"He will fight at higher weights. If something big came along, we would put him at light heavy. We would bulk him up a bit and let him fight the really big guys. I bet people would enjoy that. He's a true old school fighter. He's like the Gracie Jiu Jitsu guys from the old school. He will fight at any weight class. That's the kind of fighter he is," stated the legendary Cesar Gracie as he talked about the future plans of Nick Diaz after his dominant win over Scott Smith this past Saturday. Check out what else he had to say about Nick and Nate Diaz, Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez and much, much more.
PC: Congratulations on a huge night for your guys at the Strikeforce event.
CG: Thank you! It was a big night for us and we're happy with the outcomes.
PC: Nick Diaz seems to be really comfortable at the higher weight classes. Do you think he will find his home at middleweight or will he come back down to welterweight?
CG: We'll probably have him go back to welterweight again unless Strikeforce has something for him at middleweight. I know he wants to go back and fight at welterweight. He likes to do triathlons so he likes to stay leaner for those and it ties into the MMA. He wouldn't have to cut that much weight if he was leaner with the workouts he has to do for the triathlons and everything. You won't be seeing him go back to lightweight anytime soon because he's just not very good there. His skills are good at any weight, but when he loses that much weight in the cut, he's prone to health problems, infections and all kinds of things start happening to him. He gets very big and that's not his natural weight. He will fight at higher weights. If something big came along, we would put him at light heavy. We would bulk him up a bit and let him fight the really big guys. I bet people would enjoy that. He's a true old school fighter. He's like the Gracie Jiu Jitsu guys from the old school. He will fight at any weight class. That's the kind of fighter he is.
PC: He has also been very serious about competing in boxing. Is that something you guys would entertain as well?
CG: Yeah, if it makes sense. Obviously, you're not going to take some boxing match where you're getting paid very little money because if you're doing that, then you're not fighting another fight where you could be making enough money to pay your bills. So if a big fight comes up in boxing, he's more than willing to take it. Just to let people know, he's one of Andre Ward's sparring partners. He just keeps getting better and better at that stuff. I don't think people realize how good he has gotten with his boxing in the past year or year and a half. He's developed tremendously from training with Andre and having a new boxing coach and everything. He's a much better fighter now than he was last year.
PC: I was shocked how easily he was able to dominate both Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith. Were you shocked, not by the wins, but by the manner in which they came?
CG: I really wasn't, to be honest with you. I think he is a lot better than both of those guys. It would have surprised me if they would have hurt him standing. Frank has let too much time pass. He's a fighter from the past and he hasn't gotten better and he hasn't learned more. Nick really passed him up in the skill department and with Frank's age of 36, not having the skills really hurt him.
PC: Jake Shields looked great physically at 185. Is that his new home or will he go back down to 170?
CG: He's asked for a title fight at 185. He wants to fight Cung Le. He has a good relationship with Cung because he's been down to San Jose a few times. A couple of years ago, he would go down there so those guys are friends and they have a friendly relationship. But he wants that title and if Cung doesn't fight, he's asking Strikeforce to bring him someone that will fight him for the belt. I think he's going to stay at 185. I know Riggs is asking for a fight with him at 170, but we'll see what happens with that.
PC: Gilbert Melendez has the big rematch with Josh Thomson coming up in August. What do you feel he needs to do differently to secure a win this time around?
CG: It's going to be a good fight. I just don't think Gil was physically in shape the last time. I was with him during the preliminaries and I just didn't see a guy who was himself. He wasn't his same imposing and physical self. He changed his training. He was mostly hitting pads at Fairtex and he kind of neglected to train with the guys that got him to where he was, Jake Shields and the Diaz brothers. He should have focused more on what got him to where he was. He started listening to other people and I think it really hurt him. It's good to hit pads at the end of your workouts sometimes, but that's about it. I mean, pads don't hit you back and that's what he was mainly doing during training. I don't think Fairtex has anybody there for him, to be honest with you; sparring or any other department. I think it's just nothing happening over there and it really hurt him.
PC: It did appear that he was his old self in his last fight against Damm. Was he back training with your camp then?
CG: Yeah, he was back. He really trained hard with Jake and the Diaz brothers for that fight. He really got back to his roots and grinding out everything and you could see it in the fight that he was back to his old self.
PC: Nate Diaz will be fighting Joe Stevenson in two weeks. How is Nate looking in the gym and what type of fight are you guys expecting from Joe Daddy?
CG: I know what I expect from Nathan. He comes out to fight. He wants to beat you up, submit you or knock you out. He's not ever satisfied with scoring points and holding on. Unfortunately, there are a lot of UFC fighters that are satisfied with that and that's how they win. Luckily for us, we don't have that kind of camp and we're proud of that. It's possible for Stevenson to try to hold on and score some points and do what Guida did to get his supposed win over Nate and if that happens, Nate will just have to overcome that. That's kind of what I'm looking at. But Nate is a tough guy and he never looks for those types of wins. He's tough and I respect him for that. He always comes to fight and I think the fans respect that from him as well.
PC: Congratulations again. You are running a great camp over there. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
CG: No, that's it. Thank you guys!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]