We can discuss what Nick Diaz ought to do from this point forward as an MMA fighter, as a fight with Georges St. Pierre would seem almost ideal, but we know for sure what he is doing: stepping into a boxing ring to fight Jeff Lacy, former IBF super middleweight champion of the world. He’s apparently going to get a step up in pay from his cage-fighting checks, which has been a bone of contention of his for some time, and is exercising a clause in his Strikeforce contract that allows him to do so. Whether or not he’s using it as leverage to get a welterweight fight with GSP is one thing, as he and his camp have openly discussed doing both this calendar year, but one thing remains that doesn’t seem to get mentioned.
Diaz accomplishes nothing no matter the outcome of this fight.
If he defeats Lacy, no matter which way, the only thing he’ll get out of it is that he defeated a fighter who was washed up. Lacy has been on quite a career skid as of late, falling from grace rather quickly after multiple defenses of his IBF title, and Diaz accomplishes nothing but beat a fighter who will have been deemed at that point to be washed up. Lacy will not have any credibility after that and Diaz won’t gain any for the matter. Beating a fighter on the downside of his career does nothing for Diaz but establish that he’s a competent boxer. Nothing more and nothing less, which is an accomplishment but not a massive one. Lacy most recently lost a fight to a journeyman fighter so Diaz at best could be considered to have that level of talent.
Being the “Best boxer in MMA” at this point would be like being Charlie Ward when he was playing point guard for the New York Knicks. Ward was known, almost derisively, as the “best quarterback in New York” at one point due to his standout career on the gridiron and the lack of quality quarterbacking. It was meant as an insult to the football players to mention that the point guard on a basketball team was better than them. Diaz would earn this moniker in almost an insulting way because most MMA fighters don’t have the refined punching tools of their boxing counterparts.
If Diaz is defeated by Lacy, again no matter which way, he gains little more than a paycheck. He is wandering into a realm that isn’t his own and as such a loss doesn’t hurt him in the same manner that James Toney’s epic humiliation at the hands of Randy Couture didn’t hurt him. It was acknowledged that Toney wasn’t in his element from the get go; anything short of an epic humiliation was a moral victory for him. Boxing fans kind of shrugged, as Toney did this to help lessen his IRS woes. MMA fans kind of shrugged as well, knowing that short of a puncher’s chance Toney wouldn’t last long against a seasoned fighter. Toney tapping out to an arm-triangle choke, after looking clueless on the mat after the Olympic alternate took him there, was viewed as more perfunctory than anything else.
Being an MMA fighter who lost to a formerly world class fighter isn’t anything to look down upon. Diaz may spar with some great boxers, and has great hands in an MMA setting, but losing to someone who makes their living solely by the “Sweet Science” isn’t anything people are going to hold against him at the end of the day. It would be the same as when NBA superstar Michael Jordan failed at baseball during his first retirement. If Jordan had become good enough to get into the major leagues, years removed from playing the game as a teenager, it’d have been a surprise. The fact that he was a mediocre minor league baseball player diminishes nothing for the best basketball player of his generation. Diaz losing a boxing match doesn’t diminish his ranking as an MMA fighter; it just further establishes the gap in the punching game between MMA and boxing.
No matter the outcome of Diaz’s boxing fight, short of him walking away with a permanent injury (doubtful but still possible), his next MMA fight is still intriguing no matter whom he fights. If he stays with Strikeforce and takes on Tyrone Woodley (the likely #1 contender at this point), the progression of his takedown defense will be measured against a wrestler who is ill-equipped to handle the Stockton, CA native at this time. If he moves over to the UFC and is on the opposite side of the cage of GSP, the best gauge of his ranking in the world will be finally on display.
What won’t be measured is his ability to be a professional boxer. That’ll be an interesting side note, nothing more.
