll eventually fade into the sunset, soon to be remembered as one of the crazy ones; not, unfortunately, one of the great ones. It could have been different, maybe. But if Diaz is comfortable throwing away his best years, forgoing his money-making potential in a trade he was born to ply, what's it worth spending our time getting all righteous about it?

So you and I may miss out on entertaining fights. There will be others to fill the void. Fighters here today and emerging tomorrow have talent and the ability to suppress the urge to toss out insults and expletives to the world. And in the end, those are the ones worth our valuable time.

Please don't feel bad for Nick Diaz. I'm guessing he doesn't want anyone's pity. He's living his life. And that's all that matters. To him.

The marching orders for Nick Diaz’s second tour of duty in the Octagon were clear from the start. Before the start, actually.

“The problem with Nick Diaz is, Nick won’t play the game,” explained Dana White last January, five full months prior to Diaz returning from self-imposed exile in Strikeforce and inking a new deal with the UFC. “When Nick Diaz wants to play the game just a little bit, we’d love to have him back.”

There it was, simply put. Play the game. Toe the line. Make even the slightest effort to show us you want to be here, that you’re ready for this, and we’ll hand you the keys to the castle.

After running off an 11-1-1 record during the near-half decade he spent away, few people questioned Diaz’s credentials when he vacated his Strikeforce welterweight title in June and leapfrogged straight to the front of the line of the UFC’s 170-pound contenders. His abilities were not at issue; at least, not to those who’d paid attention to his evolution from mediocre mid-card performer to bonafide main event talent. If anyone had proven he belonged among the best fighters in the world, it was Diaz.

The million dollar question was: Could he deal? At 28 years old, was he finally equipped to handle the rigors of life as an MMA superstar?

Sadly, we got our answer on Thursday, as news trickled out that the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter tested positive for marijuana in the wake of his unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit on Saturday at UFC 143. As a result, Diaz will face disciplinary action from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, effectively scuttling the UFC’s frenzied plans to get him an immediate rematch with Condit for its interim welterweight title and give him yet another opportunity to find his way into a lucrative fight with Georges St. Pierre later this year.

The answer, emphatically, was no.

Now, perhaps we have final, definitive, comprehensive proof. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Diaz is not willing to play the game. Not even a little bit. Not even with the world’s largest MMA promoter bending over backward trying to make him one of this sport’s biggest attractions.

For those of us on the outside, the most tragic part is that we were all rooting for him.

I would wager that deep down, even Diaz’s strongest critics wanted to see him get it right this time. We wanted him to succeed not only because of his immense gifts and because it’s a joy to watch him fight, but because we empathize with his obvious personal pain. In a weird way, we relate to this guy who desperately wants to be understood, but can seemingly never find the words to say so.

Much has been written these past few months about why we can't seem to take our eyes off Diaz. The truth is, it's not because he's "crazy" or a "bad boy" or whatever unfortunate words we typically use to describe him. It's because many of us -- even if we don't want to admit it -- see parts of ourselves in him, and that makes it easy to want Diaz to rise above all the pressures and pain, and become the best in the world at what he does.

At least for now, however, that’s not going to happen. For now it’s easy to imagine that the "demons" (if that's what you want to call them) are getting the better of him. For now, it seems that awkward "retirement" he announced in the cage following his loss to Condit might actually stick; at least a little bit longer than we had hoped.

Diaz has been back in the UFC for all of eight months now and already he’s committed two offenses that probably would’ve gotten a less talented, less popular fighter released outright. He'd already dodged a bullet when the organization granted him a second chance after he no-showed a pair of prefight news conferences for a scheduled bout with St. Pierre at UFC 137. Now, he’s tested positive for this particular "drug of abuse" for the second time in his career, for the second time in the state of Nevada.

The first came in 2007 and turned his amazing second-round gogoplata victory over Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 -- at the time the biggest win of Diaz’s career – into a no contest. That was a little more than a year after he brawled Joe Riggs at the hospital in the wake of dropping a unanimous decision to the journeyman fighter at UFC 57. It was seven months before he began a four-year romp through the competition in smaller organizations, only to re-sign with the UFC in 2011 and notch a record of two major screw-ups in two actual appearances in the Octagon.

