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Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz: A Career Time Line to UFC 158

UFC 158 is set to go off in a few days and will headline a fight between good and evil for the welterweight championship of the world. Canada’s own Georges St-Pierre represents the hero image, set to defend his belt for the eighth consecutive time, while Nick Diaz has been the bad boy at the top of MMA for years, and will finally get his chance to take down the champion in his backyard in Montreal.

GSP and Diaz represent very different sides of the professional athlete spectrum, but they have been two of the very best fighters in the world over a span of the last decade. It was only a matter of time before these two forces met in the center of the Octagon.

Here is a career time line for both fighters leading into UFC 158.

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What Will the UFC Welterweight Division Look Like After UFC 158?

What will the UFC welterweight division look like after UFC 158?The absence of the injured Rory MacDonald aside, this Saturday night’s fight card is set up as an elimination tournament involving five of the best six 170-pounders in the entire universe….

What will the UFC welterweight division look like after UFC 158?

The absence of the injured Rory MacDonald aside, this Saturday night’s fight card is set up as an elimination tournament involving five of the best six 170-pounders in the entire universe.

Champion Georges St-Pierre will finally get his shot at silencing Stockton bad boy and No. 1 contender Nick Diaz in front of his legion of followers in Montreal. GSP has shown a bit of a darker side in the lead up to this fight, and I don’t like anyone’s chances against an angry and emotionally invested St-Pierre.

Diaz is a formidable foe indeed, with his peppering, pistol like hands being his biggest weapon in a very dangerous and complete arsenal. Diaz is similar to the last challenger, Carlos Condit, in the fact that he is very vulnerable to GSP’s bread and butter, the take down. Diaz has very good submissions from his back, but I don’t believe that he will do much better than Condit in that regard and GSP will remain the undisputed champion for the eightth consecutive time.

Carlos Condit is coming off his November challenge for the belt, and in my opinion, he remains the next man in the welterweight pecking order. Many people disagree with that and put rising knockout artist Johny Hendricks in that spot over Condit. The MacDonald injury has served the perfect purpose to settle this argument and declare a true No. 1 contender following the fight.

Like Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann before him, Condit is another beast for Hendricks to get through, and if he can beat Condit, he deserves an immediate shot at the GSP-Diaz winner. That will leave a perfect scenario for Condit to revisit his fight with MacDonald.

I don’t believe that Hendricks will beat Condit, and it will leave a very tough situation for the UFC if GSP wins, with GSP vs Condit II being the next legitimate title fight at 170-pounds. Are these two men Velasquez-Dos Santos? Do we want to see them rematch so soon? A dilemma will loom after this weekend.

The division implications do not stop there at UFC 158 as Hendricks’ original opponent and somewhat forgotten contender Jake Ellenberger remains on the card to face Nate Marquardt. These two men are not a fight away from a title shot but the winner will remain right in the mix with the injured MacDonald and the rest of 170-pound fighters that lose on this card.

Georges St-Pierre will remain the champion after this weekend and Carlos Condit will put a halt to the Hendricks train, leaving these two as the best welterweight’s in the world. GSP and Condit have held those spots for at least the last three years and nothing will change this weekend. If the UFC doesn’t want to make that rematch yet, look for GSP to go the super fight route and for Condit to face MacDonald.

Diaz will remain defiant in defeat, and will have to take his frustrations out on Johny Hendricks in his next fight. Hendricks will be humbled by Condit, and be forced to fight Diaz to get his long awaited shot at the title, but he may have to wait a long time for it.

Jake Ellenberger will get back in to the picture with a win over Nate Marquardt, but he will be put in a gauntlet with guys like Martin Kampmann, Tarec Saffidine, Demian Maia and maybe even Robbie Lawler and be forced to fight his way out.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.

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UFC 161 Winnipeg: UFC Announces Second Canadian Show on June 15th in Manitoba

It was announced yesterday by Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro that the UFC has confirmed their second event for Canada in 2013.UFC 161 will be held on June 15th, at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba and will mark the first time the UFC w…

It was announced yesterday by Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro that the UFC has confirmed their second event for Canada in 2013.

UFC 161 will be held on June 15th, at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba and will mark the first time the UFC will hold an event in Manitoba.

True North Sports and Entertainment, the owners of the MTS Centre has called a press conference at 10:30 a.m. MT Tuesday to make the announcement.

With UFC 158 set to take place next weekend in Montreal, the June show will be the second event held in Canada 2013. Winnipeg joins Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary as the only Canadian cities to host a UFC event.

