No. 5-ranked lightweight and outspoken fan favorite Nate Diaz has never been friendly when calling out on opponent. In fact, Diaz will rematch reigning featherweight champion Conor McGregor this weekend (August 20, 2016) at UFC 202 in Las Vegas, a rivalry that only begun after Diaz’s now infamous profanity-filled UFC on FOX 17 post-fight interview
No. 5-ranked lightweight and outspoken fan favorite Nate Diaz has never been friendly when calling out on opponent. In fact, Diaz will rematch reigning featherweight champion Conor McGregor this weekend (August 20, 2016) at UFC 202 in Las Vegas, a rivalry that only begun after Diaz’s now infamous profanity-filled UFC on FOX 17 post-fight interview aimed at the “Notorious” one. With that being said, it’s not too surprising to see Diaz disagree with the way 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley is calling for a fight with former longtime titleholder Georges St. Pierre.
Woodley, who won the title a few weeks back at UFC 201, recently posted a text message conversation with St. Pierre to his official Twitter account:
Speaking on the first installment of the UFC 202 Embedded series, which was released earlier today (August 13, 2016), Diaz blasted the two welterweights, saying that no one wants to see a fight set up that way:
“I seen Woodley and GSP shaking hands and text messaging ‘let’s make a fight’. That’s boring,” Diaz said.
“You just killed the whole thing for our sake. Don’t no one want to see no fight that friends set up. (Expletive) that.”
Diaz, however, didn’t stop there. In typical Diaz fashion, the Stockton bad boy challenged Woodley and St. Pierre to a battle against his team, the Skrap Pack, who he’s always shown how close he is too:
“How about me and my guys versus you and your guys? Now that’s entertainment. Let’s see that. That’s good TV and that’s real (expletive),” Diaz said.
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is pumping the breaks on a Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson matchup for his first title defense. Earlier today UFC President Dana White revealed in an interview with UFC.com that the No. 2-ranked ‘Wonderboy’ will get the first shot at the new 170-pound champ, and Thompson was ecstatic to hear the news.
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is pumping the breaks on a Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson matchup for his first title defense.
Earlier today UFC President Dana White revealed in an interview with UFC.com that the No. 2-ranked ‘Wonderboy’ will get the first shot at the new 170-pound champ, and Thompson was ecstatic to hear the news.
“BOOYAH!!!!! Thank you Dana White! Thank you UFC! Extreme Thank you to all the fans that supported me and this title shot! Time to get to work and bring that belt home!!!!!”
This is apparently news to Woodley, who claims he has yet to agree to fight anyone for his first title defense, and has yet to hear from the UFC on a bout with Thompson:
Funny how there is an official fight announced and I 1) Havent spoken to anyone 2) Agreed on opponent or date 3) Signed a bout agreement. ????????
Woodley (16-3) is coming off of a thunderous first round knockout of former champion Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC 201, in which he secured the first UFC title in his seven-year mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Following the bout ‘The Chosen One’ began to heavily campaign for ‘super-fights’ against proven commodities such as former 170-pound kingpin Georges St-Pierre and the trash-talking Stockton Native Nick Diaz.
No official confirmation of a contest between Woodley and Thompson has yet been made, but keep in locked with LowKick and we’ll keep you updated as we learn more…
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is finally getting his shot at UFC gold, and he couldn’t be happier about it. Earlier today we reported that UFC President Dana White revealed in an interview with UFC.com that the No. 2-ranked welterweight will get the first shot at newly crowned 170-pound king Tyron Woodley: “Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is going
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is finally getting his shot at UFC gold, and he couldn’t be happier about it.
Earlier today we reported that UFC President Dana White revealedin an interview with UFC.com that the No. 2-ranked welterweight will get the first shot at newly crowned 170-pound king Tyron Woodley:
“Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is going to fight for the 170-pound title and then we’ll see what happens with Nick and Nate.”
Thompson didn’t waste any time to take to his official Facebook page to thank the UFC President for his long-awaited shot at UFC glory:
“BOOYAH!!!!! Thank you Dana White! Thank you UFC! Extreme Thank you to all the fans that supported me and this title shot! Time to get to work and bring that belt home!!!!!”
Thompson (13-1) is riding an extremely impressive seven-fight win streak, most recently taking home a unanimous decision victory over former title challenger Rory MacDonald at UFC Fight Night 89 after a five round war with the Canadian star.
It seems ‘Wonderboy’s’ efforts have been enough to earn him the nod for the next shot at the gold, rather than Woodley taking the ‘money fight’ against Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz that he’s been heavily campaigning for over the past few weeks.
