While it hasn’t been officially made, the upcoming title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz at UFC 137 is generating a lot of discussion and interest from observers and fans within the mixed martial arts community; Cesar Gracie in particular….
While it hasn’t been officially made, the upcoming title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz at UFC 137 is generating a lot of discussion and interest from observers and fans within the mixed martial arts community; Cesar Gracie in particular.
The renowned coach, and head trainer of Nick Diaz, sat down with MiddleEasy.com, courtesy of LowKick.com, and gave his thoughts on the bout involving the two welterweights.
“Everbody that Strikeforce brought in, like the Paul Daley’s of the world and these really tough guys, Nick (Diaz) beat convincingly,” Gracie said.
Gracie added that Diaz is a recognizable name, who fans can identify easily, and understands how beneficial it is for the Strikeforce welterweight champion to transition into the UFC in order to compete against the the top 170 lb fighters.
Gracie spoke highly of Diaz, mentioning that all of his fights are never boring. It is why fans have requested to see the Stockton, Calif. native challenge St-Pierre.
“The fans kind of demanded it,” he said.
“They want to see Nick (Diaz) versus the guys in the UFC; maybe Nick versus whoever, because there is never an unexciting, boring Nick (Diaz) fight.”
Gracie also explained the situation regarding Diaz’s teammate and Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert Melendez, and his wishes to fight in the UFC, as well.
Georges St-Pierre’s next opponent may very well pose as a potential threat to his title, as the champion will look defend his UFC welterweight title against challenger, Nick Diaz, at UFC 137. St-Pierre, who will be making his seventh title defense…
Georges St-Pierre’s next opponent may very well pose as a potential threat to his title, as the champion will look defend his UFC welterweight title against challenger, Nick Diaz, at UFC 137.
St-Pierre, who will be making his seventh title defense against Diaz, is well-aware of what his opponent brings to the Octagon, and so does his coach, Greg Jackson.
In an interview conducted by LowKick.com, Jackson commented on the abilities of Diaz and he believes the Strikeforce welterweight champion will provide a challenge for St-Pierre.
“Nick Diaz is an incredibly tough fighter,” Jackson said.
“It’s gonna be a real challenge for Georges (St-Pierre) to be able to overcome all the tools that Nick Diaz brings.”
Since being cut by the UFC in 2006, Diaz competed in multiple organizations before being acquired by Strikeforce in 2009, that has seen him go on a 10-fight win streak, along with capturing the organization’s welterweight crown. Diaz has been outspoken in the past, considering himself as the top welterweight in the world, while calling out the Saint-Isidore, Que. native.
Following St-Pierre’s most recent title defense against Diaz’s training partner and friend, Jake Shields, at UFC 129, Shields requested that Diaz become the next opponent to face the champion.
However, St-Pierre is one of the most methodical and technical fighters to enter the Octagon, and with Jackson by his side, his camp will certainly formulate a game plan to breakdown his opponent.
Jackson said Diaz will be a formidable opponent, but he assures St-Pierre will be well-prepared to defend his title on Oct. 29.
“He’s got a great chin, a frenetic pace, just keeps going, a very good ground game so we’re going to have to really do our homework to win that one,” he said.
The UFC will return to Las Vegas later this fall to feature one of the most anticipated title bouts of the year, as Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz, will challenge UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137. MMAJunkie.com …
The UFC will return to Las Vegas later this fall to feature one of the most anticipated title bouts of the year, as Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz, will challenge UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137.
MMAJunkie.com confirms the Nevada Athletic State Commission has approved the bout, and has targeted the Mandalay Bay to host the event on Oct. 29.
Along with the official announcement, UFC president Dana White added that Diaz will vacate his title in order to challenge St-Pierre, a clause in his contract that has granted him the opportunity, as well as having the option to return to Strikeforce should he not defeat the champion.
Diaz will enter the bout on a ten-fight win streak, capturing victories over such competitors as Paul Daley and Evengelista “Cyborg” Santos. The appearance will be Diaz’s first time inside the Octagon since 2006, after he was released by from the organization after posting a 6-4 record, and has gone 11-1 since then.