Two fights have been announced and confirmed for the card so far, a heavyweight match between Stipe Miocic and Soa Palelei and a light heavyweight match between Brazilian contenders Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. There is no main event booked for the card yet, but rumours have begun to swirl about other possible match ups for the card including big name fights between welterweights Jake Shields and Tyron Woodley and Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson could possibly fight on the card as well.

Manitoba has held many successful MMA events in recent years, and sanctioning for the province is handled by Manitoba Combative Sports Commission.

Following a disappointing, injury riddled UFC 149 card in Calgary last July, UFC president Dana White said he wanted to make things up to the fans in Alberta.

There is no word yet whether the Winnipeg booking will preclude a return trip to Calgary in 2013.

UFC 161 will be a pay-per-view event, which typically suggests a high-profile main event. Stay tuned for future fight announcements for UFC 161.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

B/R MMA Staff Predictions for UFC on Fuel TV 7 Preliminary Card

The UFC will be rocking the Wembley Arena in London Saturday night with the bantamweight interim title on the line between champion Renan Barao and young challenger Michael McDonald. The event will be on Fuel TV and mark the seventh show the UFC h…

The main card is set up nicely behind the main event with some highly relevant scraps on tap with Cub Swanson and Dustin Poirier set to settle things at featherweight as well.

As always, the preliminary card should not be overlooked and is packed with talented Brits such as Terry Etim, Paul Sass, Vaughn Lee and Andy Ogle. It will also see Stanislav Nedkov make his middleweight debut.

The week of every event, B/R MMA staff writers Scott Harris, Riley Kontek, James MacDonald, Andrew Saunders and myself, will offer our picks for the preliminary bouts on the card.

Here are our prelim predictions for UFC on Fuel 7.

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Keys to Victory for Ryan Jimmo at UFC on Fuel TV 7

Ryan Jimmo is set to face off this weekend against James Te Huna at UFC on Fuel TV 7 from Wembley Arena in London, England. The veteran Canadian light heavyweight will make his second appearance in a UFC cage after knocking out Anthony Perosh last July…

Jimmo’s debut knockout took only one punch and seven seconds and tied the record for the fastest KO in UFC history, but the Blackzilian fighter will get a much tougher test against Te Huna. Much more is at stake for both men coming into this fight with the winner being on the cusp of the top 10 in the division

Forget about another fast knockout, this is a large step up for Jimmo and he is solely focused on getting the win in England.

Here are three keys to victory for Jimmo at UFC on Fuel TV 7.

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Score Fighting Series’ Future Undecided Despite Reports

Canadian mixed martial arts fans were hit hard yesterday with the news that The Score Fighting Series will cease operations going forward.SFS matchmaker Alex Caporicci tweeted this out yesterday.Disappointing few days. Saddened about SFS and just wish …

Canadian mixed martial arts fans were hit hard yesterday with the news that The Score Fighting Series will cease operations going forward.

SFS matchmaker Alex Caporicci tweeted this out yesterday.

Disappointing few days. Saddened about SFS and just wish we had a chance to show what we could do cause we were building something special.”

The tweet drew an immediate response by many MMA fans in Canada, Ontario in particular. In a hunt to verify the news, I found this brief announcement on topmmanews. This story was in the rumour section of the site and without Caporicci’s cryptic tweet, would not hold very much weight, with no real sources given.

I contacted Score Media Inc. community PR supervisor James Bigg, and he responded that the reports of their demise are premature and no official decision has been made on the future of the promotion yet.

The following press release was posted on the SFS’ Facebook page today:

No Decision Made on the Future of the SFS

– The Score Television Network continues to assess the promotion

TORONTO, January 30, 2013 – Contrary to reports, no decision has been made regarding the future of The Score Fighting Series (SFS).

We can confirm personnel changes were made this week in relation to the SFS. The Score will continue to assess the future of the SFS on an ongoing basis.

To clarify, Rogers Media plays no part in the operations of The Score Television Network (The Score). The Score is currently operating in trust until the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approves its acquisition by Rogers Media. All decisions affecting the network and SFS are made by the management and trustee of The Score.

The Score Fighting Series was born in June of 2011, and has held seven shows in Ontario to date, in Hamilton, Sarnia and Brampton. SFS has provided many up-and-coming fighters the opportunity to gain experience and exposure in the MMA world and has contributed to many Canadian fighters getting signed by the UFC.

UFC fighters Chris Clements, Antonio Carvalho and Jordan Mein have all fought in the promotion before being signed by the big show. The Score has also showcased some of the best rising fighters in the game, such as Josh Hill, Jesse Ronson, Alex Ricci, Rick Glenn, Jason Saggo and Chris Horodecki, among many others.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report UFC and regular contributor to Sportsnet.ca’s UFC section. Follow him on Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com