LAS VEGAS – If you thought that the reality of Nick Diaz being back in the UFC meant that his career would soon settle into some form of normalcy after his UFC 137 fight of the night win over BJ Penn, think again, as UFC President Dana White announced that Diaz will now face the man he was originally supposed to meet in his return to the Octagon – UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre – in a Super Bowl weekend bout in February of 2012.
“This is what I wanted since the beginning,” said St-Pierre. “Let’s do what was supposed to be done originally. I’ve always wanted this fight – now I want it even more. I can’t wait for Super Bowl weekend.”
The bizarre set of circumstances surrounding St-Pierre vs. Diaz began when Diaz missed two fight announcement press conferences in Toronto and Las Vegas, prompting the UFC to pull Diaz from the bout and insert Carlos Condit into the UFC 137 main event. Penn, who was originally scheduled to face Condit, was without an opponent, so Diaz was then inserted into the co-main event slot. When St-Pierre injured his knee, the GSP-Condit bout was pulled, and Diaz and Penn put on a main event to remember Saturday night, with Diaz rebounding from a slow start to pound out an impressive three round unanimous decision win. Well, impressive to everyone except Diaz.
“I thought I put on a poor performance and I didn’t fight a smart fight,” said the Stockton native. “I’m not happy with my performance at all.”
St-Pierre wasn’t too pleased either when it came to Diaz’ post-fight comment that “I don’t think Georges is hurt, I think he’s scared.”
White spoke to the champion, who was in Vegas cornering victorious middleweight Francis Carmont.
“I’ve known Georges St-Pierre since 2004, and he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, and he’s exactly the same no matter what the situation is or who he’s fighting. Since 2004, I’ve never seen him like he was tonight. Georges St-Pierre flipped out tonight after Nick Diaz was in the ring. Nick needs motivation – he’s got it. He’s gonna fight Georges St-Pierre. ‘He’s the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met, and I’m gonna put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC,’ that’s what Georges St-Pierre said.”
Condit will step aside, allowing GSP vs. Diaz to take place, and the Albuquerque contender will likely fight on the same card and get the winner of the title fight should he emerge victorious.
“You gotta come off like that just to get a fight,” said Diaz. “I gotta be the bad guy. You point your finger and make me the bad guy. I’m the bad guy now, and now I get a fight.”
It’s going to be a long wait ‘til February.