When the news came out earlier this week that UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would be fighting Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz at UFC 137, discussions immediately began about whether Nick Diaz is the man who can dethrone GSP.
With Diaz’s unique set of skills, many believe that St-Pierre is in for a rude awakening. But I’m here to say the exact opposite.
Georges St-Pierre is Nick Diaz’s worst nightmare.
Sure, Nick Diaz is different than any other opponent that St-Pierre has ever fought. He brings tremendous cardio along with unbelievable toughness; and that’s not even bringing up his actual fighting skills.
But St-Pierre is essentially a better version of the style that has stifled Diaz throughout his entire career. It has been such a problem for him, in fact, that Diaz has even publicly complained about the way that fighting inside a cage has negatively impacted the sport by giving an advantage to wrestlers.
Though he doesn’t have a college background in it, few would debate the point that Georges St-Pierre may actually be the best wrestler in mixed martial arts. It was years ago, but if Sean Sherk, Joe Riggs and Diego Sanchez could handle Diaz, just imagine what the top welterweight in the world can do.
It has been long perceived that Diaz’s biggest weakness is stopping wrestlers, so he will certainly be working on that as he prepares for the fight. But like many of St-Pierre’s opponents in the past, expect there to come a point in the fight, particularly in the fourth or fifth rounds if it comes to that, where GSP makes use of his 77-percent takedown offense and brings the fight to the canvas.
From there, we’ll have a chance to see just how good Diaz’s jiu-jitsu really is. No one doubts Diaz’s skills on the ground, but the biggest question may be if he will be able to find any openings to throw on a submission against perhaps the “safest” fighter in the sport today.
GSP uses an unbelievably controlling style to keep his opponents on the ground without ever really being in any trouble of being submitted from the bottom. In fact, one could make the case that the last time he was even in any trouble whatsoever if being submitted was all the way back in March of 2006 in his first encounter with BJ Penn. Penn was seemingly attempting a gogoplata, but St-Pierre broke free and landed a flurry of punches before winning the judges’ decision.
But it’s not just Diaz’s wrestling that could be a mismatch in this fight. While many fans and experts believe that he will be at a disadvantage in the standup game, Georges St-Pierre may just surprise us all again by taking it to his opponent on the feet.
Almost everyone expected his most recent fight against Josh Koscheck to be another St-Pierre wrestling clinic to avoid his opponent’s ever-improving standup game. But much to the contrary, GSP actually seemed very comfortable picking apart Kos on the feet. In fact, early in the fight, a broken orbital bone showed that St-Pierre may have more power in his hands than we give him credit for.
Then again, Diaz does have some of the best punching skills in the business as he showed against Paul Daley. While Daley’s powerful hands clobbered Diaz more than once, the kid from Stockton kept his composure and was able to unleash a series of body and head shots that eventually ended the fight in the first round.
But as was shown in the fight with Daley, Nick Diaz’s confidence can sometimes be his downfall. While he was unquestionably the better fighter on the ground, he insisted on standing with the Brit and exchanging blows. GSP doesn’t have the same kind of power that Daley does, but his quickness and technique are probably even better. If Diaz leaves his hands down again, he’s going to get absolutely picked apart.
The bottom line is that Georges St-Pierre is practically custom-built to beat a guy like Nick Diaz. All of Diaz’s usual advantages in jiu-jitsu, standup technique and cardio will be nullified in this fight due to St-Pierre’s efficient and smooth game-planning.
If he can avoid getting into a firefight, this is definitely GSP’s fight to lose. Don’t be surprised if it goes to another five round decision as Diaz has only been finished twice in his career, but look for another thorough, one-sided win from the world’s top 170-pound fighter.
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