"We worked together every day and a lot of nights, we would be at the gym by ourselves, or just me, him and Nathan, and I would work with him on combinations and he would listen. I knew he had a heart; he wanted it, I could see it in his eyes and he would call me and be like, 'Hey Rich, can we meet at the gym?; I would say, 'Yeah, let's go.' And we would meet down there or he would come to my house and we would go in the garage. So by just working with him, I could see it because I have been training guys for a long time. I could tell he had the skills; he just needed somebody to work with him, so to be honest, when I started working with him back in 2004, before his fight against Robbie Lawler is when I saw how great Nick Diaz could be," stated world-class trainer Richard Perez, the boxing coach of Nick and Nate Diaz, who talked about the work he's done with Diaz brothers to help them develop arguably the best hands in MMA. Check out what he had to say about Nick's recent victory over BJ Penn and much more!
PC: Congratulations on the big win over BJ Penn. How do you feel Nick performed?
RP: Well, with the training that he had, he did great. He did really good. He didn't get very much sparring, but he did really good.
PC: Nick said after the fight that the sparring was limited because of the cut Andre Ward suffered during camp. Is that something you guys are looking to address or is it a tough situation?
RP: Well, what happened was we couldn't find anybody to spar with. We had a couple of guys, but they weren't as competitive as he wanted them to be. He had to hold back a little bit. We couldn't really spar that good to get his combinations going. I worked him a lot on the mitts, so that helped out a lot.
PC: I used to always wonder who the grey-haired guy was in Nate and Nick Diaz's corner, so when my man Kogan hit me up to speak with you, I was really looking forward to it.
RP: (Laughing)
PC: You have done a great job with both Nick and Nate's boxing. Tell us about how you hooked up with Nick Diaz?
RP: When I first met him, he was about 17 and Nathan was about 16. I had Rodney Jones then and they wanted to spar with him and I said, "Nah, not now. I think you guys are too young." And then they kept bugging me, "Come on Rich, man, I can spar with him." So I finally put him in and told Rodney to work with him and gave Nick some pointers. And then they say he was going to fight Robbie Lawler, and David Heath asked me if I would train him and I said, "Yeah!" I trained Nick just on head stuff. I didn't show him how to work to the body or anything. I just wanted to show him how to throw combinations to the head and I thought he will be exciting; he could use his reach, and his work ethic was really good, but I was kind of worried about him because he never really had nobody teach him. He asked me what I wanted and I told him I didn't want nothing but for him to go out there and win and get a knockout and that would be good enough. I was even shocked when he did it because I knew Robbie Lawler was really good. I worked on combinations to the head and then after that, we worked on more and more and more. It takes a while to pick up all of the...the way I train, it takes a while for these guys to pick up all of the things I'm teaching, but once they do, we work on keeping it there. We just keep working it.
PC: When would you say you saw that switch go off and you knew you had something special in Nick Diaz?
RP: Just by working with him every day. We worked together every day and a lot of nights, we would be at the gym by ourselves, or just me, him and Nathan, and I would work with him on combinations and he would listen. I knew he had a heart; he wanted it, I could see it in his eyes and he would call me and be like, "Hey Rich, can we meet at the gym?" I would say, "Yeah, let's go." And we would meet down there or he would come to my house and we would go in the garage. So by just working with him, I could see it because I have been training guys for a long time. I could tell he had the skills; he just needed somebody to work with him, so to be honest, when I started working with him back in 2004, before his fight against Robbie Lawler is when I saw how great Nick Diaz could be.
PC: Nick did a lot of damage to BJ Penn's face, but I think the body work was just as damaging. At what point during that fight did you realize Nick was going to have his way?
RP: In the middle of the 1st round is when I saw he was going to get him. The first minute or two, he was trying to get a feel of him and trying to figure out which way he was going to go and what BJ was trying to do, so he can start getting off his punches. He does that. He is a smart fighter. People don't think he is. I work with him a lot and he is a very smart fighter.
PC: The fight against Georges St. Pierre is next in line. Do you see anything in particular that you have to work on with Nick for this fight?
RP: I got Nick down to where he is at his peak from what I know in boxing because I have been in boxing since I was a kid. We raised 4 boys, 4 brothers, so everything that I know, I'm giving it to him and he's going to just get better and better. We are fighting against Georges St. Pierre and he will be better conditioned, in a lot better shape. We will have more time to train.
