After pummeling, Diaz rambles about evading taxes, other issues

Despite being dominated in the biggest fight of his career, Nick Diaz once again found a way to steal the show on Saturday night.

The enigmatic Ultimate Fighting Championship star informed UFC president Dana White that he would not attend the postfight news conference after dropping a unanimous decision to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in the main event of UFC 158 in Montreal.

Diaz typically despises media appearances. White announced that Diaz had informed him that his job of promoting the fight was done and he was going home.

Then, just as the questions started winding down, Diaz mysteriously walked in and took a place at the end of the dais.

The focus immediately turned to him, and he didn’t disappoint. Diaz said that he was most likely retired, then in the same breath asked for a rematch.

He then expressed dismay that Johny Hendricks, who had earned the next shot at St. Pierre by winning earlier in the evening, was sitting next to his future opponent on stage.

His typical rambling answers included diatribes about not finishing high school and distracted training partners. Then there was the complaint about not adjusting to the time zone in time to deliver an effective performance.

Then it was time for the bombshell.

In the middle of talking about how he probably needs to invest more in his training camp now that he has made some money, Diaz oddly segued into a bizarre confession.

“You know what? I’ve never paid taxes in my life. I’m probably going to go to jail,” he said.

Excuse me?

White was blown away and discussed the revelation later.

“That’s something you don’t tell anybody and then hope they never come find you,” he said. “He better handle that (expletive) tomorrow. If there’s one organization out there that doesn’t (expletive) around, it is the IRS. They don’t play.

“I’d rather have (expletive) ninjas after me than the IRS. I’d rather have the mob after me.”

Diaz posted a picture on Instagram on Sunday night while sitting on the curb next to a police car with an active siren, but he was not in trouble. He was simply a passenger of a car in which the driver had been pulled over.

■ MIXED COMPANY — White made another surprising announcement Saturday, saying women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will serve as a coach on the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” against the winner of April’s fight between Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate.

The cast will be 135-pound fighters, half male and half female, living in a Las Vegas house together.

Asked about the possibility of fraternizing, White smiled.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen. We’ve never done it before,” he said. “There’s cameras everywhere. You can’t hide from anything in ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ house.”

■ WHITE TO MEET WITH CRUZ — White said in Montreal that he will meet with UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz about his future with the belt.

Cruz has not fought since October 2011, undergoing two knee surgeries. There is no date targeted for his return.

Renan Barao won the interim belt in July and has already defended it once in Cruz’s absence.

“(Cruz) is our champ. He’s our guy, and he needs time. But we’re getting to the point now where we really need to make a decision,” White said. “This poor kid. ... I’ve never seen anybody with more bad luck than Cruz, man. This is stuff that needs to be talked about with him, and even if I had a decision about him, I wouldn’t say it here. He deserves the respect to come out to Vegas and sit down and talk about it.”

■ WSOF 2 — Las Vegas-based World Series of Fighting will hold its second event on Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J., featuring a main event heavyweight bout between former UFC competitors Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson

The card will air live on NBC Sports Network (Cable 38) at 6:30 p.m.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.