UFC

Now that St. Pierre has had some time to reflect on things he has re-evaluated how interested he actually is in fighting Diaz, at least when it comes to an expected defense of his title in November.

“I want to fight the best man, and the best man is Condit,” said the 22-2 champion in an interview on Bruce Buffer‘s Sherdog show , adding emotion had clouded his judgment beforehand. Still, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind settling the score with Diaz at some point down the road.

“As far as Diaz, of course I would like to fight him because he thinks he’s better than me (and) I think I’m better than him,” explained St. Pierre before turning talk to the controversial Californian’s future. “But I think he should not retire. He did all of the sacrifice in his life to be where he’s at right now. He’s at the highest point of his career, and if he retires now, he’s left a lot of money on the table that could pay for all of the sacrifices he has made during all those years. I think the sport of mixed martial arts needs a guy like him.”

Diaz has not commented since saying he was retiring from MMA after his disgust with the judges’ decision in his fight with Condit. The 28-year old was the more aggressive, less technical of the two this past Saturday night and paid for it with the defeat.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

While UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has not come out to officially say he’d be willing to relinquish his rights to the title in order to fight polarizing rival Nick Diaz, it appears he has mentioned he’s open to doing so in private company.

The shocking revelation came Tuesday evening as part of UFC Tonight where host Kenny Florian, who is friends with GSP and trains with him at TriStar, said the currently injured St. Pierre brought it up over dinner after watching Carlos Condit outpoint Diaz last weekend at UFC 143.

Condit earned a shot at St. Pierre with the victory though it may be in vain if “Rush” follows through on his comments by giving up his belt to settle the score with Diaz. During the build up to the Diaz-Condit bout GSP expressed his desire to see Diaz win after the Stockton scrapper called him out after beating B.J. Penn in his previous Octagon appearance.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

St. Pierre, who has successfully defended the title since 2008, tore a ligament in his knee while training for the bout with Diaz and has since undergone successful surgery. The operation will keep him away from competition for several months, forcing the UFC’s hand in crowning a champion in his place.

While technically GSP will still be part owner of the title, he doesn’t feel that way at all.

“The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night,” St. Pierre said, in a recent interview with the UFC’s website. “I have not fought since April, against my will, but I understand the champion must fight. Right now I am not the best in the world, I am injured.”

St. Pierre added that he feels the winner of Diaz-Condit must beat him to call themselves the world champion, while he has to do the same to feel like the best in the world once again.

As for who St. Pierre wants to fight, that’s an easy one, as the soft-spoken fighter said, “I respect Carlos Condit, but I want Diaz to win. I want this fight with Diaz so badly, as badly as I wanted the title shot when I got down on my knees. I have never asked (UFC president) Dana White for anything, but I did ask to fight Nick Diaz.”

GSP’s timetable for a return continues to be a mystery, as he said he won’t be able to properly train until July, pushing him back to late in 2012 for an Octagon return.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

St-Pierre posted on his Twitter account that he has been cleared to do light gymnastics work back in Montreal alongside one of his coaches.

“Great to be back in Montreal and start training again with my gymnastics coach Pat Beauchamp,” St. Pierre posted. In a short video on his official YouTube page “Rush” also explained he is very limited in what he is allowed to do.

In the meantime St. Pierre will have to sit by as the UFC crowns an interim welterweight champion this weekend at UFC 143 with Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit squaring off for the honor. While St. Pierre is hopeful to be back early this summer, it is likely that the winner of Diaz-Condit will make at least one title defense before GSP is cleared to fight again.

Check out his YouTube video below:

St. Pierre, who was scheduled to meet Nick Diaz on February 4 to defend his title, underwent knee surgery roughly five weeks ago after tearing his ACL while preparing for Diaz.

The injury, which has been the most severe of the 30-year old’s career, was kind of a Catch-22 situation as the Canadian was putting more pressure on his right left after injuring his left in training for a bout with Carlos Condit late in 2011. Now, Diaz and Condit will meet for the interim UFC welterweight title with the winner likely facing off with GSP later in the year after an initial defense of the belt.

“Hard training will be in July, and I am looking to fight again, for the timing to be back, in November,” said St. Pierre while serving as a recent guest on Inside MMA . “Late October, early November would be good.”

