UFC 137 Fight Card: 10 Reasons Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn Should Be 5 Rounds

Via a tweet from UFC President Dana White, Bleacher Report MMA and the MMA World have learned that an injured knee has caused the anticipated UFC Welterweight Title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit to be scrapped from the UFC 137 card, and in its place, a co-headlining bout between BJ Penn and Nick Diaz has taken the reins as the marquee match of the evening.

White has assured fans that because Diaz and Penn trained for 15 minutes in the Octagon, nothing shall change for either of the two Fighting Prides—not for the favorite son of Hilo, Hawaii, and not for the premier defender of Stocton, California's fighting spirit, but why should we deprive the bout of the 10 minutes it deserves?

Why should the bout end no later than three rounds if the realistic vision for the victor is a UFC Welterweights-only game of "25 Minutes or Less" for the most prestigious crown in the history of the universal titan that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship?

With all due respect to the president of MMA's largest organization, there are 10 such reasons why the bout deserves those two extra rounds, and I hope Mr. White is keeping all of them in mind.

As for you, Bleacher-heads, I just hope you enjoy the show.

10. Giving the Fans What They Want

Dana White could have cut Nick Diaz for no-showing both of those early UFC 137 pressers, but he kept Diaz and switched him with Condit because he always wants to give the fans what they want to see.

Well, if the UFC president is putting on five-round main events from here on out for that very reason, why wait until Michael Bisping faces Jason Miller or Chris Leben gets Mark Munoz?

If a bout is going to get five rounds as the headliner to a major MMA card, despite not having a belt up for grabs, this one should be it, and if for no other reason, it fits to have Penn's fight with Diaz as a five-rounder because the fans will definitely be wanting to see it.

I mean, isn't Dana the type of guy who listens to his followers?

9. They Don't Care Who You Are. They Care How Good You Are.

When it came to Diaz in Strikeforce or Penn at Lightweight, what's the one thing they always said about their opponents?

"I want to see how good this guy really is."

Diaz wanted to avenge his loss to KJ Noons, but before that, he just wanted to see how good the guy really was, and Penn wanted to see if either Kenny Florian or Diego Sanchez were good enough to know what to do when Penn's boxing and jiu-jitsu came at full speed towards them.

They have rarely ever thought about anything but seeing how good their foes really were while showing the world how good they were, and even though Penn is as confident in his ability to beat Diaz as Diaz is confident in his ability to beat Penn, one can't help but think that Penn really wants to see if the show is worth the hype with the former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and vice versa for Diaz wanting to see if the hype is worth the legend status for the former two-division UFC Champion.

The fight doesn't just live up to the hype by itself, it exceeds it.

8. Last Time Anyone Checked, Both Were Former Champions

A redundant and miniscule argument, but a notable argument nonetheless.

BJ is a legend and a former two-division UFC champion while Diaz is a former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, but is that even running through the former Strikeforce Champion's mind?

Diaz spoke on it during the UFC 137 Conference Call:

"I'm not trying to get all crazy. I need to get paid, so I'm going to show up, make weight and then I'm going to fight. I don't really think about all that."

It may not matter much that both guys used to have a belt and are now chasing down a belt as well as competitive fights, especially considering who the champion is, but it doesn't hurt the stock of the new main event that the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion is facing the longest-reigning Strikeforce Welterweight Champion.

7. Both Guys Bring 25-Plus Minutes Worth of Action

The only reason BJ Penn would ever be in a boring fight is if his opponent is a notoriously boring fighter, and the same goes for Nick Diaz.

The fact is that, if the names and titles aren't enough to make one trust in both fighters' ability to sell a fight without saying a few syllables before the fight, their direct offense is.

BJ Penn takes some scary punishment in order to implement his boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu game, and Diaz bleeds in order to do the same, which is really the only difference.

Yes, Diaz bleeds when he takes punishment to deliver punishment, while Baby Jay Dee just gets bruised and battered up badly enough for him to say "I got hit a few times," but they always keep the pressure on.

It's usually enough to pulverize the spirits of anyone not named Jon Fitch or Diego Sanchez, the latter of whom got stopped by a Penn-induced gash but won a decision over Diaz. The former never faced Diaz but officially drew with Penn (even though some had it 29-28 for Fitch).

Now, imagine those two indestructible spirits in the cage, opposite each other.

And you're telling me that this one will all be settled in 15 minutes with no flirtations towards at least a rematch?

6. The Stylistic Clash Is That Damn Good

BJ Penn is Nick Diaz's favorite fighter, and looking at their fighting styles, it's not very difficult to see why Diaz would look up to Penn.

Both men, as stated before, show aggressive boxing and active jiu-jitsu games with zero sign of relent, and that classic collision between two stylistically similar fighters adds some excitement to the bout.

Even fans of good standup fights can appreciate the grappling and ground games of these two fighters because, much like a great movie or an MTV reality series that makes it past one season without getting canned, Penn and Diaz find a way to make it entertaining all the way to the end.

