KJ Noons (Stripped of EliteXC LW Championship!)

[CPT]

Anybody else following this story?

EliteXC wanted Noons to defend his title against Nick Diaz on their next CBS show on October 4th. Noons (and his representatives) just didn't reply for a while, so EliteXC put a deadline on it, one day last week. When that news came out, Noons' agent Mark Dion said that they wouldn't be accepting the fight because they didn't think Diaz was a worthy challenger.

That's pretty much where the story ends, but there is some more background information that would be useful for those who dont know. Noons won the championship when he beat Diaz by cut stoppage as a huge underdog. The two have been exchanging words since, with it all coming to a head at an EliteXC show in Honolulu, where Nick Diaz (and his brother Nate) came into the cage after Noons successfully defended his title against Yves Edwards. They exchanged words with Noons and his father, and then got into a shoving match that had to be separated. So there's clearly some bad blood to be settled.

Another part of the story worth mentioning is that Noons' agent Mark Dion is the same guy who convinced Brandon Vera to sit out for about a year. He ended up getting him a decent contract, but his stock is now a lot lower than it was when he left.

Here are some articles if you want to read more about the story.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/5115/kj-noons ... adline.mma
http://mmajunkie.com/news/5122/kj-noons ... pening.mma
http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/av ... lict-14182


To me, it looks like Noons is ducking Diaz. He's made noise about wanting to fight Eddie Alvarez (who would actually murder him, IMO) instead, but he also knows that Alvarez is not available right now, so that might just be to look tough. I don't doubt that there are money issues with this fight as well, but I would think that most guys in Noons' position would jump at the chance to shut up a guy like Diaz, especially on national television. I mean, this is KJ Noons we're talking about. He'd be lucky to get the exposure that comes with a fight on CBS, even in a loss.

What do you guys think?

[El Hardee]

Its either one of 2 things, Noons is scared of Diaz, or Noons thinks he is a headliner on his own. The only reason why Noons is even being discussed is because of his "beef" with Diaz. BTW Diaz will absolutely destroy Noons in a rematch IMHO.

[jTF2]

Diaz is such a flawed fighter right now that I think he'll lose to Noons again... but by decision this time. This is how I rate him

BJJ- A+
Wrestling - F
Boxing - A
KO power - F
Endurance - A+
IQ- F

Some of you guys might disagree with me but thats how I see Diaz. His skillset is all over the board and depending on his opponents he can either dominate or lose on technicalities or bs decisions. I think his biggest weakness is wrestling.

[Cammo101]

Noons' agent is clearly a moron and he should fight whoever EliteXC wants him to, as he is not a big enough name to be turning down fights. With that said, Noons is clearly not afraid of Diaz. True, he beat Diaz by a questionable stoppage, but he was wiping that mat with Diaz at the time and peppering him at will with his better stand up. I think Diaz has a very good change to win a rematch, but I don't buy into Noons suddenly being afraid of a guy he was beating up on a year ago.

[cowboyronnie]

It's his agent.

Noons called out Floyd Mayweather.

He was smoking Diaz. Cut or not, would have finished him eventually.

[CPT]

Here's Noons' side of the story.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/no ... diaz-14230

He says he always wanted the fight with Diaz, but the money wasn't right. It's a fair point, as Diaz makes 3 times more than Noons, and Noons beat him for the championship already, but at the same time, Diaz is at least 3 times as big of a draw, and he's not even that big.

To most people, Noons is still a nobody, and he should have welcomed the chance to fight on CBS on a show with Kimbo and Gina, the only real draws EliteXC has. Still think it was a terrible decision on his part not to take the fight, but I'm not the one who has to get into the cage for a lot less money than I think I'm worth.

[CPT]

This article is better. Has Noons' unedited comments, which have me seeing his side a lot more.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/tem ... &zoneid=13

[SpReEfOrAlL]

Diaz is such a flawed fighter right now that I think he'll lose to Noons again... but by decision this time. This is how I rate him

BJJ- A+
Wrestling - F
Boxing - A
KO power - F
Endurance - A+
IQ- F

Some of you guys might disagree with me but thats how I see Diaz. His skillset is all over the board and depending on his opponents he can either dominate or lose on technicalities or bs decisions. I think his biggest weakness is wrestling.

