If it’s not a done deal yet, it’s pretty darn close.
The UFC has approached welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and rival Nick Diaz about a fight date in March, when the UFC will return to Montreal.
According to a report from MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, UFC President Dana White said he proposed the date to both camps, adding that Diaz has yet to sign the contract, though he is expecting that will happen soon.
Following his win over Carlos Condit at UFC 154, St-Pierre asked to fight Diaz. The news came as a surprise to many fans and pundits, who expected Johny Hendricks to receive the next title shot.
White previously told Helwani:
Georges St-Pierre has been a phenomenal champion, just a great guy to deal with for us,” White said previously. He doesn’t ask for things. So if he wants to fight Nick Diaz, and Nick Diaz wants to fight him, then that’s probably the fight we’ll make. Georges has been off for a year. [Silva is] a tough fight for him to come back to. He asked personally for the [Diaz] fight.
There has been bad blood between St-Pierre (23-2) and Diaz (26-8-1) for some time. After defeating B.J. Penn at UFC 137, in his post-fight interview, Diaz challenged St-Pierre, who was sitting in the stands.
However, shortly thereafter, St-Pierre would miss extended time after tearing his ACL. Meanwhile, Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his loss to Condit at UFC 143. He is serving a one-year suspension and is set to become eligible to fight again in Febuary.
In short, though the rivalry was and is real, no one was able to do much about it until now.
On paper, St-Pierre will have a strength and wrestling advantage in the matchup. Diaz, however, is a consummate scrapper with an intimidating, stalk-you-down boxing style backed by excellent jiu-jitsu. His trash talk before and during fights often rattles opponents.
The March event in Montreal is expected to be UFC 158.
Earlier today, the UFC also announced a rematch between Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit for the same card.
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