STRIKEFORCE QUOTABLES: K.J. Noons says the "trash talking, pot smoking chump" Nick Diaz is going to have to kill him to beat him on October 9

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
















"I'm super excited about the opportunity, and I think it's a great thing for me. To be in the Strikeforce main event on Showtime, to be in line to be a two-time, two-division world champion, and getting to beat Nick again in the process... I couldn't ask for a better fight. I already got one up on Nick. I beat the crap out of the guy. He's had a good run, and there's a lot of build-up for this rematch. We've both improved, this is a different weight class now, he's gotten better, I've gotten better, it's a different situation. But at the end of the day, I'm a true mixed martial artist, I have respect for the sport, and I am a good role model... Nick's good for entertainment, but I come from a family of fighters. I started early, and I have respect for martial arts. It teaches you discipline, how to become a good person, and I feel that I am. On October 9, I'm fighting a guy that, if I had a kid, I wouldn't want him looking up to. He's a trash-talking, pot-smoking chump. It's motivation for sure [to be fighting near Diaz's hometown]. I love being the underdog. Even when I'm not, I still try to picture myself as the underdog so I train harder and push myself. Nick says he's bringing his guys, but so am I. They're going to need to beef up security. This is beyond a grudge match. I'm going to light him up like a Christmas tree. He's going to have to kill me to [to beat me]. It's very personal."

-K.J. Noons talks to Strikeforce.com about his October rematch with Nick Diaz for Diaz's Welterweight Championship.

Penick's Analysis: Strikeforce needs to find a way to make this back type of back and forth between Noons and Diaz - because rest assured this will get a response from Diaz - out to as wide of an audience as possible. They have an easy sell with this fight, but they need to do it right; which is something they haven't shown an ability to do thus far. As for Noons himself, he did bust Diaz up in the first fight, but Diaz has improved quite a bit since that one. This should be a good fight card on October 9 for Strikeforce, they just need to make sure people are watching.

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