Georges St-Pierre Versus Nick Diaz: Ride the Hype, but Cross Your Fingers

Every MMA fan will watch Georges St-Pierre versus Nick Diaz on Oct. 29 this year—from the opposing camps of those in favor or disfavor, each expecting eventual justification for his biased point of view.Again, the disagreement could be summarized…

Every MMA fan will watch Georges St-Pierre versus Nick Diaz on Oct. 29 this year—from the opposing camps of those in favor or disfavor, each expecting eventual justification for his biased point of view.

Again, the disagreement could be summarized into these two polarities:

“Yes, it’s a UFC champion vs. Strikeforce champion event, and Diaz poses a real threat and will take the bore out of GSP.”

“No, Diaz is a ‘paper champion’ and must earn more credibility by beating worthier opponents, before facing the pound-for-pound contender GSP.”

There may be other opinion strands flowing and entangling in this debate, but the above contradictory statements basically sum them up.

Okay, maybe fans will watch with different levels of enthusiasm.

Some will take the hype for a joy ride while others will shrug it off as just another walk in the MMA park.

Still, I’m confident every MMA fan worth his salt will watch this fight.

Maybe you’ll indulge in it, with eyes and mouth wide open and drooling, over a fight that may last inside the first five minutes or persist till the 25th.

Or, maybe you’ll watch with a smirk on your face in front of the TV set, while doing something else of more import on that precious Saturday night.

Whatever the case, you’ll watch and wait to finally exclaim, “See, my like-minded intelligent brothers and I were right all along.”

And, if you’re just someone who’s sitting idly somewhere along The Great Divide separating the gabbing loggerheads, then you’ll watch because you love this sport or just for the hell of it.

But before anything else (and forgive me for sounding like a party pooper), here’s a factual and grim reminder on why we should pray and cross our fingers for that fight to actualize, courtesy of Trent Reinsmith:

Here are fights that had to be scrapped as of late:

UFC 130: Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard—both fighters injured

Cody McKenzie vs Bart Palaszewski—both fighters injured

Brad Pickett forced to withdraw from bout with Miguel Torres

TUF Season 13 Finale: Jonathan Brookins forced to withdraw from bout with Jeremy Stephens

UFC 131: Brock Lesnar forced to withdraw from fight with Junior dos Santos

Court McGee forced to withdraw from fight against Jesse Bongfeldt

Rani Yahya forced to withdraw from fight against Dustin Poirier

Anthony Perosh forced to withdraw from fight against Krzysztof Soszynski

Mac Danzig forced to withdraw from his fight against Donald Cerrone

UFC Live: Martin Kampmann forced to withdraw from his fight against John Howard

Anthony Johnson forced to withdraw from his fight against Nathan Marquardt

UFC 132: BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch—both forced off card

Evan Dunham forced to withdraw from his fight against George Sotiropoulos

Cub Swanson forced to withdraw from his fight against Erik Koch

Who’s next?

In life, crazy things happen. In MMA, crazier things happen or don’t happen.

Another thing is, after his major screw-up of a (mis)calculation, the preacher now claims that the world will really, really end this October 21.

Naah, the senior guy had too much coffee or something stronger.

Whatever it was, it made him too addled and amnesiac, forgetting or missing the part where the book says the world will end only after “GSP Vs. Anderson Silva.”

In other words, the world may not end at all.

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