UFC President Dana White posted that message on Twitter (@DanaWhite) earlier this evening announcing the first cross-over between the UFC and Strikeforce promotions.
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (22-2) his Strikeforce counterpart Nick Diaz (25-7) on Oct. 27 in the headliner for UFC 137 in Las Vegas.
Diaz manager, and head coach, Cesar Gracie spoke to Sergi Non of USAToday.com about the contract negotiations. Diaz was ready to try his hand at boxing this fall, with this new contract with Zuffa Diaz is prohibited from boxing but does allow him to fight in both the UFC and Strikeforce.
“They were very fair in their dealings with us,” Gracie said. “It was kind of a complex contract because of the boxing, so he obviously had to be compensated for not boxing and taking this fight instead. Nick is going to counter his wrestling with true black-belt jiu-jitsu, Gracie jiu-jitsu.”
While GSP’s head trainer Firas Zahabi talked to ESPN about how excited he was by the news.
“It is champion vs. champion. That’s always the most exciting fights,” Zahabi told ESPN.com. “Those are always the fights people want to see the most. When you have a big exciting fight like that one, it’s always good for everyone…”
“Georges is 100 percent right now, 100 percent,” Zahabi said.