“Rush” mentioned that he didn’t take enough time to rehab himself from the first injury, adding, “I tried to come back too fast and I was compensating with my other leg. That’s how I hurt myself.”

As for the upcoming Diaz-Condit bout that will crown a champion in his place, St. Pierre started out neutral before offering up his personal preference, saying, “I just hope the best man will win. But if the best man is Nick Diaz, I will appreciate it more, because it will be a better build up for a fight.”

When St. Pierre returns it will have been around 18 months since he last set foot in the Octagon, a concern for many who felt he would be back by late summer after news of his knee injury first broke.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Fortunately their exchanges and work in general was documented, something the fans can now check out as part of Belfort’s Road to UFC 142 series.

“GSP, we just try to help each other and we’re great friends,” explains Belfort of St. Pierre’s presence. “He’s a great champion and my guys like him. Good behavior, good guy, so we’re gonna help each other. That’s the key to get better. Training with the champions. It’s an honor to train with him.”

Belfort-Johnson’s bout will unfold next weekend in Rio de Janeiro as part of a UFC 142 card headlined by featherweight title-holder Jose Aldo putting his belt up for grabs against undefeated grappler Chad Mendes.

Check out the GSP-Belfort video below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/VITORBELFORT

Firas Zahabi

Zahabi, along with founder Conrad Pla and Bruno Hernandez, currently boast five champions who put in time at their gym including UFC title-holders Jon Jones and Georges St. Pierre.

St. Pierre, the UFC welterweight champion, is rehabbing his way back from a torn knee. In the meantime, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz will meet in early 2012 to crown an interim titleholder, while preparing to meet GSP down the road.

“GSP is recovering very well, although it’s only a little over a week since the surgery,” said Zahabi, in a recent interview with MMAFightCorner. “The doctor said the surgery couldn’t have gone any better. Georges will start rehab at The Sports Science Lab, has been in contact with me regularly, and is motivated to start rehabilitation. Everyone is very confident on a full recovery and we are all looking forward to the next training. After rehab its back to MMA training and everyone can’t wait for that.”

Zahabi also revealed he and St. Pierre actually started out as training partners, saying, “I was amateur champion at the time and GSP was on his way to becoming a pro, a big prospect. Georges walked into TriStar and we started training together. We got along very quickly and become very close.”

PHOTO CREDIT – TWITTER

“My surgery (ACL patellar tendon autograft) was huge success! Ligament very strong. Thanks for support,” wrote St. Pierre via Twitter.

GSP tore his ACL while training for a February 4 title-defense against Nick Diaz, then replaced as a result by Carlos Condit with an interim belt being added into the picture. Assuming his rehabilitation goes as planned St. Pierre is expected to be back in action at some point in 2012 between mid-summer and early fall.

The 30-year old St. Pierre will no doubt be itching to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible having already been sidelined since April while waiting for an October bout that ultimately fell apart due to a smaller injury to his other knee. “Rush” holds an overall record of 22-2 including wins in his last nine fights and is considered to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The unfortunate news was revealed earlier today by UFC President Dana White through his Twitter account. As a result Diaz will now face Carlos Condit on the same card – UFC 143 – with an interim belt at stake.

Condit was already scheduled to fight at the same event with Josh Koscheck as an opponent. He also saw Diaz slide into the contendership slot he’d already been promised after UFC 137, a fact likely adding a bit of incentive to shine against the controversial Californian when they meet inside the Octagon. Condit holds an overall record of 27-5 with twenty-six stoppages and is on a four-fight winning streak including victories over Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Rory MacDonald, and Jake Ellenberger.

Diaz, a former Strikeforce champion, is coming off his finest performance to date when he dismantled BJ Penn in late October. The mean-mugged 28-year old hasn’t lost since 2007, picking up eleven straight wins in the period since.

No word has surfaced on what will be done with Koscheck.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

However, to hear GSP tell his side of the story, it looks like Diaz’s challenge didn’t get under his skin at all and that he actually preferred to fight the former Strikeforce star all along.

“I’m very happy to fight him,” St. Pierre stated in an interview with QMI. “It’s always been the fight I’ve wanted to have. They only thing is he did not show up at the press conference…so the fight got cancelled – not because of me, but because of him and what he had done. But me, I wanted to fight him. He wanted to have a title fight and he got it. (Talking trash) the best way to do it and it’s not personal.”