At this point you have to wonder how many strikes the UFC will give him. How many missed flights? How many hospital brawls? How many unsuccessful drug tests?

Though we all desperately want the opposite to be true, at this point we must admit that Nick Diaz is not in the lesson-learning business.

And if he isn’t ready to play the game by now, will he ever be?

Well, that didn’t take long.

Moments after he beat Nick Diaz on the scorecards at UFC 143, Condit said he wanted to take some time to contemplate his next step. Would he take another fight before Georges St. Pierre returns and defend the interim belt, or simply, you know…wait it out? He needed to think about that.

Turns out Carlos Condit’s contemplative mode lasts about 48 hours.

On Monday Condit’s manager Malki Kawa was telling people they had no interest in a rematch. By Tuesday, Condit had interest in a rematch. By Tuesday night, the rematch was common knowledge for the nearly two million people who follow Dana White’s Twitter feed. What happened in the interstices is company business and, though the deal isn’t signed yet, somehow Condit must have found incentive to dangle his barely broken-in placeholder belt over Diaz’s head. The bruises haven’t even had time to heal yet.

And Condit’s 180-degree turn is nothing next to Diaz’s, who fought, thought he won, lost, then retired. Now he’s in the same spot he was in before that disappointing sequence. This is what happens when you put live microphones on mood swings. Yet for the record, a few days does not constitute a comeback. This isn’t Randy Couture. This was a powersulk that paid off, by a guy who will never be swayed by something as misguided as public opinion. You think he lost? Diaz has expletives for what you think.

Meanwhile St. Pierre, who loomed over Las Vegas last weekend like a French-Canadian Zeus, might get what he’s been hoping for: A rematch between the two guys chasing him. (If only Diaz can avoid the banana peel this time through!). And Josh Koscheck, who was the first guy that Dana White stuck in the door as Diaz made his way for the exits, could be headed back to the “wait and see” game.

Like sands through the hourglass…so are the days of welterweight contention.

But all the “Dana wants to give the fans what they want” aside, think about the ripple effect that this could cause. For instance, a rematch essentially hijacks the welterweight division for 2012, much the same as Frankie Edgar/Gray Maynard closed down the lightweight division to all contenders in 2011. If a sequel happens in summer, and the winner gets St. Pierre around November to marry up the belts, that means Johny Hendricks, Koscheck and Jake Ellenberger will likely be a year away from a title shot. And, as time waits on no man (and bills don’t pay themselves), they’ll be turned on each other.

If St. Pierre (and Diaz) get their way in this thing, that means a lot of other guys didn’t.

Yet in the theatrical sense of drama, Condit/Diaz II is the fight to make. Depending on your couch criteria, you either saw Diaz coming forward and swinging switches (as he does) or you saw Condit making himself evasive, counterprogramming Diaz’s hit show with the old stick-and-move. It was close enough to divide fans down the middle, which makes for something left unresolved.

So what happens if the fight is made? Will Greg Jackson’s methodical brilliance win out, or will Cesar Gracie’s sic-em-boy star pupil tweak that attack? (Indeed, is that even a possibility?). What happens if Diaz chooses to react, rather than stalk forward? Does the fifth round, when Diaz took Condit to the ground, become the blueprint for the newly added five rounds?

For whatever it’s worth, Condit likes his chances enough to say “why not” to a rematch he stands nothing much to gain from. That says something about Condit and his love of fighting. And for all the accusations and hurt feelings over the weekend, two things could be made clear in a rematch.

Condit isn’t running. And Diaz isn’t walking.

Near the end of the ESPN.com live chat of UFC 143 on Saturday, one of our users called Carlos Condit a coward.

Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. To be more precise, the guy called Condit a COWARD, in all caps.

