EliteXC has made the announcement that they are stripping Lightweight Champion KJ Noons of the title effective immediately due to his reluctance to fight Nick Diaz.
The following was posted on the organizations official website(www.elitexc.com) by Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen:
“We are stripping KJ of his championship belt for refusing to defend against Diaz,’’ Lappen said. “It’s a very unfortunate situation but we cannot have belt-holders who refuse to fight the top contenders.We want champions who will fight anyone, anytime, anyplace.That’s the mentality all champions should have.
“I feel very bad for KJ because I like him a lot on a personal level and have always thought he could be a big star.He’s charismatic, has a very exciting fighting style and is a top level fighter. So I’m obviously disappointed that he has chosen to take this stance.
“I don’t understand why he would turn down a chance to be a headliner on CBS on Oct. 4. KJ then turned down the fight again when we offered him a headlining spot on our next SHOWTIME date against Nick. From my view, it is a fight against a top-named opponent in Diaz (someone who beat the No. 1 fighter in the world in his weight class), a fighter KJ has bad blood with and a fight the fans really wanted to see. It seemed like a great opportunity for KJ to me.
“Personally, I do not think it was a smart career move, but I’m sure he sees it differently. KJ has two more fights remaining on his contract, so we are still looking forward to having him fight for us again soon, but not as our world champion.’’
There has been a well documented struggle between Noons and EliteXC, with EXC adament that they want to have Noons and Diaz in a rematch while Noons has openly stated he wants the fight but that he wants more money.
The most recent chapter in the saga happened Wednesday evening when Nate Diaz, basically called out Noons following his split decision win over Josh Neer, stating it was time for “little bitches” to fight his brother for the title. Obviously, he was referring to Noons.
When Noons was contacted my MMANews.com Thursday evening for a response, Noons had not seen the Diaz comments but did say “It should be funny if he is talking shit considering he was saying he was sorry and shaking my hand and saying how stupid he felt in Hawaii.” (following a June altercation between the Noons family and the Diaz brothers.)
When asked about his thoughts on EliteXC Noons said “I am giving them the benefit of doubt and hoping EliteXC is willing to work this out. If not, legally I can fight anywhere.” on the Diaz fight Noons stated, “Yeah I want this fight, if EliteXC stops being so cheap.”
Noons was not immediately available for comment on being stripped of the title today.
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |