Post#1853 » by j4remi » Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:33 pm
So UFC 266 is Saturday and I'll write more about it when I get time later this week...it's stacked.
But there's worrisome news and rumors surrounding the fight I think most people are hype for. Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler are having a rematch of their absolute classic (seriously, if you haven't seen it then get a chance to sit and watch two all-timers SCRAP as up and coming prospects). That fight was originally scheduled for welterweight but just yesterday got bumped up to Middleweight...a fight-week change to the weight class? Not a good sign. That usually means someone is injured or otherwise has circumstances that keep them from being able to properly cut.
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...And that's where Josh Thompson comes in. Shout out to the Weasle for covering this because I don't typically pay much attention to Josh and Big John's stuff (no hate, I just prefer a couple of others and only have finite time for MMA coverage). Thompson is claiming that he and Big John have seen a video of Nick Diaz sparring and something happens that is bad enough for Josh to be saying things like "I hope he can still make it to the fight." Thompson says it's a private video that'll never see the light of day and he shouldn't have ever brought it up. I agree with Weasle; it sounds like Nick got slept in sparring or otherwise some kinda bad injury occurred.
Anyway, there's always a chance that Thompson is just exaggerating something minor to grab some extra views; but I don't think he'd do that. The weight class change is enough evidence to really make this worrisome for a fight that has dominated my discussions with MMA friends the past couple weeks. We grew up watching Nick and we've been talking about who next for him from Masvidal to avenge Nate to Jake Paul..maybe we got ahead of ourselves.
Haliburton/Lewis Jr/Sasser
Booker/Shamet
Barnes/Dick/Duarte
Washington/Barnes/Crowder
Zubac/Theis/Clowney
Sanogo, Castleton
Ex: Samar, K. Diop, Spagnolo