St-Pierre is arguably the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighter, and he will be making his seventh title defense against Diaz. The French-Canadian has also enjoyed an impressive streak of his own, going on a nine-fight win streak after losing the welterweight title to Matt Serra in 2007. Since his loss to Serra, St-Pierre has won 16 of his last 17 bouts, earning wins over the likes of BJ Penn, Jon Fitch and most recently, Jake Shields.
Both competitors have essentially cleaned out their respective divisions, and will finally meet each other at UFC 137, with the winner undoubtedly emerging as the top welterweight in mixed martial arts.
Love him or hate him, Nick Diaz is one of the best fighters in MMA today. Diaz is currently on a ten fight winning streak, which includes wins over Frank Shamrock, K.J. Noons, and Paul Daley.Diaz recently followed in the footsteps of his teammate Jake …
Love him or hate him, Nick Diaz is one of the best fighters in MMA today.
Diaz is currently on a ten fight winning streak, which includes wins over Frank Shamrock, K.J. Noons, and Paul Daley.
Diaz recently followed in the footsteps of his teammate Jake Shields, dropping his Strikeforce title to challenge UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Although many may not give the former Strikeforce welterweight champ much of a chance against St-Pierre, he may actually be his biggest threat.
Here are 5 Reasons why the former Strikeforce Welterweight champion should not be underestimated.
The dream of every MMA fan is to see the best fights possible. In every professional sport, we get to see the best in the world compete against one another on a consistent basis. Unfortunately for MMA, there has always been a line in the sand when it c…
The dream of every MMA fan is to see the best fights possible.
In every professional sport, we get to see the best in the world compete against one another on a consistent basis.
Unfortunately for MMA, there has always been a line in the sand when it comes to delivering fans the dream match-ups they want to see.
While the UFC boasts the biggest stable of upper-echelon talent, there are a multitude of organizations around the world that harbor world class fighters.
A prime example is the San Jose based Strikeforce promotion, which rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the highly ridiculed EliteXC organization.
There are a plethora of major names in the promotion including Fedor Emelianenko, Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem, and Gilbert Melendez.
Fans have dreamed about seeing these guys paired with marquee UFC names for surefire MMA blockbusters.
Earlier this year, the UFC took a giant step in making these dream match-ups a reality when Zuffa purchased Strikeforce.
The reaction from the news was reminiscent of Zuffa’s purchase of Pride in March 2007. Since the announcement, fans eagerly wait as UFC President Dana White works hard to deliver the fights they want to see.
On Oct. 29, the first superfight between the two promotions will occur when UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre defends his title against Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, who had to relinquish his belt to challenge GSP.
This fight marks the beginning of something special, and fans have every right to be excited for the future. There is nothing wrong with acquiring UFC-ready talent like Diaz, but a full-on merger between the UFC and Strikeforce has its downfalls.
What would happen to women’s MMA?
Since the February 2007 tussle between Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie, women’s MMA has grown considerably, and fans have generally accepted the ladies as viable competitors in the sport.
With Carano serving as the face of women’s MMA, the sport has introduced a multitude of other stars including Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, Marloes Coenen, Sarah Kaufman, and Miesha Tate.
The championship bout between Carano and Santos even served as the headliner on a major Strikeforce card in August 2009.
If a merger takes place, it could mean the end of women’s MMA in the mainstream spotlight. It isn’t that White and the UFC aren’t interested, but the amount of quality talent in women’s MMA simply isn’t there yet.
It’s been nearly a year since Santos’ last title defense, and Strikeforce is still searching for an opponent.
Women’s MMA is a growing project, and it will take time to bolster divisions. If you look at things from the other side of the spectrum, the opportunity to fight for the UFC and make more money could encourage more women to get involved in the sport.
Along with the uncertainty of women’s MMA, a merger could make it harder to distribute the spotlight amongst superstars and rising contenders.
With the addition of the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, UFC cards are consistently stacked. Fans used to wait around for maybe two or three big cards per year, but the influx of talent acquired from the WEC has generated an abundance of main card worthy match-ups.
With only five fights guaranteed to make it on pay-per-view, it’s tough to showcase every fighter. The UFC has done a tremendous job of turning to various outlets like Facebook and Youtube to stream the undercard of live events.