This, of course, happened immediately after the scores were read in Condit’s slim but unanimous decision win over Nick Diaz, awarding him the UFC’s interim welterweight championship and -- if all goes according to plan -- the opportunity to face Georges St. Pierre in a title unification bout later this year.

To say that emotions were running hot would obviously qualify as a tremendous understatement.

I mention this anonymous user’s comment -- which we can only assume was written in a fleeting moment of blind frustration and complete cerebral shutdown -- not to give it any special consideration, but only to underscore how highly charged the Condit-Diaz decision was for nearly everyone involved.

And everyone not involved.

It’s hard to remember another judges’ verdict in a high-profile bout that spurred as many contradictory opinions and such, uh, furor in the days following.

Clearly, it wasn’t the fight many of us expected. We thought we’d get a pier six brawl; instead, we were treated to a tour de force of game planning and strategy. Condit’s gambit revealed itself subtly and though he played Diaz like a fiddle during the final three rounds, their bout was excruciatingly close and extremely difficult to score. When Diaz took his back during the final 81 seconds, it felt like things might still be up for grabs.

They weren’t. Not according to at least two ringside judges, who gave Condit the nod in all but a single round.

Even to the impartial observer, that seemed a little too lopsided. The problem is, you’d have to look pretty far and wide to find anyone who felt impartial about this fight. Like Diaz himself -- so distraught at the outcome he said he’s “done with this MMA” -- many people probably allowed themselves to get too emotionally close to the situation to judge it accurately.

Such is nearly always the case with Diaz who, if he truly does walk away for good, will be remembered as a fighter who inspired strong feelings on both sides of the aisle.

And indeed, maybe the way you scored Condit-Diaz has a lot to do with how you view both fighters and how you see MMA in general. If you prefer a more old school approach -- or possibly a more primal one -- and think of MMA first and foremost as a simple “fight” that pits one man’s spirit and physical toughness against another’s, then you probably believe Diaz’s aggressive, unyielding style won the day.

If you believe MMA aspires to be something more than a schoolyard scuffle, if you see it as a nuanced professional sport in which tactics and brainpower can and should be just as important as pure brawn, then Condit was probably your guy.

Personally, I scored it 48-47 for Condit, awarding him each of the final three rounds as he built more and more momentum, became more effective at stifling Diaz’s offense and exhibited a kind of “Octagon control” that proved more artful and effective than just senselessly pushing forward. Diaz made it tight with his late takedown and submission attempts, but in my book he didn’t come close enough to finishing them to turn the tide in the last moments.

In the live chat, of course, we update our scorecards following every round. After I scored the first two rounds for the former Strikeforce champion, users accused me of unfairly favoring Diaz. After I scored the final three for the former WEC titlist, users accused me of unfairly favoring Condit.

Neither side said it quite so nicely. That was fine. Then somebody accused Condit of being a coward. That was different. That was ugly.

Ultimately, the vehement and varying reactions to the Condit-Diaz decision speak to something both great and terrible about our sport: Everyone is so passionate about MMA that no one believes anyone else could possibly understand it in the same, personal way they do.

I love the enthusiasm. But I could probably do without the name-calling.

There were those who thought that Nick Diaz beat Carlos Condit at UFC 143, pointing to his constant pursuit as evidence. Diaz stalked, mocked and talked. He was "Stalkton." He was exactly who we thought he was.

Problem was, Condit wasn’t.

Condit went into the nastiest kind of retreat, one that stuck and ducked and moved and circled and landed leg kicks and counter shots with isolated ease. Isolated? Wait -- wasn’t Condit supposed to stand in front of Diaz and trade, looking for that big curtain closer? Weren’t chins supposed to come into question? Wasn’t Condit supposed to be tailor-made for the high-volume striking assault that Diaz is known for?

Condit had a mute button for the volume. He was either brilliant, or he was a high stakes version of Kalib Starnes, depending on your bias. In all circles, it was clear that he consciously avoided a brawl. And this is where feelings got hurt. In the end, Condit wasn’t about meeting bloodthirsty expectations so much as winning the fight, and he executed his game plan brilliantly. Good for (or shame on) him. Now he’s the interim welterweight champion, and don’t expect apologies from Albuquerque.