PC: I gotta ask you, from a trainer's standpoint, how difficult was it for you to go from the St. Pierre fight to the Penn fight?
RP: Yeah, for me, I get worried because I know what it's like to be a fighter and you have your opponents switched like that. It messes with your mind. There were a few things we tried to work on, but that really messed it up right there. But I told him, I said, "You know what, Nick? We're here to fight, let's do it and let's focus and let's keep training and go out there and beat this guy." And then it kept going from 3 rounds to 5 rounds. They kept playing games. I don't know who was doing it, but that's the way I felt, as though they kept playing games. One minute it was going to be a 3-round fight and then the next, it was going to be a 5-round fight. I said, "Nick, we are going to train like it's a 5-round fight for the time that we have left." I got in the ring and I go for 6 rounds with him and that's hard. He comes in there throwing at me and I throw right back at him. And then we got some sparring, but it wasn't what we wanted because he was going right through those guys.
PC: It's going to be tough for anyone to deal with his punch output. He throws a hundred punches or so and then walks back to his corner like he threw 10 to 20.
RP: Yeah, I make him throw a lot of punches. I tell him, "We're here to fight and sometimes you are going to get in spots where you are going to be throwing a whole lot of punches and I don't want you to gas out, so you need to do it here to get in better shape." And then he does other things; he rides bike, he runs and he does triathlons, so that all helps him out a lot.
PC: Nick really thought about going to boxing, and even now, it sounds like he kind of regrets not making that move. Being that you were involved in boxing for so long, do you think he could have made a smooth transition?
RP: Yeah! He had a pro fight one time. It was a 4-round fight and he fought a guy that was 9-1 with 7 knockouts and we didn't even know that. We were coming in to fight a guy that we didn't think had any fights and Nick had him hurt in every round. The guy got frustrated or whatever and hit Nick with an elbow and busted his eye. I got mad and I told the ref, "Hey, if this guy wants to do some elbows, Nick's good at elbows." Nick dominated him and he was running and he barely made it to the last round. He said he wants to box, so we will see eventually.
PC: Physically, he is a specimen with the amount of work he can put out and mentally, he is as tough as they come.
RP: He is. Believe me, I know. I work with him with the mitts in the ring and believe me, he's strong. I have to keep him on top of the game all of the time, just like his Jiu Jitsu and everything else he does. He has to stay on top of it. The boxing, I have to be there to work with him to get his technique down and his timing down and we just get at it.
PC: Both Diaz Brothers have a unique style. Is that something that you taught them or just something that you added?
RP: No, the awkwardness is theirs, just like Rodney Jones, he was awkward too. I tell Nick and Nate, "You guys are awkward." I know their timing and their rhythm now and it's good. I can pick up things quick because I have been in boxing for so long and I have been with a lot of sparring guys and a lot of fighters, but these guys are awkward and Rodney was really awkward too. People have a hard time holding mitts for these guys because their timing is way off. Once you let them get their timing on and you can follow it, ah, that's what they do right there in that cage and people love it.
PC: They both attack from so many levels, you never know where they are coming from.
RP: And they switch from southpaw to orthodox too.
PC: I don't know if BJ Penn will ever compete again. I know there is speculation already that he may return, but to say you retired BJ Penn is a helluva accomplishment.
RP: Ah man, that guy is a coconut head. That's all I gotta say because he took a beating, but he never did go down. He is tough.
PC: I think you are one of the most underrated guys in mixed martial arts, so we will do everything we can over here at FightHype to get people to understand how big of a part you play in the careers of the Diaz Brothers. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
RP: I really think I am and I appreciate it because I don't get any recognition. I have been working with these kids since 2004 and, I don't know, maybe something will come up. They always give me recognition in the cage, but other than that...
PC: It just amazes me that people say Nick has the best boxing in MMA, but yet, no one is interested in who is teaching him his boxing.
RP: I appreciate you. I really don't think people realize what I do and I am old, but I don't feel old. I still go in the ring with them and I really work them hard. They even tell me, "Rich, when we get done with you, it's really a workout."
PC: You got those two boys; you gotta feel young.
RP: (Laughing) You got that right; them boys are animals. To me, it's just crazy that I don't get any credit because Nathan has been boxing people for his last 11 fights and Nick has been knocking people out and it's always Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu. And at times, it's like, "Where am I at? Who am I?" And like I said, they give me the credit, but not many people in the media do, but I guess that's just a part of the game. I don't know.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]