Nick Diaz and KJ Noons Ready for Title Clash

Nick Diaz and Karl James Noons clash at Elite Xtreme Combat: Renegade on Saturday to decide who will be the first world champion in EliteXC’s new 160 pound division.

The talented, well-schooled Nick Diaz has phenomenal Jiu-Jitsu and cardio. A major player in MMA and one of its most recognizable and popular figures, the wily Diaz, 24, always enters the ring in exceptional condition and makes for exciting scraps.

A Brazilian black belt and loyal student of Cesar Gracie, Diaz made his EliteXC debut on Elite Xtreme Combat: Uprising in Hawaii. In an exhausting, bloody, give-and-take slugfest, he scored a thrilling, three-round split decision over hard-trying Mike Aina.

A fierce, confident competitor, the six-foot southpaw Diaz survived an early knockdown and a cut right eye to outpoint the local favorite by the scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29.

Shortly after his first start in six months, Diaz flew to Las Vegas to watch his brother, Nate, fight. Nick barely had made off the plane before he was taken to a hospital where he would spend a week for a severe staph infection that he contacted a few days before the bout with Aina.

“I felt pretty crappy in my match in Hawaii, but I figured I was suffering from jet lag or from something I had eaten the night before,’’ Diaz said. “When I left Hawaii, I was getting chills and had to be covered with several blankets on the plane. I kept having cold sweats.

“By the time I got to Vegas, the infection had ballooned up so I went to a hospital and was admitted right away. I started getting my strength back the last few days in the hospital.

“But I definitely won that fight with Aina and people that think otherwise; well, I do not know what they were watching. If we ever fight again, I will tap him out.’’

The outspoken, brutally honest Diaz recuperated quickly enough to compete in a triathlon for a second consecutive year. “I ended up taking second place,’’ he said. “I lost first by seven minutes due to a poor swim. I couldn’t get much swim practice because I was in the hospital.’’

Diaz has fought some of the sport's biggest names in an illustrious six-year career. In perhaps his most unforgettable performance, a battered, bruised and bloodied Diaz rallied from the brink of defeat to score an impressive, legendary gogoplata submission victory over then-consensus No. 1 lightweight contender, Takanori Gomi, in a 2007 Fight of the Year candidate that wound up going into the books as a no contest.

“I am looking forward to getting back in the cage on Saturday,’’ Diaz said.

Karl James Noons who is also a professional boxer, is coming off a smashing third-round knockout over Edson Berto on July 27, 2007, at King Of The Cage: Undisputed. Despite fracturing his left hand in the opening minutes, Noons would go on to mostly dominate the favored Berto.

Noons wore down Berto, then dropped him with a devastating right knee to the face. Noons followed the knockdown with a right hand and right elbow to the face before the referee stepped in and halted the proceedings 45 seconds into the round.

The victory was monumental for Noons, who had been knocked out by “Krazy Horse’’ Charles Bennett in his outing before last.

“I had to prove I was better, which is why I put in so much time and sweat and blood preparing for Berto,” Noons said. “It wasn’t easy, but I made it look easy. It definitely helped me put the “Krazy Horse” fight behind me. I got a lot off my shoulders with that fight.’’

The victory earned Noons a berth in the initial EliteXC lightweight championship fight.

“The thing about EliteXC is I knew if I was winning, I would eventually get a title shot,” Noons said. “In EliteXC, the people who fight actually earn (the right).’’

A fighter who has never turned down a challenge, Noons is confident of an upset. “This is for a world title,’’ he said. “I’ll be ready. I wasn’t impressed with Nick’s last performance. This is a good match-up. He’s the No. 1 guy in the world; he beat Gomi. I’m just glad to have the opportunity to have a chance to be fighting someone of his caliber.

“I have nothing to lose, everything to gain. He’s great on the ground. I’m not, but I work hard at the ground game. I don’t plan on trying for a submission. I’ll just be trying to stop him.

“Nick is probably going to try and stand and then take it to the ground to finish it. I want to make it a fight. The way I fight, every fight is exciting and a war. I’m going in to win. I won’t be letting down. It’s going to be head-to-head. I think fighting at 160 is good for both of us.’’