UFC 137 Results: Will Nick Diaz Be the Welterweight Champion in 2012?

Nick Diaz had an impressive performance against B.J. Penn, but the Stockton native won't be UFC welterweight champion any time soon.

This notion may seem counter-intuitive since Diaz just battered a man who many considered to be the best technical boxer in MMA, but Diaz's lack of championship gold in 2012 won't have anything to do with his unorthodox boxing.

Instead, the failure(s) of Nick Diaz in 2012 will come down to one word:

Wrestling.

Diaz's wrestling has always been deficient, his Achilles' heel. In his first run in the UFC, Diaz couldn't handle the top-control, strength and bullying of wrestlers such as Sean Sherk.

After leaving the organization, Diaz made a name for himself in Strikeforce, fighting extremely well but over a lower caliber of competition. However, what was more consistent about Diaz's opponents, aside from the fact that they were only above average at best, was that they all weren't known as wrestlers.

So strong is Diaz's aversion to strong wrestlers that he hasn't fought a decent wrestler since 2006. This couldn't have been good for Diaz's overall MMA game; not fighting wrestlers won't help you beat one when you inevitably have to face one again.

This was evident in the first round of the B.J. Penn fight. Penn got a takedown on Diaz that was all too easy. Diaz was able to stuff takedowns in the second and third rounds due to Penn's exhausted state, but the wrestlers in the welterweight division won't get tired that quickly.

Diaz has always struggled against wrestlers and he hasn't shown that he's done something to fix that. Instead, he prefers to whine about how the rules give them an advantage.

Unfortunately for him, no amount of complaining can stop what dominant wrestlers like Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch will do to him.

Will he be a champion in 2012? Not as long as there are strong wrestlers (St.Pierre, Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Anthony Johnson, Jake Ellenberger, etc.) in the division.

To borrow some terminology from Star Wars, the force is strong with Nick Diaz but he is not a Jedi yet.