Drawing criticism from his opponents whether directed at him as a person or fighter is nothing new to “Rush” who dealt with similar smack during the build for bouts against Matt Serra, Josh Koscheck, and a handful of other competitors the 22-2 St. Pierre went on to successfully defeat inside the Octagon.

“I’ve seen it all from everyone before. If they’re trying to get into my head and make me fight a bad fight, it’s just mind games and it doesn’t work,” St. Pierre explained before adding in that much of what people say to him gets lost in translation. “I don’t even understand (or) speak English very well. I don’t understand most of the things that (Diaz) says when he trash-talks. I don’t really care.”

In fact, St. Pierre says he has a far more worthwhile goal to direct his attention to rather than buy into Diaz’s hate.

“I’m just going to focus on hurting him,” the 30-year old concluded. Given the fact GSP’s workout program constantly keeps him in tremendous shape, as well as the notion the French-Canadian champ seems to perform at an ever higher level when motivated by his opponent’s behavior, it seems Diaz may want to quit while he’s ahead and work on training rather than trying to fire St. Pierre up.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

At UFC 137, Diaz dominated Penn, winning a clear Unanimous Decision and retiring the Hawaiian legend. Following his victory, Diaz called out St. Pierre saying that the UFC welterweight king was “scared to fight him” and that claimed that he was faking an injury.

The comments upset St. Pierre and had him begging to fight Diaz. UFC president Dana White, who was adamant that Condit would get the next title shot no matter what happened at UFC 137, granted GSP’s request. Condit has agreed to step aside for Diaz, although his manager Malki Kawa states, “St. Pierre chose to fight Nick instead of Carlos.”

While no date has been announced for St. Pierre vs. Diaz, UFC is hoping to have the fight headline their Super Bowl weekend event.

*PHOTO CREDIT – UFC*

“I’m not going to lie, I cried yesterday,” the 30-year old Canadian revealed in a conversation with SportsNet. “I had a ton of pressure falling off my shoulders, because for the last few days I was in the mindset that I was nervous for the fight. I was excited for the fight but I was also nervous to know if I was going to be able to fight. Now all the pressure is off, I feel much better. I’m going to do some rehab, maybe take a vacation because I went through a lot. It’s not only the fight, it’s all the training camp, I went through a lot of stuff. I need to reset the whole thing again and I’ll be ready for the next one.”

In terms of when exactly the “next one” will be, GSP pointed to the possibility of fighting on February 4 at the UFC’s annual Super Bowl Weekend extravaganza.

“I want to do (the recovery) well. I don’t want to do it too fast, because (this time) I had an injury and I tried to train on it and maybe made it a little bit worse. I need a good four weeks to do my (physiotherapy) and do it right,” St. Pierre explained.

Though still too far out to predict with any accuracy, presumably Condit would still serve as St. Pierre’s opponent after being told by the UFC he was still next in line for a crack at the championship.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

UFC president Dana White Tweeted the bad news moment after he landed in New York to promote the upcoming UFC on FOX event.

The co-main event between BJ Penn and Nick Diaz will now headline the show while Condit has been pulled from the event and will face St. Pierre at a later date. White expects his 170 lb champion to be ready in a couple of months although he concedes that it’s, “too early to tell.” The new main event between Penn and Diaz will still be a three round fight and have title implications.

UFC 137 is scheduled to take place on October 29 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The truth is Georges doesn’t want to fight me in the street or in a cage. He knows who I am, and he knows where I came from,” Diaz recently explained in an interview with MMAJunkie. “I don’t have the commitment? I’m younger than him, I have more wins in my career than he does, and I’ve worked harder to get where I am. He knows the truth, and he didn’t say anything and won’t say anything because he doesn’t want to get his ass whipped by me the same way he got his ass whipped by Jake (Shields) – the night we went to the press conference and Georges went to the hospital.”

The harsh criticism was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the tongue-lashing Diaz gave to his popular peer.

“I really don’t appreciate this motherf—– sitting there at that press conference and laughing at me. That’s some real bitch sh-t. He’s sitting there laughing like it’s funny or something. If I saw Georges on the street and called him a bitch, I bet you he wouldn’t do sh-t. I bet you if I walked up and gave him a slap, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t do sh-t. But you can’t do that to me. That’s not how it works for me. That’s something to fight about.

