I’m not an overly complicated man. I am thankful for the little things in life. One of the things that I am thankful for right at this moment is the fact that currently-suspended UFC welterweight contender Nick Diaz has reemerged on YouTube.
The focus of Diaz’s vitriol is one Georges St-Pierre, the now undisputed UFC welterweight champion. The video was filmed before St-Pierre defeated interim UFC champion Carlos Condit at UFC 154, and it’s clear that Diaz still believes he has the tools to beat the man that holds the title in the UFC’s 170-pound division.
The timing of these videos, which surprisingly do feature some NSFW language, seems fairly opportunistic and the tone fairly inflammatory. Diaz’s words aren’t as strong as the speech he made following his victory over B.J. Penn at UFC 137, but they are attention grabbing.
The question is, will they have the same effect on St-Pierre as Diaz’s speech back on that night in October 2011?
St-Pierre was so incensed by Diaz that evening that he asked the UFC to give him Diaz as his next opponent, leapfrogging over Carlos Condit. The UFC obliged, but the fight was never to be, as a knee injury shelved St-Pierre.
Diaz would go on to lose to Carlos Condit at UFC 143. He would also test positive for marijuana metabolites and be handed a one-year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, a suspension that runs out in early February.
UFC president Dana White seems hell bent on lining up a fight between St-Pierre and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, but let’s not forget the level of interest that was generated by the potential St-Pierre versus Diaz fight.
If the UFC would book Diaz against St-Pierre in his return fight, it would be money in the bank and it would actually mean something, not like the fictitious “pound-for-pound” crown that many fans love to discuss.
Yes, the St-Pierre versus Diaz fight would put top contender Johny Hendricks on ice, but is that any worse than putting two entire weight divisions on ice just to pack a football stadium full of fans?
Are these videos an effort by Diaz to get back under the skin of St-Pierre? Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, but they do remind me how badly we all wanted to see St-Pierre versus Diaz in the first place.
Something tells me that this will not be the last we hear from Diaz concerning St-Pierre as Diaz serves out the rest of his suspension. For that, I offer my thanks.
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