UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre could be considered a Nick Diaz fan, at least for the next several weeks.
St-Pierre, who is currently rehabbing his right knee, says he prefers to see Diaz capture the interim title against Carlos Condit at UFC 143 on Feb. 4.
“The reason why I wish Nick Diaz to win that fight is because I want to fight Nick Diaz,” St-Pierre said Monday during a live studio appearance on HDNet’s Inside MMA. “I don’t want to fight Carlos Condit. I want to fight Nick Diaz. But in another way, I just hope the best man will win. But if the best man is Nick Diaz I will appreciate it more because it would be a better build up for the fight.”
St-Pierre’s absolutely correct. From a marketing perspective, a St-Pierre showdown against Diaz would be an easy sell. First, there’s the backstory of St-Pierre being the UFC champion and Diaz being the former Strikeforce welterweight titleholder. And there’s even more anticipation now that the fight has fallen through twice.
“That’s the fight that had to happen in the beginning. It didn’t happen,” St- Pierre said. “At first he didn’t show up for the promotion and after I got hurt and this whole thing happened. That’s really the fight that I want to do.”
They’ve never trained together, but St-Pierre has closer ties to Condit, having called Greg Jackson’s gym his team before making the full-time move to the TriStar gym. And although St-Pierre thinks highly of Condit, St-Pierre’s preference to see Diaz emerge the victor is strictly professional.
“Even though I like Carlos Condit better as a person,” St-Pierre says. “I would rather fight Nick Diaz.”
St-Pierre also believes he’ll be in exceptional form for a fight against the trash-talking Diaz.
“I’m at my best when there’s pressure on my shoulders,” St-Pierre said. “I’m at my best when someone is picking on me.”
St-Pierre underwent successful knee surgery in December and said Monday he is planning to return to hard training in July. St-Pierre told Inside MMA he’s eyeing late October, early November for his return. Or at least one fight by the end of the year.
“I hope so, please,” said St-Pierre, holding his hands in a prayer position. “Give it to me.”