Coker: Diaz Will Be Only Fighter To Cross Organizations

For those of you fanboys waiting for lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez to vacate his Strikeforce belt and challenge for a UFC crown, don’t hold your breath.
According to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, former welterweight champion Nick Diaz was the ONLY Strikeforce title holder that had a provision in his contract which allowed him to jump to the big leagues.



“When Nick was working his way over to the UFC, we had talks with [manager Cesar Gracie],” Coker told 5thRound. “It was a process. It was a very unique situation because of the boxing allowance – that we allowed him to box. That’s how it ended up working out the way it did.

“The idea was to keep him in MMA, and Nick used that as a little [bargaining] chip.”
Coker reiterated that Diaz’s boxing provision was the only reason Mr. 209 was permitted to transfer over to the UFC.

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