MMAWeekly.com has a report in which EliteXC VP Jared Shaw implies that either EliteXC lightweight champ KJ Noons or Noons' management is ducking a rematch against arch-rival Nick Diaz.

Here are some quotes from Shaw in the report:

“Nick Diaz is the No. 1 contender. K.J. Noons should step up and be the champion that we think he is and take this fight. Nick Diaz will take this fight any place, anywhere. (Noons’ management) won’t even return our calls."

“His manager doesn’t want us talking to him directly. Who knows what K.J. even knows about the situation, but his management is holding us hostage.”

“Hopefully K.J. wants the fight and hopefully he will instruct his management to take the fight. K.J. signed a contract. All we want is for him to honor that contract, fight on Oct. 4 on CBS, and prove that he’s the champion we think he is. Right now, he’s not representing us as the EliteXC champion.”

Shaw would like for the rematch for the title to take place on EliteXC's next CBS card on October 4 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano are also slated to fight on that card.

Given recent concerns about EliteXC's viability, it's understandable that the promotion is trying to bring out its big guns for the October 4 card to make an impact. The Noons-Diaz fight is easy to build up, given the controversy surrounding the first fight, which was stopped by a doctor before round two due to cuts suffered by Diaz in the first round.

Since then, both fighters have engaged in a war of words that culminated in an inside-the-cage tussle between both fighters' posses at EliteXC's June 14 event in Hawaii. Noons defeated Yves Edwards that night via first-round TKO before Diaz and his clan was called into the cage for the post-fight interview, leading to the altercation.

(Photo of KJ Noons courtesy of ProElite.com.)