UPDATE: NICK DIAZ HAS ARRIVED IN LAS VEGAS. CLICK HERE.
Nick Diaz is notorious for doing things his way. So, just because the Stockton slugger has a scheduled flight, doesn't mean anyone can force him to get on it.
And that includes Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
That was the case yesterday when the ex-Strikeforce welterweight champion opted to bail on his flight to Las Vegas, Nevada -- site of this weekend's (Sat., Jan. 31, 2015) UFC 183 event where he is set to face Anderson Silva -- for reasons known only to him.
As a result, Diaz missed the open workouts earlier today (Tues., Jan. 28, 2015) and is still not currently in "Sin City." That's according to UFC Vice President of Public Relations, Dave Sholler,
His luggage, though, got to "Sin City" safe and sound, according to Sholler (via MMA Fighting):
"We had staff that saw him yesterday in the airport and he elected to not get on the flight. His bags did arrive. Again, I can't speak to why Nick decided not to get on the flight, but we're moving on as if the fight is happening Saturday. We're very confident he's going to be here today."
Despite the hiccup, Sholler, as well as the rest of the UFC brass, is confident that Diaz will arrive in Vegas later today and that the fight will go on as planned.
The buzz began when the promotion released its latest installment of Embedded (see it) showing that Diaz was nowhere to be found. Something that had UFC president Dana White a bit confused, but probably not surprised.
In an interesting twist, Diaz's manager Lloyd Pierson says White and Co. know exactly where Diaz is. Sholler, though, paints an entirely different picture, as he adamantly stands by his claim that neither he nor White are privy to Diaz's whereabouts.
"I don't know why Lloyd made those comments. I can't speak for Lloyd. We got an indication this morning around 9 o'clock that wasn't happening. I can assure you that Nick is not as of this moment in Las Vegas."
In 2011, Diaz bailed on his media obligations in the lead-up to his fight against Georges St-Pierre, a move that ultimately got him pulled from the bout in favor of Carlos Condit.
And with one of the biggest fights of his career just a few days away, it looks like Diaz is up to his old tricks once again.