Joe Lauzon won't fight Nate Diaz because he's too awesome

If you've ever wondered why two of the most exciting lightweights on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster -- Nate Diaz and Joe Lauzon -- have never tangoed inside the Octagon, wonder no more.

The two combatants forged a friendship in 2007 during The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5, and they are in no hurry to trade blows for the sake of money.

During a snapchat Q&A (via MMA Fighting), Joe talked about their fondness for one another and says though they might eventually meet in the center of the cage, Lauzon would rather avoid it as long as possible.

"I think it's kind of a natural thing that we'll probably fight at some point, maybe. But I would always try to fight someone else before I fought Nate. Just because I like Nate a lot. It would probably be an exciting fight, but I like Nate too much. I love Nate Diaz. We were both on [The Ultimate Fighter] together. We were on opposite teams. He actually arm-locked me the very first day for the tryouts. The tryouts were to pick teams and I got matched up with Nate. I hadn't done jiu jitsu in two months because my brother, we don't get along so well sometimes, we were doing kickboxing sparring and he double-legged me through the ropes into a hard piece of metal. I had a huge lump and I couldn't do anything off my back for two months. So the first day, it's the first time I've done any sort of jiu jitsu and of course I'm paired up with Nate and he arm-locks me right off the bat. It was such a nice arm lock."

Diaz -- for the most part -- gets a bad rap thanks to his no-filter attitude and openness to speak his mind without giving a second thought of who he's likely to offend.

Then there's stuff like this.

As some like to say, "he keeps it real." Joe, however, has seen a different side of Diaz that is rarely shown in the public eye. In "J-Lau's" view, Nate is the type of person who will give you the shirt off his back.

"Everyone's like, 'He kind of looks like a jerk. He seems like a dick.' I try to explain that the Diaz brothers don't like doing media, but if you met Nate Diaz you would love him. Nate is the man. I wish it would come off a little bit clearer how awesome those guys are. He'd give you the shirt off his back. The 209 don't give a fuck."

Diaz will make his long-awaited return to the cage when he meets Michael Johnson at UFC on FOX 17 on Dec. 19, 2015 in Orlando, Florida (details).

As for Lauzon, he'll look to earn his second straight win when he faces Evan Dunham at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 22 Finale on Dec. 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada (more on that fight here).

The get up-to-date with both of those upcoming events, click here and here.