Nick Diaz and the 10 Most Confusing People in MMA

Sometimes, people say and do really stupid things.

Chink in the armor, anyone?

Were it not for his little brother’s staggeringly similar behaviors, it would be easy to call Nick Diaz one of a kind. His in-cage antics include verbal assaults, dropping his hands and putting his chin on display. His out of cage antics include ingesting illegal substances in the buildup to a fight and being genuinely surprised when he fails his drug test.

Diaz isn’t the only man to confuse MMA fans across the globe. This is a look at the 10 most confusing fighters in MMA.

Nick Diaz

There are a lot of things Nick Diaz does that might cause some confusion. Similar to a small child not getting his way, Diaz retired from the sport of MMA when the decision in his interim championship bout with Carlos Condit was not in his favor.

If that’s not enough to do it, leading up to his bout with Georges St. Pierre, Diaz came down with not one but two bouts of truancy when it was time for pre-fight press conferences.

Some people may forgive the first absence, but after the stern warning he received after strike one, it was beyond peculiar that Diaz would test the patience of Dana White.

Rousimar Palhares

The man known as “tree trunk” in his native land of Brazil has left fans scratching their heads for some time now.

The man with deadly leg locks was originally put in the spotlight after refusing to let go of a vicious heel hook on Thomas Drwal, despite Drwal tapping out and the referee trying to remove Palhares from the hold.

Toquinho’s oddball mentality came into light once again at UFC Fight Night 22. In his first ever main event contest, Palhares was put in the cage against perennial contender Nate Marquardt.

Shortly into the bout, Marquardt found his leg tied up by the full body of Rousimar. When Nate easily slipped out of the hold, Rousimar laid on his back and began complaining to the referee that Nate had illegally greased his leg—an allegation that was later proven to be false.

While Rousimar's eye was off of the ball, Marquardt delivered vicious ground and pound that left Rousimar unconscious.

If that’s not enough, let’s look at his recent bout with Dan Miller. After rocking Miller hard with punches, Rousimar stood over his victim and continued to rain down punches.

Out of nowhere, as if the bout had been stopped by the referee, Rousimar runs up to and ascends the Octagon wall in celebration. Fans weren’t the only ones confused, as his opponent standing in the ring was unsure of how to proceed.

After Herb Dean convinced Palhares to climb back into the cage, the bout continued.

Palhares is currently using the aid of a sports psychologist.

Anthony Johnson

I’m not going to waste much time on this guy.

I have to keep asking myself the same question that the world asked on the eve of UFC 141: How does a professional fighter move to a weight class 15 pounds heavier than where he normally fights…and STILL miss weight?

Rumble had trouble making the 171 pound limit of the welterweight division on multiple occasions. In fact, it cost him a KO of the Night bonus, 20% of his purse and his feelings.

Leaving the division was the right move for the fighter, who cut upwards of 55 pounds to make weight. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave for the light-heavyweight division like he should have.

Chael Sonnen

His comments about Anderson Silva were hilarious and/or infuriating, depending on who you ask. His involvement in a money laundering scheme in connection to mortgage fraud was outright shocking. His use of testosterone replacement therapy leading up to his bout with Anderson Silva made headlines all over the world.

None of that, however, was the most confusing thing about the previously unknown Chael Sonnen.

After testing positive for excessive levels of testosterone at UFC 117, Chael went to the appeal and started pointing fingers.

Chael put his career on the line when he, in sworn testimony, claimed that he directly spoke to NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer regarding his hypogonadism and his use of TRT. Essentially, he used the “Wait a minute! I already told you about that,” defense.

It was a ballsy move for a man who supposedly has a pair of malfunctioning testi…. never mind. You get the point.

Jake Shields

Looks like another member of Cesar Gracie’s camp will enter this list.

Despite being one of the best jiu-jitsu artists in the world, Jake Shields put forth minimal attempts to work his UFC 129 bout with Georges St. Pierre to the ground. Throughout their 25 minute affair, Shields attempted to take “Rush” to the mat only six times. In the fifth round, Jake attempted none.

When you know that your best chance at beating the greatest welterweight on the planet is by taking him down, why would you not make it your mission to do so?

You can argue that Shields was out-boxing Georges in the fourth and fifth rounds, which is true.

However, Jake had to have known that he lost the first three rounds of the fight. His only chance at winning was a stoppage, and Jake’s bread and butter is his submission game.

Maybe it was a game plan that he felt would work differently. Maybe he truly convinced himself that he could stop GSP on his feet. Maybe he just lost his head in the heat of battle.

One thing is for sure: he blew his only shot at glory.  

Referees

There are a lot of things that confuse fans about MMA. The scoring system isn’t well defined and there seems to be a lot of inconsistency in terms of officiating.

How long do you let someone lie on top of their opponent before standing them up? Where exactly is the “back of the head” when judging illegal strikes?