No date has yet been given for the contest, but stay with LowKick for the latest on Thompson and Woodley, as well as the potential clash between the two welterweight studs.
It’s not even been two weeks since Tyron Woodley rose to the top of the crop at 170 pounds, but the new champion has made waves. After knocking out Robbie Lawler in the first round at UFC 201, ‘The Chosen One’ went against the grain in terms of his next potential fight. Overcoming ‘Ruthless’ in
It’s not even been two weeks since Tyron Woodley rose to the top of the crop at 170 pounds, but the new champion has made waves. After knocking out Robbie Lawler in the first round at UFC 201, ‘The Chosen One’ went against the grain in terms of his next potential fight. Overcoming ‘Ruthless’ in such dominant fashion was certainly impressive. Lawler’s recent wars had fans believing he may stay on top for a while, but Woodley’s overhand right had different ideas.
Perhaps more shocking than his monstrous KO over Lawler was Woodley’s post-fight call-outs. Mere moments after receiving the belt ‘The Chosen One’ sent the MMA media in to a frenzy. Challenges to Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre dominated headlines after the July 30 main event, leaving one particular welterweight contender in dismay.
Wonderboy, or not
The consensus opinion was that Stephen Thompson would get the next shot at the title after UFC 201. ‘Wonderboy’ recently starched Jake Ellenberger and Johny Hendricks, and als won a dominant decision over Rory MacDonald. Woodley’s search for ‘money fights’ has left the kickboxing ace Thompson in a tough spot.
The ironic similarities to Woodley’s run at the title and Thompson’s are not lost on fans. Tirades from angry followers over social media have led to ‘T-Wood’ putting his foot down a few times now. In a protest on Instagram, none other than ‘Wonderboy’s’ Dad Ray Thompson put the new welterweight champion on blast.
The line between entertainment and sport has never been so blurred. Is it up to the UFC or the tile holders in terms of the next fight? If recent history is anything to go by, you’d have to say it’s been the latter. Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Dominick Cruz and others have been calling a lot of the shots to an extent.
With news arriving today that former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre was beginning the USADA testing process, the MMA world is expectedly taking that as one of the more clear-cut signs GSP is returning since he left the sport behind in 2013. And with the announcement, speculation about just whom St. Pierre could meet in his return
With news arriving today that former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre was beginning the USADA testing process, the MMA world is expectedly taking that as one of the more clear-cut signs GSP is returning since he left the sport behind in 2013.
And with the announcement, speculation about just whom St. Pierre could meet in his return is about to reach an all-time high.
There’s a possible welterweight title bout with new champion Tyron Woodley, who called St. Pierre out for the UFC’s New York debut at UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden this November, but in a revealing recent interview with Bloody Elbow, St. Pierre said he might actually be re-matching the other man Woodley called out after winning the belt, returning bad boy Nick Diaz:
“I have no problem with Nate. It seems to me to me like it’s Nick Diaz that is running for another shot at me. I wouldn’t mind, I’m not afraid of Nick Diaz, I’ll tell you. I am telling you right now: If it’s what the fans want to see, I’m in.”
Asked if Diaz would then be his first fight back due to the lengthy history between them, St. Pierre proclaimed he didn’t care. After beating the Stockton MMA pioneer, who only just got reinstated from his latest marijuana-related suspension for a controversial drug test failure during his UFC 183 loss to Anderson Silva, so easily at 2013’s UFC 158, St. Pierre described a bad taste left in his mouth because he knows he could do better:
“I don’t care if it’s the first, or second, or third. If they want me to fight Nick Diaz it would be my pleasure. I don’t mind, I am not afraid of Nick Diaz, I beat him last time, and I’ll beat even worse, I’ll beat him way worse next time that I’ll fight him.
“I beat him last time easily, but I was not happy – it’s one of these fights that I’m not happy with. Because I didn’t feel like I gave enough, for different reasons. It left me angry that fight, when I look back at it – maybe I won, but for some reason it left me angry and I feel like I could have done so much better.”
There’s no question St. Pierre vs. Diaz II is another fight fans would want to see run back, even if the first bout ended in extremely one-sided fashion for GSP. There are legitimate question marks about where both fighters are after their respective periods of inactivity, but there are no questions about the top-level drawing power of both men.
St. Pierre knows that, and he wants to put on the best fight possible for the fans. He also knows that he can still take on the best fighters in the world, and after a lengthy hiatus away from the daily grind of MMA, he claims to be in the best shape ever – both mentally and physically.
