Cesar Gracie, head coach and trainer for top Welterweight contender Nick Diaz, reaches out to B.J. Penn's camp following "The Prodigy's" recently loss to Diaz at UFC 137. Gracie, who also trains such fighters as Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, and Nate Diaz, formally offers to untie his camp with Penn's Hawaiian based team.
Cesar Gracie
"I’ve had a relationship with B.J. since he was 16 years old, so I've obviously always like the kid, always knew of his talent. There were things coming up, he fought my cousin and everything, so he went one path and I wish he hadn’t gone that path. It would have been better if he was with us instead of against us through some of that, but let’s turn the page; let’s look at it for what it is. He’s a genuine person; he’s a guy that fights with his heart. He’s not a steroid user like a lot of these guys, he’s not a cheater and you know there’s respect for a man like that. I think the joining of our camps, of our teams together, I think a coalition type thing would benefit him incredibly and it would benefit us too. Guys like B.J. Penn, Reagan Penn, Nick and Nathan, you know, Gilbert Melendez, all the guys on our team would benefit from having those guys around."