Even before UFC 137, we all knew that somewhere down the line, there would come a time where no other opponent would make sense for Nick Diaz aside from Georges St-Pierre or the man who held the UFC welterweight title.
Half of the MMA world didn’t think Diaz was in line for a shot at the title, even with a great performance against B.J. Penn tonight, and it’s questionable if those opponents would ever change their tune on Diaz and the great title shot debate.
Those proponents of Diaz, however, knew Diaz would make his shots count when he earned them, and those proponents believe that he’d leave no doubt that he earned them.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to like it, but Diaz did not get a B.J. Penn whose career was on life support.
Diaz got a B.J. Penn who came to fight, just as Diaz wanted, and the better fighter simply prevailed, giving us the fight that we all knew was going to happen eventually.
So, whether you think Diaz is ready or not ready, it is a true case of “now or never” for “The Stockton Bad Boy” and his fight with the best welterweight in the world.
As stated before, there comes a time when Diaz has to be given his credit, because while his attitude will not earn him too many supporters, his talent and his high-volume offense will not go away until the time finally comes for Diaz to retire.
His streak speaks for itself, and while it could have probably done with a fight against Jason “Mayhem” Miller instead of the fight with Evangelista Santos in the long run, the fact that he did not raise any doubts about his abilities in any of his fights.
Couple all of that in with the fact of his style, widely seen as the very style that many feel is perfect to combat the strengths of GSP’s more takedown-oriented offense, and there’s only a small amount of doubt as to why Diaz should get the bout that we all know he eventually has to deserve.
That, plus if you follow Dana White on Twitter, you know that St-Pierre is not shaking this off like he did the trash-talk Josh Koscheck gave him before UFC 124, and you know that Carlos Condit is actually stepping aside so that the champ can handle his business.
The hatred seems there, the talent is definitely there, the abilities and the dominance are definitely there and the willingness to give the fans what they want is there.
All that needs to happen is for the champion and new challenger to finish putting the bout in dried ink.
It’s the fight that was supposed to happen tonight, and now it’s the fight that is hopefully happening on Super Bowl weekend, but it’s like they say: better now than never.
Truer words could not adequately describe this epic encounter any better, because the simple fact is that it is better to have the bout happen now, allowing all that will transpire to transpire uninterrupted, than to wait until either man is one fight away from “past his prime” and wonder what would’ve happened if we would have just gotten behind the biggest UFC welterweight title super-fight while both men were able to give us what could have been their most immortal performance.
But of course, Nick Diaz isn’t and will never be ready for a Georges St-Pierre, right?
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