I wouldn't call Diaz stupid. Not even close.

[CPT]

^ I would.

But anyway, the latest on this is that EliteXC may be stripping Noons of his title. Even if that's not exactly true, it looks like a big mess for everyone involved.

I don't see how Noons comes out of this very well at all. He would get handled by about 10 guys (at least) at LW in the UFC, and I don't see them paying him any more than the $20,000ish a fight he's getting in EliteXC. Affliction might be an option, but they have no LW division to speak of. If they are smart, they will stop spending money on fighters nobody will pay to see.

Oh well, at least he'll have lots of time to focus on that boxing career.

[CPT]

And the response from Nick Diaz's camp...

http://www.graciefighter.com/?page=news

Not the classiest stuff I've ever heard, but I'm not going to pretend I don't enjoy some good **** talk every once in a while.

Some gems...

KJ- "In the Elite XC’s DVD where Diaz and I fought there are two (2) baseball cards of Diaz and Kimbo. Hello! I won the fight and Elite XC’s promoting Diaz after I beat him? Or how about the day Elite XC flew Diaz in to do a signing on the DVD where he lost. Wow, that must have been uncomfortable Nick? Signing a DVD, and it is a fight that you lost. Why wasn’t I flown in for the signing?

GF- 1) Nick Diaz, Jake Shields and Frank Shamrock were flown in to shoot an instructional trailer on grappling for the CBS show. The signings were an after thought. You weren't flown in because you aren't a grappler. We are sure they will fly you in if they need an instructional on whining.

GF- Promoters will sue when you don't fulfill the terms of your contract, just ask Randy Couture. By the way, you are not Randy Couture and the fight world is not holding it's breath waiting to see if you will fight again. 2) $83,000? There are several fighters that are a lot better than you fighting for a lot less. Pay your dues and quit being a little bitch. 3) You are paying your management too high of a percentage and here's some advice you should consider, "they are completely incompetent". 4) Chuck Liddell makes 100s of thousands more than Keith Jardine even though he lost to him. Diaz does not complain that Kimbo makes much more. He understands marketability, why can't you? 5) Divide this and then multiply it several times: KJ = little bitch > KJ = real champion. 6) We agree you do need more Vaseline. You are used to it and damn those EliteXC guys for not using it when they bend you over.

GF- 1) It is not up to you to decide who the #1 contender is. That is EliteXC's sole discretion. Patrick Cote will soon be fighting Anderson Silva at the UFC's sole discretion. Silva is not complaining because he fights whomever they put in front of him. Silva fought Rich Franklin after wrecking him the 1st time. Serra rematched GSP his very next fight after demolishing him. Serra got paid less than GSP even though he was the Champion after the 1st fight. These men are true Champions and fight anyone. This is a concept you cannot seem to grasp. 2) You are scared because Diaz, despite having a terrible showing last time was stopped by cuts. God forbid the doctor that let the fight continue against Gomi had been calling the shots at your fight. In your heart you know what would have happened and you would rather live the lie of being a paper champion. 3) What will EliteXC ever do without you? I guess you will have to watch from your couch. Drink a beer. Prepare to make a ritual of it.

[harry lockheart]

The problem is most certainly Noons' manager (Mark Dion) who was also the same guy that held Vera out for a year. According to Vera, Dion witheld UFC contract offers from Vera. Vera said he was so upset he had to leave the state so he wouldn't physically harm Dion.

Noons and Co. think that because he is EliteXC champ he deserves lots of money. Obviously money has nothing to do with titles. The amount of money one receives will be proportionate to the amount they bring in. Diaz is a bigger draw, regardless of his record. No one outside of the hardcore fans knows who Noons is. Ironically the only reason mainstream fans know anything about Noons is because of the half-hearted after fight ring brawl his camp had with the Diaz brothers.

