With Dana White saying that GSP’s next opponent will likely be Nick Diaz, the presumed top contender, Johny Hendricks, has been whipped into a fervor, lashing out on Twitter and retweeting every supporter he can find.
One person, though, is coming to the defense of Nick Diaz. It’s his Cesar Gracie teammate, Jake Shields.
From Shields’ Twitter:
@johnyhendricks quit crying. Nicks done more than you. Its cool you beat my old punching bags at AKA but I think you need to fight me next.
— Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) December 6, 2012
The tweet is somewhat confusing, as Shields recently moved back to the middleweight division after going 2-2 as a welterweight in the UFC. He is currently serving a six-month suspension following his UFC 150 fight with Ed Herman. While Shields won the fight by unanimous decision, the bout has since been changed to a no-contest.
Hendricks was originally expected to be the next to face Georges St-Pierre (assuming he passed on Anderson Silva, of course) but Dana White broke the news earlier today that the UFC is working next pit him against rival Nick Diaz.
On paper, Hendricks is the far more deserving challenger. Nick Diaz is currently 1-1 in the UFC, with his most recent fight a loss to Carlos Condit. Hendricks, meanwhile, is riding a five-fight winning streak and scored huge knockout victories over top fighters Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch.
Ultimately, though, Diaz is substantially more popular and St-Pierre has avidly pushed for a fight with him. He even said he wanted Diaz to beat teammate Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight belt.
No date has been set, but with UFC 156 and 157 both assigned main events — Frankie Edgar vs. Jose Aldo and Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche, respectively — the earliest possible date would likely be March 2013.
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