It’s going to happen–Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz has been confirmed as the next UFC Welterweight Championship bout.
Despite talk over the weekend that the rumored clash between the UFC and Strikeforce Welterweight Champions was far from reaching “confirmed” status, it now appears that the fight will happen even earlier than expected. Initially viewed as a candidate for the December UFC card, the St. Pierre vs. Diaz fight has instead been slated for October 29’s UFC 137.
With no clear, compelling contender available in the UFC’s own welterweight division–Jon Fitch represents the most convincing case, but he was dominated by GSP in the last fight, has detractors due to a “boring” style and only mustered a draw against BJ Penn in his most recent fight–Diaz, fresh off his Strikeforce victory over Paul Daley, emerged as the best bet for a GSP adversary.
But some obstacles were in the way. Weeks ago, there had been talk that Diaz was looking to accept a boxing fight, with talk suggesting that he had been tapped to square off against Jeff Lacy. That fell through, but some reports said that Showtime, which broadcasts Strikeforce, was opposed to risking one of its top drawing cards in a non-Showtime fight.
And, as a general policy, pairing GSP vs. Diaz would instantly break the “separate promotions” philosophy that had been discussed when Zuffa announced its Strikeforce acquisition.
Yet, at the end of the day, the fight was made, and Nick Diaz gets the chance to finally dethrone St. Pierre.
Perhaps even more exciting for UFC and Diaz fans, the word from various sources is that Diaz’s new contract allows him to fight in both Strikeforce and the UFC, so even a loss in his UFC return might not prevent him from showing up again in the Octagon.