Don’t be scared homie.

Earlier this June, KJ Noons defended his EXC welterweight championship against Yves Edwards. Using his boxing, he knocked out Edwards in less than a minute. As he and his father were celebrating in the ring, Nick and Nate Diaz came into the cage and Nick uttered those words above and all hell broke loose.

But it was set. Finally, EXC had a grudge match, and one that people wanted to see. You had Nick and Nate Diaz, the ultimate jerks, facing off against KJ Noons, who needed to not only defend his championship, but the honor of his father who was disrespected in the cage.

In a MMA world that barely exists outside of the UFC, money fights are hard to come by. In fact, they are near extinct since Pride became obsolete. Money fights need exposure. They need patience. The right fight can happen at the right time, but if the right audience isn’t there, it won’t work. The rematch between KJ Noons and Nick Diaz wasn’t going to sell many tickets compared to what some of the other big cards have done this year. But it might’ve caused some interest with casual fans. It might’ve caused some water cooler talk around the office. But it’s not going to matter now.

According to EXC Vice President Jared Shaw, KJ Noons has turned down the fight with Diaz, saying that Diaz isn’t the number one contender. He wants Eddie Alvarez instead. You shouldn’t buy that excuse. It can’t be the case.

Earlier this year, Noons wasn’t put on the first CBS Saturday Night Fight’s show because he wouldn’t sign a long term contract. EXC didn’t want to showcase a fighter on national television who wasn’t going to be with them long term. With both sides, it’s about the money. It’s always about the money. KJ Noons probably doesn’t like the fact that Nick Diaz makes more money than him. To EXC’s credit, Diaz deserves to make more money. Diaz is the bigger name, and if anyone has a fan base, it is him. He’s also been around MMA much longer. For Noons (and it’s not only Noons, it’s a lot of fighters), he thinks he deserves more money because he won the match and is the champion. But it never works that way. The only thing that matters is how big of a draw you are.

You only need to look at boxing to see that this has always been the case. Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t need to hold a title belt to be the guy who earns the most money. And I’m not comparing Diaz or anyone else to De La Hoya because he’s in another stratosphere all together. But it doesn’t matter as much how often you win (Lyoto Machida) as much as it matters how big of a star you are.

For Noons, this was the kind of chance he needed to make his star bigger. He beat Diaz up pretty well in their first fight and the money might’ve been on him in their second fight. He would be fighting Diaz with a real grudge that people could get into. And he’d do it in front of the biggest MMA audience he’d probably ever have a chance to fight in front of.

Fights have to look out for themselves. Promotions are just the organizations that can sell their fights. But sometimes, they can scratch each other’s backs. I think KJ Noons swung and missed on this one.

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