Noons needs to understand that he will increase his drawing power (leverage for greater compensation) once he gets more exposure. He's not going to get more exposure from refusing to fight on national television, especially considering the fact that he stands a really good chance at producing a win in exciting fashion. The more eyeballs that see him, the more money he's worth.

Hopefully this lack of logic shown by Dion on a national stage will be noticed by fighters that would otherwise have their careers screwed by him in the future. Sucks for Noons that he has to be the example of what can happen to a career when it's mismanaged.

[pugilistfan]

Diaz is such a flawed fighter right now that I think he'll lose to Noons again... but by decision this time. This is how I rate him

BJJ- A+
Wrestling - F
Boxing - A
KO power - F
Endurance - A+
IQ- F

Some of you guys might disagree with me but thats how I see Diaz. His skillset is all over the board and depending on his opponents he can either dominate or lose on technicalities or bs decisions. I think his biggest weakness is wrestling.

Nick Diazs boxing is actually awful. LOL. Noons exposed him in that fight. Diaz is an arm puncher with no KO power. But you're right hes about as dumb as a bag of bricks.

Diaz absolutely does not deserve another shot at Noons. I think the fight would be incredibly similar to the last one but even shorter.

Noons/Alvarez would be a good fight and a fight that Alvarez would have to get to the ground or else he'd get whooped badly.

I like Noons and think hes one of the best strikers in the sport of MMA. His boxing is very very good for MMA. He has good head & body movement, throws good combinations.

[The Notic]

It's his agent.

Noons called out Floyd Mayweather.

He was smoking Diaz. Cut or not, would have finished him eventually.

your an idiot. diaz took noons best shot, never got hurt and was always coming forward. he got two takedowns and landed more punches in that round. no doubt he lost that round, but you're crazy if you think that

a) noons can maintain that level for 5 rounds
b) noons can finish diaz

i'm sorry. diaz has only been finished once in his career. his cardio and chin would prove to be too good for noons. if they rematch, diaz by sub in round 3/4.

[CPT]

Diaz is such a flawed fighter right now that I think he'll lose to Noons again... but by decision this time. This is how I rate him

BJJ- A+
Wrestling - F
Boxing - A
KO power - F
Endurance - A+
IQ- F

Some of you guys might disagree with me but thats how I see Diaz. His skillset is all over the board and depending on his opponents he can either dominate or lose on technicalities or bs decisions. I think his biggest weakness is wrestling.

Nick Diazs boxing is actually awful. LOL. Noons exposed him in that fight. Diaz is an arm puncher with no KO power. But you're right hes about as dumb as a bag of bricks.

Diaz absolutely does not deserve another shot at Noons. I think the fight would be incredibly similar to the last one but even shorter.

Noons/Alvarez would be a good fight and a fight that Alvarez would have to get to the ground or else he'd get whooped badly.

I like Noons and think hes one of the best strikers in the sport of MMA. His boxing is very very good for MMA. He has good head & body movement, throws good combinations.

That fight with Alvarez is apparently going to go down, and Eddie is going to walk right through KJ. They are in different leagues.

Diaz does deserve a shot at Noons, by the way. He's 3-0 since the Noons fight, and most importantly, EliteXC says he's the number one contender. If he wants to be the kind of champion that turns down fights, that's up to him.

[jTF2]

KJ has a puncher's chance. Alvarez beats him in every aspect of fighting except boxing.

[pugilistfan]

KJ has a puncher's chance. Alvarez beats him in every aspect of fighting except boxing.

Noons is the better striker period. But Alvarez will most likely get Noons down and grind him out and finish him.

But Noons is the better boxer, kickboxer of the two. Not even close.

[pugilistfan]

It's his agent.

Noons called out Floyd Mayweather.

He was smoking Diaz. Cut or not, would have finished him eventually.

your an idiot. diaz took noons best shot, never got hurt and was always coming forward. he got two takedowns and landed more punches in that round. no doubt he lost that round, but you're crazy if you think that

a) noons can maintain that level for 5 rounds
b) noons can finish diaz

i'm sorry. diaz has only been finished once in his career. his cardio and chin would prove to be too good for noons. if they rematch, diaz by sub in round 3/4.

