UFC 141 Fight Card: Was Cerrone or Diaz Able to Get in the Other's Head?

In a few hours, lightweight contenders Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone will fight at UFC 141. But even though the co-main event hasn't started yet, there have already been a few fireworks. Suddenly, in fact, this fight has become a little something of a grudge match.

Credit yesterday's weigh-in and staredown for that. As the two squared off on the stage, an intense locking of the eyes and a few choice words from Cerrone prompted Diaz to knock Cerrone's cowboy hat off his head and then shove him away. The two were quickly separated.

Like his older brother Nick, Nate Diaz seems to believe the fight starts as soon as (or even before) the match is made. Head games and trash talk are just part of an elaborate feeling-out process that begins long before the cage door closes.

Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't. In this case, the posturing didn't seem to have its desired effect. In fact, with just a few words Cerrone may have turned the tables and gotten in the head of Diaz.

How? Because Cerrone was irritated, but not flustered. There's a difference. There's a saying that a bully can't stand to be bullied. I wouldn't say Cerrone was bullying Diaz, but he certainly held his ground in the face of Diaz's equivalent of going for Cerrone's lunch money in front of the cheerleading team.

Could that stoicism have flustered Diaz? Maybe, but I'd say no. Diaz doesn't seem to notice stuff like that. Yes, Cerrone's words made him angry, but you know what? He's always angry.

What Diaz will notice, though, is a very motivated Donald Cerrone when the two face off in the cage. Remember Paul Kelly? The guy who cheap-shotted Cerrone during the glove tap, but then found himself tapping out a few minutes later? It was a cautionary tale—you wouldn't like Donald Cerrone when he's angry.

But surprise, surprise, Diaz doesn't seem to heed such lessons. It's part of his charm and part of what makes him a good fighter. He doesn't care who you are, what you did, etc. But this time, he may have picked the wrong fight with the wrong dude.

Neither man was successful in getting in the other's head yesterday in a negative way, but the extra fuel that Cerrone will now bring to the Octagon will show that Diaz only succeeded in kicking a hornet's nest.