Nick Diaz just doesn’t know when to quit. After being thoroughly beaten for all five rounds of his contest with Georges St-Pierre, it appears the former Strikeforce champion wants a little more.
Diaz made some headlines with his post-fight talk and expressed his interest in a rematch with GSP.
“I want a rematch. Georges St-Pierre, if you’d give me a rematch, I‘d appreciate it because I could beat you. … I’m trying to retire. I’m trying to get out of this gig. But I’d like a rematch. I think I can stop the takedowns and beat him. I’m not hurt. He hits like a woman. He hits like a girl because he’s too scared to let go to get a real punch in” (MMAMania.com).
I’ll give Diaz some dap based on the fact he was able to thwart some of GSP‘s takedown attempts in the later rounds but that could also be contributed to St-Pierre visibly slowing down. And you could also move past Diaz‘s successful attempts and look at how many times (and how many minutes) Diaz spent on his back during the 25 minute fight.
The challenger was even defeated on the feet which was an area Diaz was expected to be the better fighter.
In short, Diaz had no answer for anything St-Pierre threw his way. Still, Diaz doesn’t want to go away quietly and will no doubt begin a new campaign for a rematch against GSP.
MMA fans shouldn’t expect that to come to fruition however as it’s clear the UFC is moving on from Diaz. Dana White has repeatedly told anyone and everyone that Diaz is incredibly difficult to work with and I’m sure the UFC President won’t mind having one less headache each day.
The promotion is also firmly behind giving Johny Hendricks the next shot at GSP. With Hendricks’ hand injury and St-Pierre expressing his wish to take some time off, we could be more than a few months away from seeing GSP-Hendricks.
Without all the factors from outside the Octagon, there’s the facts from the actual fight between Diaz and GSP.
Diaz lost in every facet of MMA during his contest with St-Pierre and who’s going to buy in that Diaz can do anything different in a rematch? Grinding, top-heavy wrestlers have always had great success against Diaz and it’s apparent that Diaz hasn’t fixed that gaping hole in his game.
If Diaz would’ve mounted some form of offense or at the very least took a round or two then perhaps he’d have some credibility in calling for a rematch. But instead he sounds like the sore loser he’s always been and I expect Diaz to give up the smoking habits before White gives the Stockton bad boy another shot at St-Pierre.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com