Nick Diaz
With a “Super Fight” versus UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva off the books, and despite a solid first round knockout win by Johny Hendricks, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White has opted for another option for his welterweight champion.
During today’s UFC on FOX 5 pre-fight press conference, White named former Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz (26-8, 1NC) as the next opponent for UFC title holder Georges St-Pierre (23-2).
“George St-Pierre came back from vacation and the fight that he said ‘I have unfinished business with Nick Diaz and that is the fight that I want.’ I have been trying to track Nick Diaz down for over a week now calling him, texting him, everything. I heard that he is here in Seattle so I’m going to try and corner him and talk to him while he is here.”
White has yet to speak with the elder Diaz brother about the bout but St-Pierre is fired up for the fight. The UFC president made no commitment for a date for the match but will certainly come in the next year.
Diaz is currently serving out the remainder of his Nevada State Athletic Commission suspension following a positive drug test for marijuana last February following a UFC 143 bout versus Carlos Condit. It was the second time Diaz tested positive for the drug in his career.
St-Pierre has won ten straight matches since a title loss to Matt Serra back in April 2007. GSP returned to the Octagon last month at UFC 154 following a year-plus absence for a knee injury. The welterweight king earned a decision over Carlos Condit to unify the 170-lbs strap.
Before the close decision loss to Condit at UFC 143, Diaz had won eleven straight fights which included three Strikeforce welterweight title defenses. His last win came in October 2011 at UFC 137, defeating BJ Penn at the Las Vegas event.