That’s why he’s nearly ready to showcase his skills in an effort to leave everything in the Octagon and have no regrets:
“Yeah that’s why I’m doing it. I don’t want things that I regret in life, and things that I have not done – and I don’t want to at 80 years wake up, and tell myself: ‘Oh I was on top of my shape and skills and I didn’t do it.’ If I come back and I lose, at least I know I did everything I should have done, I have no regrets, I’ll be happy. I can die happy. If I never come back, and I’ll tell myself I should have done this, I should have done that – I don’t want to have regrets.”
It’s been almost three years since we’ve seen all-time great former welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre step into the Octagon. The legendary record-holder left the grueling grind of MMA behind after a highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, vacating the belt due to personal reasons. He’s done little more than
It’s been almost three years since we’ve seen all-time great former welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre step into the Octagon.
The legendary record-holder left the grueling grind of MMA behind after a highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, vacating the belt due to personal reasons. He’s done little more than merely tease his potential return in the time since, but recently there have been noteworthy signs he would finally lace up the four ounce gloves yet again.
Citing a need to get his Under Armor sponsorship deal in accord with the UFC’s own apparel agreement with Reebok, St. Pierre told Ariel Helwani that a return was all but imminent on a recent episode of “The MMA Hour.” There are also the concerns over the promotion’s uncertain future under new ownership group WME-IMG, who purchased the UFC for $4 billion only days after the supposed blockbuster UFC 200.
A third aspect of St. Pierre’s return, the overarching use of performance-enhancing drugs in fighting, was also at the forefront of his semi-retirement and whether it would become official or not. In the last year, the UFC has implemented new and stringent drug-testing in conjunction with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that is catching fighters using banned substances of many kinds at an alarming pace.
So it seems the champ is slowly but surely overcoming the obstacles to his official return. A clear example of that is the fact that GSP revealed that he has kickstarted his return by beginning the process of entering into the USADA testing pool in an interview with Bloody Elbow:
“I want to. My agent is negotiating with the UFC, they had an offer, we made a counteroffer, you know that’s how business goes. And then we heard a day after that UFC sold for $4 billion dollars. So we waited for a few days, to see what was going on, because even some of the employees were afraid of losing their job – even some of the high ranking people in the UFC were afraid. We wanted to let the management to take care of their own company first, and then see what happens.
“Now we’re talking again and I’m starting the USADA process to be tested, I’m starting it Aug 10. in Las Vegas. Because to be eligible to fight you need to be tested.”
GSP was questioned about the controversial exemption Brock Lesnar was given when he returned to the UFC to face Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200, where he ultimately won but failed two drug tests (both in and out-of competition) for the estrogen blocker clomiphene. Because of his strong anti-PED stance, St. Pierre said he didn’t want to cut any corners as Lesnar did:
“Yeah exactly, but he had a free pass, I think it was an exemption of a month or something like that. But me, I don’t want to be an exception, because I was very outspoken about Performance Enhancing Drugs. It would be bad for my reputation if I would have an exemption – I don’t want to have a free pass, I want to be like everybody else. That’s why I’ll be starting the process Aug 10. I don’t have any fight yet, but it’s gonna happen now, because I’m getting tested, if I’m getting tested it’s for a reason.”
Several high-profile fights have been teased for GSP, from a middleweight title bout with Michael Bisping to a welterweight title fight with Tyron Woodley. Nothing is official as of yet, and while St. Pierre stated he does want to return, he also had to focus on the much-discussed topic of fighter treatment and pay in the UFC from the top down:
“Yeah. I would like to say, they need to make sure they take care and negotiate the problems. You know, I have a very good agent with me. The fighters, they complain they’re not getting paid a lot, they get exploited sometimes; The UFC runs a business, but it’s also the fault of a lot of the fighters – they accept any fight, they will sign anything. They have to look at their career as a business as well. They have to hire some confident people to do that job.
“I’m an athlete, my job is not negotiating, it’s not my field of expertise. I’m an emotional guy – it’s normal, a lot of athletes are, and we’re very susceptible to get our ego cut because of that. Dana White came out very often in public saying I’m this and that; I’m sure it’s also to play with my ego, to make me, for example, come out of retirement and say ‘Oh ok, I’ll fight for peanuts.’ No, I’m not like that. I know the game.
“That’s how it is, and I will never blame a fighter if he doesn’t fight me because he takes care of his own interest first, and prioritize the interests of his family first, that’s completely normal.”
Some strong words and opinion from the former champ, who seems to want a MMA return while simultaneously wanting to be a voice for fighters he feels have been treated poorly for all too long.