According to White, the UFC is close to adding a flyweight division. This is an entire division featuring a new stable of talent. If you add in the vast amount of talent from the Strikeforce roster, could the current UFC setup handle this amount of potential stars?
There could possibly be talk about extending the pay-per-view bouts or putting on more shows, but this decision would certainly require some major changes.
What about the entertaining talent that can’t cut it in the UFC?
The mantra for the UFC is usually three strikes and you’re out. As the divisions continue to grow, we could see fighters cut after one or two losses.
There is a multitude of entertaining talent that may not be able to cut it in the UFC. Diaz was a great example.
Towards the end of his UFC tenure, he lost three straight to Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk, and Joe Riggs. Diaz used the EliteXC and Strikeforce promotions to build a name for himself.
He is now one of the biggest stars in the sport, and his success outside the UFC earned him the opportunity to challenge for a world title.
A true fan of the sport enjoys watching quality fights wherever they can be found. As are many others, Diaz is a quality fighter that garnered interest outside the UFC.
Why waste these guys?
As a fan, it’s great to have another medium to get your fill of the sport. If a fighter is cut from the UFC or a deal goes awry, people can still watch their favorite fighters compete in another mainstream promotion. A merger would kill that option for fans.
There are plenty of things the UFC could do to avoid spreading the sport too thin. The promotion could introduce a minor league similar to the Strikeforce Challengers series, or Strikeforce could be left intact as a smaller promotion under the Zuffa umbrella.
As for now, White is firm in his statement that the promotions will continue to work as separate entities.
It’s perhaps the most common refrain in sports: “I’m not looking past (insert opponent here).”
But KJ Noons has a slightly different take on the adage that nearly all title contenders wind up saying at one point or another. And it just might make sense.
Noons fights Masvidal on Saturday in what Strikeforce has deemed a No. 1 contenders fight for the lightweight belt held by Gilbert Melendez. It will be Noons’ first fight since a welterweight title fight loss to Nick Diaz last October.
Noons (10-3, 2-1 Strikeforce) and Masvidal (21-6, 3-0 Strikeforce) were slated for the preliminary card of Strikeforce’s show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, which features the next two quarterfinal fights in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament on the main card. But when Gina Carano had to pull out of her return last week, Noons-Masvidal was bumped up for the Showtime audience instead of a prelim card that will air live on HDNet.
And Noons told Helwani he’s put in more work for this fight than he did for his title shot with Diaz, which saw him go up a weight class on relatively short notice.
“He’s definitely top notch, and I think he makes for an exciting fight,” Noons said. “This has been probably the hardest camp I’ve ever had to train for, this fight. This is actually harder than the Diaz fight. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, or we’re trying to get things more fine tuned.”
With a wedding to his longtime girlfriend looming in the fall, Noons said he would love to make quick work of Masvidal to get his shot at Melendez, then get right back in there with the champion.
“I heard there’s rumors Gilbert wants to fight in August,” Noons said. “I’ve never trained so hard. Once I get my hand raised, I would love to get one more fight before I tie the knot.”
With a layoff of more than eight months, Noons told MMA Fighting earlier this month in Las Vegas that he was itching to get back in the cage. Noons fought four times in 2010 going 3-1, but the Masvidal fight will be his first in 2011 – making this his longest layoff in four years.
And even though he said he’s willing to go back to 170 pounds if the right fight is there, saying he just wants to put on exciting fights, Noons believes 155 is where he’s supposed to be.
“This is definitely my weight class,” Noons told MMA Fighting in Las Vegas. “I was supposed to fight for a title at 155 before the Nick Diaz fight, but they asked me if I wanted to fight Nick Diaz in six weeks at 170. I said, ‘Yeah, I don’t care.’ I fought him in his hometown, on his turf, in his weight class. And you know the outcome. You can’t leave it to the judges, right?
“I’m just ready. It kind of sucks being on the sidelines – but it’s kind of fun, being on vacation. But I’ve still got to pay the bills and fight.”
Noons said the sting of his loss to Diaz will hopefully make him a better fight. Especially since it was to a heated rival whom he had beaten to win the EliteXC lightweight title in November 2007, when Diaz’s cuts were too bad to continue into the second round.
