Upstart Diaz knocks Penn into retirement
On a night the career of Nick Diaz might have been launched into a new stratosphere, two legends of mixed martial arts announced they were walking away from the sport.
BJ Penn, 32, shocked the MMA world with his retirement announcement after losing a unanimous decision to Diaz in the main event of UFC 137 at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night.
The former two-division UFC champion broke the news to color commentator Joe Rogan.
“Hats off to Nick Diaz. He’s the man,” Penn said. “Joe, this is probably the last time you see me in here. I want to perform at the top level. I’ve got a daughter. I’ve got another daughter on the way. I don’t want to go home looking like this.”
Penn left the cage and went to a hospital. UFC president Dana White wasn’t convinced Penn’s decision is final.
“He said he wants to retire. We’ll see how that plays out,” White said.
No one doubted the sincerity of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic when he informed the crowd of a similar, though far more expected, decision earlier in the evening after Las Vegan Roy Nelson knocked him out.
“I wanted to say goodbye with a victory, but Roy was just the better fighter tonight,” said Filipovic, who rose to stardom in the Pride Fighting Championships. “The UFC has been so good to me over the years, and it is hard to leave this company and this sport. Even though I didn’t do as well in the UFC as the rest of my career, I feel like I did everything that I could to have an overall successful career.”
Diaz likely made himself a bona fide superstar with a thrilling victory over Penn in his return to the UFC. After Penn found success moving around, landing shots and also scoring a takedown on the former Strikeforce welterweight champion in the first round, Diaz took complete control in the second.
He corralled Penn against the fence and kept him on the end of a constant barrage of punches, nearly finishing him on several occasions on his way to a 239-76 advantage in strikes landed, according to Compustrike.
Penn persevered and had a few bright spots in a third round that saw both fighters battered and bloodied as they slugged it out.
But the night belonged to Diaz. The crowd that started mostly pro-Penn was chanting Diaz’s name by the third round. He even drew a roar by screaming his belief that Georges St. Pierre is “scared” of him. St. Pierre was due to fight Carlos Condit on this card but was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury.
Diaz lost the title shot when he failed to show up for several promotional appearances, but his performance Saturday was better for his marketability than anything he could have said in an interview.
“He blew up out of nowhere. Part of it is his attitude, and I think people love real fighters. That kid is definitely a real fighter,” White said. “Nick Diaz is the real deal.”
Filipovic was particularly accurate with his left hand in the first round, and after each fighter landed big punches early in the second round, Nelson took over the heavyweight contest. The Las Vegan trapped Filipovic’s arm and landed short left hands in succession to end the third round. Nelson then stopped Filipovic after landing two big rights early in the third to end a two-fight losing streak.
“It was awesome to fight with a legend,” Nelson said. “It’s good just to be back in the ‘W’ column. Cro Cop can still tear it up.”
An expected slugfest between heavyweights Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo never materialized. Kongo handed Mitrione the first loss of his career by controlling the third round with his wrestling on his way to a unanimous decision after two largely uneventful rounds.
Also, bantamweight Scott Jorgensen improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a unanimous decision over Jeff Curran, and Japanese star Hatsu Hioki, one of the world’s top-ranked featherweights, struggled to a split decision victory in his UFC debut against George Roop in the first fight of the main card.
Both televised undercard bouts ended in the first round.
Bart Palaszewski knocked out Las Vegan Tyson Griffin, and Donald Cerrone submitted Dennis Siver after knocking him to the ground.
Brandon Vera, Ramsey Nijem, Clifford Starks and Francis Carmont each won by decision.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