At UFC 142, Erick Silva quickly dominated Carlo Prater with strikes. He followed his opponent to the ground and landed a few more strong punches before referee Mario Yamasaki pulled him off.

Things looked great for the young star who had just scored a 29 second knockout in his home country. Or so we thought.

Silva was actually pulled off of Prater for an illegal strike to the back of the head: a call that was questionable at best. Because Prater was unable to continue, the bout was ruled a DQ and Silva was awarded a loss.

The call was so questionable that commentator Joe Rogan put Yamasaki on the spot after the post-fight interview with Silva, specifically pointing out that the illegal strikes were no different than strikes that had gone without penalization countless times prior.

Referees (continuted)

Herb Dean is known as the best referee in the business by many, but at UFC 143, Dean drew the ire of fans twice in the same evening.

In the preliminary portion of the event, Alex Caceres landed a low blow in the first round of his bout with Edwin Figueroa, and was given a strong warning for the infraction.

When another low blow landed later, Caceres was stripped of two points on the scorecards, and would go on to lose the bout despite dominating most of the action.

Later in the evening, Ultimate Fighter star Josh Koscheck competed against Mike Pierce in a closely contested bout. Koscheck was warned multiple times throughout the bout about striking with an open hand due to his tendency to land eye pokes.

When an eye poke inevitably occurred in the third round, fans weren’t sure if Herb Dean would take away one point, which is normal, or two as he had earlier in the evening.

To the surprise of many, and much to the chagrin of Pierce, Herb Dean issued Koscheck with another warning and deducted no points from his score. Koscheck would go on to win a split decision.

Chris Leben

On January 11, 2010, Chris Leben was the luckiest fighter on the UFC roster. After losing four of his last six fights, and testing positive for the steroid stanozolol, The Crippler still had a job.

Fast forward seven months, and you’ll find a completely different Chris Leben in front of you.

Chris was clean. He was riding a three-fight win streak which included stoppages over undefeated Aaron Simpson and acclaimed judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama. For the first time since being destroyed by Anderson Silva, Chris was a ranked middleweight.

All signs suggested that Chris had turned his life around and that his career was headed to the pinnacle. He signed on for a New Year’s Day bout with fellow striker Brian Stann in what promised to be a slugfest.

Although Leben is known for his zombie-like ability to keep moving forward despite being hit by a kitchen sink, it seemed odd that The Crippler would completely disregard the standup of Stann, a fighter with six first round stoppages due to strikes.

Taking his chin for granted, Chris found himself asleep less than four minutes into the opening round.

To make matters worse, Chris is now a two-time drug offender in the UFC. After testing positive for oxycodone at UFC 138, Leben sits on the sidelines with a one-year suspension.

Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch wants a rematch with Georges St. Pierre more than anything. Better yet, he felt that he deserved one after all he had done. Since his original bout with the champ, Fitch rattled off decision wins over several non-contenders and a poorly conditioned Thiago Alves.

Early in 2011, Fitch squared off with MMA legend BJ Penn and battled to a hard-fought draw. After the bout, Fitch asked for a title shot.

Yes. That is correct. Jon Fitch asked for a title shot despite NOT winning the fight he was just in.

When he did not get his wish, Fitch inexplicably thought it was a good idea to refuse a fight with rising star Rick Story.

Acting as if you call the shots does not go over well with Dana White, who had previously expressed disdain towards Fitch for refusing to fight his AKA teammates Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick.

Jon Fitch comes off as a smart guy, but his ways of trying to get a title shot are bizarre, to say the least.

Dana White

When Forest Griffin made a rape joke on Twitter, he was quickly admonished by the UFC. Griffin made a public apology and the event was put to rest.

Shortly afterwards, bantamweight contender Miguel Torres also tweeted a joke about rape and the UFC’s president was certainly not amused. Torres was released from his UFC contract and Dana White issued a statement regarding the incident.

"I cannot defend Miguel Torres. I cannot defend what he said. What he said makes no sense other than when he says, 'It was a joke.' Well, I don’t think that’s a funny joke. I think it’s disturbing."

One week later, when agitated on Twitter by a man that wished him death, Dana White himself made a joke about the follower being raped in prison. Do as I say, not as I do. Eh, Dana?

Fedor Emelianenko

No matter what you think of Fedor Emelianenko as a fighter today, one thing is very clear: M-1 Global’s handling of contract negotiations with Zuffa was absolutely horrendous.

Sure, Fedor is a part owner of the organization, but any organization that demands the right to co-promote with the UFC in exchange for one fighter is treading in dangerous waters.

By allowing M-1 to make such demands for his services, Fedor missed out on some of the best paydays in MMA history, and the opportunity to permanently cement his legacy.

Hindsight is 20/20, but could you imagine if Fedor and Brock had gone at it? Now that we know about Brock’s terrible response to taking a shot, it’s very possible that Fedor’s career would be miles above where it is now if he had accepted a spot in the UFC.

Fedor isn’t a confusing man. His refusal of major money and choice of representation are all that I question.