(Props: MMAFighting.com)

Nick Diaz is a man of contradictions. He’s a BJJ black belt who usually prefers to keep the fight standing and throw hundreds of punches. He’s a chronic weed smoker who’s somehow motivated enough to compete in triathlons when he’s not competing in mixed martial arts. And he clearly hates doing interviews, yet his interviews are comedy gold, 100% of the time. Case in point: His latest run-in with Ariel Helwani, which follows the classic three-part Nick Diaz interview format:

1) Show blatant hostility toward the interviewer. Usually that just means looking the other direction while answering questions and giving short, mumbled responses for the first couple of minutes. And he does that here, obviously, but the tension is especially high in this one. “I wasn’t gonna do this interview but they told me I had to,” Nick says as an opener, before laying into Ariel personally. “I feel like you instigate fights quite a bit…that’s your job, but where I come from, y’know, people like that get slapped.” Ariel tries to get the proceedings back on track, saying something about mutual respect, and Nick says “it’s all good, I see how you are.” Great. Only seven minutes to go.

(Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith, 12/4/10)

With 81.5% of his victories coming by way of strikes, Paul Daley has reason to be confident in his chances against Nick Diaz this Saturday. Semtex has gone 4-0 since his notorious loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 113, and is currently riding back-to-back first-round knockouts of Scott Smith and Yuya Shirai. Of course, Diaz deserves to be a 2-1 favorite, but Daley is always one punch away from producing another devastating knockout. Here are nine of his best moments. (All videos cued up near the good stuff.)

(Paul Daley vs. Junior Barata, 4/18/09)

(‘Diaz vs. Daley’ video hype, via ESPN)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Gegard Mousasi Speaks About Upcoming Fight with Keith Jardine (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- 40 of the Greatest Dana White F-Bombs in the History of the UFC (MiddleEasy)

- From Heavyweight to Bantamweight: Seven Future UFC Champions (LowKick)

- Paul Daley: “I’m Not a Kiss-Ass, I’m Not Really a Company Guy” (5thRound)

- Mayhem Miller Moves Past Nick Diaz Feud, Vows to ‘Beat the Brakes Off’ UFC Middleweights (MMA Fighting)

- The Tragedy of the Murder of Sergio Salcido (MMA Convert)

- Fabricio Werdum Eyeing UFC Title-Shot After Strikeforce Grand Prix (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Georges St. Pierre Pretty Damn Confident He’s Going to Beat Jake Shields (MMA-Scraps)

- ‘TUF’ Talk: How Important is Lesnar’s Stint on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’? (Versus MMA Beat)

- MMA Rankings: Alvarez & Wilcox Stay Put At Lightweight (Fight Magazine)