Cesar Gracie on Penn-Diaz: "Let's Make Fight Five Rounds, Don't Be Scared Homie"
UFC President Dana White has already stated that the main event bout will be a three-rounder, but that isn't stopping Diaz's camping from pushing for the boss to add a couple of rounds to the anticipated bout.
"Don't be scared, homie. Let's make it five rounds," Diaz's manager and trainer Cesar Gracie said towards Penn in an interview with MMAFighting.com on Tuesday. "These guys have to prove they are ready. These guys are fighters. BJ always said he's a warrior. The old school days of MMA, back when it was NHB, they fought forever."
According to Gracie, White is okay with making the bout five rounds, if Penn's camp agrees, but there has yet to be any official word from Penn or his camp.
One thing is sure, Diaz wasted little time jumping on the bandwagon for a five round fight.
"Dana is good with it. We've agreed to it. If BJ agrees to it, we'll make it happen," said Gracie. "If they can't fight five rounds against each other, how are they going to fight five rounds against GSP?"
The Penn and Diaz bout was initially set to be the co-main event to the welterweight championship bout between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit.
The bout was bumped to UFC 137 headliner on Tuesday after St-Pierre suffered an injury while training and withdrew from his bout with Condit.
While White is fine with both sides agreeing on a five round fight, he won't push either to accept a fight they weren't prepared for.
"They didn't train for five rounds," White told MMAFighting.com in a text.
