According to a Jan. 28 report from Bloody Elbow, UFC President Dana White is pleased with Nick Diaz's professionalism at the UFC 158 pre-fight press conference.
"Not only did Nick come, he was on time for everything," White said. "I'm pretty sure he didn't miss any flights. He couldn't have been cooler. He came there and did what he had to do. He even stuck around and did pictures with the fans after. It was cool."
White explained that just about every UFC fighter dislikes leaving their respective training camps for a press conference, but it's just a part of the business.
"I know he hates to do it, but everybody does," White said. "You guys have no idea. These guys are in their camp, they're in their own little world, and then they've gotta leave and do all the press and media and it's hard. That sounds stupid, but it's harder than people think. You're answering the same questions over and over. But it's what we do. It's part of the game, and everybody wants to talk about making Floyd Mayweather money, but Floyd works his ass off to promote a fight."
Diaz fights Georges St-Pierre on March 16 in Montreal. At the UFC 158 pre-fight presser, Diaz surprised everyone by saying that he has respect for St-Pierre, and holds no ill will towards him.
"I don't want to say that he learned a lesson, like, 'Yeah, we taught him a lesson.' I think a lot of what he said at the press conference is true," White said of Diaz. "I think he had this feeling like he's been fighting since he was 18 years old, he never caught a break, always felt like he was on the wrong side of the deal since he was 18 years old. He's had a year off, feels like he rested up, healed up some injuries and had some time to relax. Without him saying it, I'm sure he's probably pretty excited to be back into it. You take a year off, pretty f**king boring."
UFC 158 also features a welterweight bout between Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald.
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