Cuts come from strikes delivered in the heat of a fight by men trying to STOP their opponent. The rules are there to prevent more serious damage being inflicted on a fighter who, through spirit and heart, simply wills himself to continue. Since a fighter often will go on beating his head against knees and fists of the other guy (Diaz vs. Noons) in an attempt to wear out their counterpart, it falls to medical professionals to step in and decide when the line has been crossed. This is to protect the cut fighter from damage that will jeopardize their safety and possibly their life and further, it is also intended to protect to sport. The rules are agreed to by the fighters and their respective organizations so your opinion notwithstanding, Noons defeated Diaz by Strikes (which caused the cuts that led a doctor to end the fight.)

K.J. Noons made a business decision to cut his ties with EliteXC, an organization that would clearly take MMA down the slippery slope to “Professional” wrestling if they get their way. K.J. is better off for having elected to force the issue of equitable compensation and being “stripped” of a worthless title from a bogus organization. His status now is what it is. Misunderstood, reviled, admired, respected, it doesn’t matter. It was his choice for his reasons. He is the one who steps into the ring, or not. He gets to decide.

Nick Diaz is a low class palooka whiling away time before his eventual bad ending. I base these opinions solely on how I have seen him behave during and after his fights and in the sorry attempt at EliteXC manipulation, after Noons victory over Edwards in Hawaii, so I could be wrong, but I’ll bet not. (By the way aznstar, the Return of the King title is just one more example of EliteXC’s attempts to hype matches for potential revenue enhancement. Yes it was bull, but I think K.J. had to go along with it. He probably repects B.J. Penn more than you do and would agree with your sentiments in that regard.)

The only reason I’ll watch a fight with Nick Diaz in it is to see him get his ass handed to him on a plate. He is a very poor loser and sets a worse example for the sport. Not the kind of fighter I’d like to see as Champion but hey, I don’t think EliteXC cares that much for the future of the sport. They want flash and cash and they’ve shown they’ll do what they can to get it.

And save the “local kine” speech for some other forum. If I had a nickel for every local boy who scrapped with another local or haole or papolo or whatever for no reason at all I’d be rich. No fear is often synonymous with no brains. Being willing to scrap with anyone at any time is mostly stupid. Doesn’t make you better or worse, just loosens your teeth. You want Noons to fight a guy getting paid three times more after he already beat him once? Cough up 60/40 and the fights on. No Dinero, no deal. Simple as that. I admire K.J. for sticking to his guns.

Last but not least: In a perfect world Noons will meet Diaz in a re-match somewhere down the road and will continue where he left off, pounding Diaz, stuffing his takedown attempts and winning the fight. Then we’ll get to hear the excuses ad nauseam. Or maybe Nick will congratulate K.J. and return gracefully to the gym to train more….Right. This probaly will not happen as Diaz is slowly getting pounded out of the few brain cells he has and will soon be out of the sport. I for one hope Alvarez knocks him into another zip code where we won’t be able to see him salute the crowd in parting with his trademark middle fingers (IQ indicator) as he heads for the locker-room.

DZilla
Waipahu, HI