You must have watched a different fight than me than.

Diaz is not very good. Hes a horrible striker with absolutely no KO power. The only great aspect about his game is his BJJ. Hes a bad wrestler, bad striker.

Noons turned Diaz's face into grinded up burger meat, stuffed his takedowns and put on a boxing clinic on Diaz.

His cardio would prove to be too good for Noons? LOL, thats laughable.

Noons would stop Diaz most likely by cuts because Diaz cuts easily. If not, he'd KO him in the early rounds.

[pugilistfan]

Diaz is such a flawed fighter right now that I think he'll lose to Noons again... but by decision this time. This is how I rate him

BJJ- A+
Wrestling - F
Boxing - A
KO power - F
Endurance - A+
IQ- F

Some of you guys might disagree with me but thats how I see Diaz. His skillset is all over the board and depending on his opponents he can either dominate or lose on technicalities or bs decisions. I think his biggest weakness is wrestling.

Nick Diazs boxing is actually awful. LOL. Noons exposed him in that fight. Diaz is an arm puncher with no KO power. But you're right hes about as dumb as a bag of bricks.

Diaz absolutely does not deserve another shot at Noons. I think the fight would be incredibly similar to the last one but even shorter.

Noons/Alvarez would be a good fight and a fight that Alvarez would have to get to the ground or else he'd get whooped badly.

I like Noons and think hes one of the best strikers in the sport of MMA. His boxing is very very good for MMA. He has good head & body movement, throws good combinations.

That fight with Alvarez is apparently going to go down, and Eddie is going to walk right through KJ. They are in different leagues.

Diaz does deserve a shot at Noons, by the way. He's 3-0 since the Noons fight, and most importantly, EliteXC says he's the number one contender. If he wants to be the kind of champion that turns down fights, that's up to him.

Diaz has beat Corbrey and Denny. Denny is an absolutely awful fighter. No offense to Denny but hes just a journeyman. I can see how Diaz earned a title shot but through his childish antics, lack of respect and class I dont think he deserves one. Noons has had one fight since that Diaz fight and their are better fights on the horizon for Noons than beating up on childish Diaz.

Noons turned down Diaz but I dont think hes turned down any other fights. In fact, hes called out some fighters who at this point are more dangerous than Diaz.

[The Notic]

Diaz is not very good. Hes a horrible striker with absolutely no KO power. The only great aspect about his game is his BJJ. Hes a bad wrestler, bad striker.

What? Outside of the one power punch Gomi landed, I can't think of one time Nick has been hurt or in trouble of being finished in his career. Most of his losses have come through controversial decisions when he was a really young guy. He's won 8 out of his last 9 fights and only lost the 1 due to cut. He Gogo'd the #1 lighweight in the world. Please stfu.

Noons turned Diaz's face into grinded up burger meat, stuffed his takedowns and put on a boxing clinic on Diaz.

He looked worst after the Gomi fight AND he got surgery to remove the scar tissue. Diaz got two takedowns. He'd eventually work his sub game.

His cardio would prove to be too good for Noons? LOL, thats laughable.

Diaz is arguably the best conditioned fighter in MMA and a guy who will always press the action. That spells trouble for a guy with no ground game in a 5 round fight. Even when he took Noons best shot he was still coming forward. Did you not see how Noons celebrated when he got the cut victory? One of the saddest things I've ever seen a pro fighter do. He knew he wasn't going to finish Diaz.

Diaz finally got surgery to remove the scar tissue. I don't think he's been opened up in the Denny or Inoue fights. Face it, Diaz will eventually get the takedown, pass his guard, mount him and TKO Noons.

Noons would stop Diaz most likely by cuts because Diaz cuts easily. If not, he'd KO him in the early rounds.

[cowboyronnie]

Diaz got knocked-out cold in one of those King Of The Mountain fights and he's legitimately lost decisions.

Aerobics is not the only form of conditioning.

Love the guy, but would pick Noons to win.