• UFC 143

Me crazy? I'm the sane one! - Diaz

Nick Diaz has opened up about his public image, insisting it is fine for people to label him crazy because, in his eyes, it is everybody else who has the problem.

Diaz is one of the most mysterious characters in the UFC. President Dana White has previously confessed he cannot work out the welterweight, and the Stockton-born fighter is well known for being unpredictable with the media.

On Saturday he fights for the interim 170lb title against Carlos Condit, knowing victory books him a shot at currently-injured champion Georges St-Pierre.

Diaz had been lined up for a previous fight with St-Pierre but got pulled from the bout when he failed to attend a series of media events. To him, though, he is merely being himself - something he says few other fighters can claim.

"I am not crazy, in my opinion everyone else is crazy," Diaz said. "Carlos is a very well rounded guy. He's tough and it will be a fight. I'm cool with him, but like always I don't want to be around him because I am fighting him. I don't act one way in front of a camera and another way when I'm not.

"I'm emotional but I don't stage anything. People say I am crazy but I think other people are crazy for acting all nice around people they are supposed to fight. I don't put on a show, what you see is what you get, and sorry some people can't handle that.

"With me, you get the real me, real martial arts and a real warrior mentality. I don't act friends with anyone I am going to fight. That's crazy, I don't understand that. Some people aren't mature enough to understand I don't want to put on an act for the cameras. I'm real. I'm acting natural, I don't want to be friends around a guy I am about to fight."

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