“It always hurts when you lose,” Noons said. “You put in all that time, all that effort with your team. It’s always tough to take a loss. But that’s what makes really good fighters – everybody wants to see somebody rise from the bottom back up top. If you can do that, that’s pretty good. I’ve gotta dust myself off and try to get better, win some more fights and try to get up there again.”
Noons’ loss to Diaz snapped a six-fight winning streak. Masvidal beat Billy Evangelista at Strikeforce’s March show in Columbus, Ohio, but has not won two straight since 2009.
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place Saturday in Dallas. The main card, featuring heavyweight tournament bouts between champion Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers, airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern. The prelims air live on HDNet at 8 p.m. Eastern.
It’s perhaps the most common refrain in sports: “I’m not looking past (insert opponent here).”
But KJ Noons has a slightly different take on the adage that nearly all title contenders wind up saying at one point or another. And it just might make sense.
Noons fights Masvidal on Saturday in what Strikeforce has deemed a No. 1 contenders fight for the lightweight belt held by Gilbert Melendez. It will be Noons’ first fight since a welterweight title fight loss to Nick Diaz last October.
Noons (10-3, 2-1 Strikeforce) and Masvidal (21-6, 3-0 Strikeforce) were slated for the preliminary card of Strikeforce’s show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, which features the next two quarterfinal fights in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament on the main card. But when Gina Carano had to pull out of her return last week, Noons-Masvidal was bumped up for the Showtime audience instead of a prelim card that will air live on HDNet.
And Noons told Helwani he’s put in more work for this fight than he did for his title shot with Diaz, which saw him go up a weight class on relatively short notice.
“He’s definitely top notch, and I think he makes for an exciting fight,” Noons said. “This has been probably the hardest camp I’ve ever had to train for, this fight. This is actually harder than the Diaz fight. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, or we’re trying to get things more fine tuned.”
With a wedding to his longtime girlfriend looming in the fall, Noons said he would love to make quick work of Masvidal to get his shot at Melendez, then get right back in there with the champion.
“I heard there’s rumors Gilbert wants to fight in August,” Noons said. “I’ve never trained so hard. Once I get my hand raised, I would love to get one more fight before I tie the knot.”
With a layoff of more than eight months, Noons told MMA Fighting earlier this month in Las Vegas that he was itching to get back in the cage. Noons fought four times in 2010 going 3-1, but the Masvidal fight will be his first in 2011 – making this his longest layoff in four years.
And even though he said he’s willing to go back to 170 pounds if the right fight is there, saying he just wants to put on exciting fights, Noons believes 155 is where he’s supposed to be.
“This is definitely my weight class,” Noons told MMA Fighting in Las Vegas. “I was supposed to fight for a title at 155 before the Nick Diaz fight, but they asked me if I wanted to fight Nick Diaz in six weeks at 170. I said, ‘Yeah, I don’t care.’ I fought him in his hometown, on his turf, in his weight class. And you know the outcome. You can’t leave it to the judges, right?
“I’m just ready. It kind of sucks being on the sidelines – but it’s kind of fun, being on vacation. But I’ve still got to pay the bills and fight.”
Noons said the sting of his loss to Diaz will hopefully make him a better fight. Especially since it was to a heated rival whom he had beaten to win the EliteXC lightweight title in November 2007, when Diaz’s cuts were too bad to continue into the second round.
“It always hurts when you lose,” Noons said. “You put in all that time, all that effort with your team. It’s always tough to take a loss. But that’s what makes really good fighters – everybody wants to see somebody rise from the bottom back up top. If you can do that, that’s pretty good. I’ve gotta dust myself off and try to get better, win some more fights and try to get up there again.”
Noons’ loss to Diaz snapped a six-fight winning streak. Masvidal beat Billy Evangelista at Strikeforce’s March show in Columbus, Ohio, but has not won two straight since 2009.
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place Saturday in Dallas. The main card, featuring heavyweight tournament bouts between champion Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers, airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern. The prelims air live on HDNet at 8 p.m. Eastern.
While it hasn’t been officially made, the upcoming title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz at UFC 137 is generating a lot of discussion and interest from observers and fans within the mixed martial arts community; Cesar Gracie in particular. 
It’s perhaps the most common refrain in sports: “I’m not looking past (insert opponent here).”