5. BJ Penn Goes out on His Shield Unless Your Name Is Matt Hughes

Surprised?

Don't be.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that BJ does not like to let people finish him in the cage, which is why most of his losses have come by decision except for his UFC 94 loss to Georges St-Pierre and his loss to Matt Hughes.

Of course, BJ Penn's corner threw in the towel to give GSP the TKO win before Round 5, and henceforth, we're acknowledging Hughes' UFC 63 pummeling of Penn only in this instance.

That, plus we can also say BJ had to motivate himself to put current champion Frankie Edgar in some danger when they had their UFC 118 rematch, even though that fight was a lopsided unanimous decision.

Simply put, BJ is the type of guy who you might have to run over with a semi-truck if you're trying to find a serious knockout, and to say Diaz will have a hell of a time trying to find the KO on the Hawaiian is a massive understatement.

4. Nick Diaz's Heart Won't Let Him Go out Without a Win

Diaz is so ballsy in the cage that it is scary.

He does taunt a bit more than he should, even though he doesn't always taunt his opponents, but he has so much pride in himself and he has so much heart that he would rather go out on a no-contest than let himself give out during a fight.

Like Penn, the majority of Diaz's losses are decision losses, with three of them coming in the earlier days of the UFC against guys like Diego Sanchez and Joe Riggs, and we all know the only TKO loss of Diaz's career was that shaky win KJ Noons got in EliteXC over Diaz.

There is a reason why he's never been stopped aside from the Noons loss, and part of it has been the slew of strong wrestlers that have been lined up for Diaz.

For the Evangelista Santos-types as well as the Noons-types and the Paul Daleys of the world, though, Diaz has survived because he has a tough chin and plenty of heart, which in turn has crushed his opponents' spirits and led to their eventual defeats.

BJ Penn has some serious punching power and can put anyone out with it, but will October 29th be the night that "The Prodigy" does what nobody has been able to do and put Nick Diaz out for the count?

Not if Diaz has anything to do with it, and the same goes for Diaz's hopes of knocking Penn out.

3. BJ Penn Is Not Lobbying Against It (As Long as He Gets Compensated for It)

BJ Penn has said that he's got no objections to going two extra rounds, but if he's doing 10 extra minutes in the main event of the night, he might need a few G's added to his pay for not coming in at above 171 and keeping the fans awake.

“I want to be compensated accordingly and that’s it. I’m more than willing to do a five-round fight,” Penn told MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday. “If Dana wants a five-round fight, just give me a call and we can put it together right now."

“Or if Cesar wants to make it a five-round fight and he wants to compensate me personally, he can put his money where his mouth is, it’s that easy. I’ve been training to fight. I’m ready to fight.”

BJ isn't saying he's scared, homie, but he ain't talking too much about giving 10 extra minutes for a breath of fresh air either.

Compensation or not, though, it does seem obvious to anyone able to pronounce the word "judo" that BJ is not against giving the fans 10 extra minutes of action—just as long as he gets something in return.

Well, both fighters are getting a pay cut of something over $20 anyway, so one might say it's not much of a problem.

2. Nick Diaz and Cesar Gracie Aren't Lobbying Against It

Cesar Gracie said it best: “At this point in the game, you’ve got to prove you’re worthy of it. Who wants to see people gas out? If you can’t do five rounds, you’re not ready to be a champion.”

Whether or not Gracie was serious when he said that Diaz wasn't even training for five rounds when he was set to face Georges St-Pierre, he does have a point in saying what he said, and Nick's not disagreeing with it either.

They want it to go five rounds, even though we're almost a week away from the event, and they hope BJ Penn is down to do two extra frames to prove that a trilogy with GSP is worth cracking a weak smirk over (if GSP beats Carlos Condit), just as they are confident that they can last two extra frames worth enough to prove that they aren't scared to go to the championship rounds with either Condit of St-Pierre.

If there is a reason why neither man should be allowed to put their money where their traps are, I'd certainly like to hear it.

1. Why Put on a 15-Minute Match If the Winner Could Get the Champ Next?

Does it make sense to have two guys go 15 minutes if the winner will potentially earn a shot at the champion?

Absolutely not, and it's for that reason that the "all main events are scheduled for five rounds even if they aren't title fights" rule probably should have been made effective immediately starting with this event.

Not only would it give us zero to worry about in the time span between now and fight night, but it would give us the fight that we all want to see, and if we're getting 25 minutes or double of the action inside of a Nick Diaz vs. BJ Penn bout, it's only appropriate for this bout to get the five five-minute rounds it has deserved for a long time.

The action justifies it, as does the excitement potential, and we know that the fighters can and likely will deliver the fight that we all want to see.

The main question left to be answered is, will we be able to get the action we want out of three measly rounds without finding ourselves begging for a rematch?

It's always possible, but it won't be the same without us fans getting the two extra rounds that this fight so richly deserves.