KJ Noons Blasts Nick Diaz, Expletives Follow
Hot off the ratings success of their first CBS show, Elite XC returns to Showtime this Saturday night with “Return of the King” in Hawaii. You’re probably wondering, who is the king in this scenario? Is Elvis on the card? Turns out, no, he isn’t. The king is K.J. Noons, who was raised in Hawaii until he was sixteen and is now returning to fight there. Also he sometimes goes by “King Karl”, just to remind us that alliteration alone is not enough to base a nickname on.
In a media conference call today Noons did his best to dispel reports that he has been avoiding a rematch with Nick Diaz, who he defeated in order to claim the Elite XC lightweight title back in November.
“I’ve won a lot of titles, but winning the EliteXC title was one of the most powerful things to happen to me,’’ said Noons. “I’m just proud that I keep trying to get better and just follow my dreams.
“But I don’t dodge anybody. As a champion, you can’t duck anyone. You only have one option. You fight the best. Whoever that is, that’s who I fight. Unfortunately, Nick’s not the best now. I have to fight the top guy as the champion. Right now that guy is Yves Edwards.
“Of course, it would be great to fight Nick in the future. It would be a great payday for me. (But) Nick is such a big crybaby. Let him rebuild himself and then we’ll fight again. I’d love an easy payday.
“It’s ridiculous what Diaz’ camp was saying. Why would they think I’m dodging him? I gave him plastic surgery on his face. That’s a fact. As long as he can get a doctor’s note, (I’m all for) round two.’’
Uh-oh. You know who’s not going to like that? World-famous hothead Nick Diaz. And here it comes:
“Noons is a little (expletive) and it doesn’t even matter what I am thinking about him because we are not fighting. Noons won on a cut. He is only a paper champion. His days are numbered.’’
You know, that actually wasn’t too bad. Diaz even comes off sounding like the level-headed one by mentioning that they aren’t even fighting one another on this card, so talking smack on the conference call seems like wasted energy. That just shows you what a veteran Diaz is. He saves his real smack for when it matters.
In case you’re curious, Noons will be defending his title against Yves Edwards, who has six times as many fights as he does. They’re also apparently friends, but Edwards doesn’t seem too concerned with that:
“It’s never fun to fight a friend, but if you’re not in this business to win world titles, you’re in the wrong business. I want to get the gold as soon as possible. KJ’s got that gold and I’ve got to go through him. He’s a good kid, but he has the gold. If my mom had that belt, I’d fight her. That’s just how it works.”
I realize he’s just trying to make a point, but statements like that will make for an awkward Thanksgiving this year. And I’m not so sure Yves really would want to face his mom with a title on the line. Unlike KJ Noons, she probably has experience whipping his ass.