Yet for all the scorecard dissection that ensued, nobody was as disappointed or disillusioned as Diaz, who sort of retired right after. A totally impromptu retirement -- just a hundred seconds after a stubborn war he could never incite.

“I don’t need this s---,” he said to Joe Rogan.

He said he’d continue to help train his brother, Nate, but as for him and the whole pack of incompetent judges and all the pressure-filled, bustling hate? Devil take it. He doesn’t need the racket.

Which we all of course took with a grain of salt.

Nobody really thinks that the 28-year-old Diaz is walking. He does need the racket. All the dude has done since his earliest memories is mean mug whoever gets in his grill, and fight. He went so far as to balance out the street menace early by funneling it into jiu-jitsu in his formative years. These days, he is as much Cesar Gracie as Cesar Gracie. Diaz is known for his fiendish work ethic, and he trains compulsively. It’s what he does. It’s how he copes, and how he vents. We like it because we see such focused discipline coming out of unknown wilds. Maybe more than anybody, this game is Diaz’s lifeblood.

Only it’s not a game to Diaz, it’s fighting -- and that’s why judge’s scorecards become absurd to such a literalist.

This last distinction is why he’ll return to the cage before long. The old Dana White proverb to “never leave it in the hands of the judges” will resonate in him and work as kindling. Losing that way won’t sit well in the 209. White senses it, just like you and I. In fact, White was already dangling Josh Koscheck out there as a possible next opponent in the postfight news conference. Emotions got the better of Diaz, who has never filtered the urge to say what’s on his mind like typical professionals.

It helps that there are possibilities all over the place. Realistically, with Georges St. Pierre on the shelf until something like November, a rematch with Condit isn’t out of the question. Neither is fighting a Johny Hendricks or a Jon Fitch or a Rory MacDonald to avenge his brother’s loss. Or maybe Jake Ellenberger, who would love nothing better than to stand and trade heat with Diaz. How about rematch with Diego Sanchez, who knows the buttons to push to get Diaz’s chest puffing back out?

There will be suitors, some of them equipped with the kinds of mouths that will get to Diaz.

But that’s all window dressing. The thing is, Diaz doesn’t have it in him to quit, and there’s still too much left unresolved and just too many reasons for him to walk away.

And for those who have paid attention to Diaz’s competitiveness over the years, the biggest might be this -- he simply can’t.

Though Nick Diaz didn’t leave Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas with Saturday night’s most-coveted honor -- the UFC welterweight interim title -- he did go home with a nice consolation prize.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed on Monday that Diaz earned $200,000 for his five-round unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit, making UFC 143's highest-paid participant.

Condit made $55,000 for the fight. Besides the bout purse, Condit pocketed an additional $55,000 for his victory, which gave him the welterweight interim belt and a shot at current 170-pound titleholder Georges St. Pierre.

Welterweight contender Josh Koscheck received a check for $146,000. He was paid $73,000 for participating on the card and another $73,000 for his split decision win over Mike Pierce -- who was paid $20,000 for the fight.

Heavyweight Fabricio Werdum, who looked impressive en route to a unanimous decision over rugged Roy Nelson, took home $100,000. A win bonus was not part of Werdum's fight agreement. Nelson was paid $20,000.

Highly ranked bantamweight contender Renan Barao earned $22,000 -- he picked up $11,000 for the fight and an additional $11,000 after defeating Scott Jorgensen by unanimous decision. Jorgensen made $20,500 for his effort.

Rounding out the payment compensation for UFC 143 main card participants were middleweights Ed Herman ($62,000, which included a $31,000 win bonus) and Clifford Starks ($8,000). Herman won the fight by rear-naked choke in the second round.

Additionally, the UFC has officially asked the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the dates of May 26 and July 7. The promotion intends to hold events on those dates at MGM Grand Garden Arena. UFC has not yet revealed any details as to which fighters are slated to participate at those events.