“The bottom line is Georges is being a little bitch,” Diaz continued. “He didn’t step up and say anything when the UFC pulled me out of this fight. I understand sometimes you have to do what you’re told, but why wouldn’t you tell the media you still want to fight me? If I was Georges, I would want to fight the best. I would have asked for the Anderson Silva fight. I would have asked to fight the Strikeforce champ. But he sits there like a robot and doesn’t say anything at all, just like he’s not going to say anything about me calling him a bitch now. If I saw B.J. Penn walking down the street and called him a bitch, we would be fighting right there on the spot.”

The blunt brawler spoke a bit more about Penn too, though not without alluding to St. Pierre in the process.

“It’s not like it’s an easy fight for me,” the son of Stockton said of his new opponent at UFC 137. “I’m not like these bitches. I’m not going to hold Penn down the whole time like these guys have done. They held B.J. down because they’re bigger than him and stronger than him. I’m not going to do that. I’m not a little bitch to try and hold somebody down. I’m going to go out there and fight this tricky motherf—– and it could mean a lot of problems for me. It would have been a lot of problems for them, too, if they had fought him like I fight. They would have lost that fight.

However, as negative as Diaz’s statements were regarding “Rush”, he also made it clear he did see a silver lining to the dark cloud cast over the situation.

“I am happy for Carlos (Condit),” the 28-year old Californian explained. “He has a kid and a family. I have don’t have any of that. I gave all that up to fight and be the best. I hope this opportunity helps Carlos and his family.”

The comments come less than a week after Diaz apologized in taped statement for missing “the beauty pageant” , otherwise known as a now-infamous press conference where Condit was named as Diaz’s replacement after the former Strikeforce title-holder didn’t show up to promote the fight to media.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

To the delight of countless MMA enthusiasts, White’s joyful exclamation was in reference to the organization having finally put together a long-anticipated bout between UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre and Strikeforce’s title-holder Nick Diaz. The bout will take place on October 29 in Las Vegas and serve as the headliner at UFC 137.

Diaz and St. Pierre had both been seen as having a lack of legitimate challenges left within their home-organizations though as recently as last week the UFC brass denied the likelihood of a super-fight between the two based on “roadblocks” believed to have been related to Strikeforce’s television deal with Showtime.

The two talented welterweights have combined for nineteen straight wins between them with St. Pierre streaking through the likes of Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, Matt Hughes, and most recently Jake Shields, while Diaz’s run in the ring includes victories over K.J. Noons, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, and Paul Daley.

While it’s too early to know what today’s groundbreaking news means for future crossovers between the UFC/Strikeforce, one thing is certain – it looks like fans will be getting a huge treat wrapped in an eight-sided cage this Halloween!

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/STRIKEFORCE

The rumor mill on the prospective pairing first heated up late last week with a meeting between Diaz and UFC President Dana White and a report from MMAWeekly.com indicating a source close to the situation had informed them a deal was “imminent” and could be announced within the next few days.

Now word has come by way of a press release from the boxing-side of Diaz’s camp stating the polarizing pugilist would forgo a stint in the sweet science and focus on Mixed Martial Arts due to the “opportunity of a lifetime”. The Stockton native’s manager and trainer, Cesar Gracie, also threw fuel to the fire created by the official statement, adding, “At this point in time, there’s a certain chance that comes along once in a very long while and it only makes sense to stick to MMA as of right now.”

Though the specific nature of the “opportunity” and “chance” are left up to speculation it doesn’t appear difficult to read between the lines given the present circumstances involved. Whether the fight would take place at 170 pounds or at a catchweight to avoid championship implications is still unknown at this point. Stay tuned to Five Ounces for updates as this potentially groundbreaking story continues to evolve!

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE/UFC

According to a press release from former IBF middleweight champ Jeff Lacy’s management team he has signed to fight Nick Diaz at a yet-to-be announced event this fall. A bout between the two had been rumored for months when Diaz first started publicizing his genuine intent to give the sweet science a go and hopefully increase his income in the process.

When contacted for comment on the situation Cesar Gracie by MMAWeekly, Diaz’s trainer and manager, confirmed the match-up was in place and would only be prevented by the UFC offering up St. Pierre “as a sacrifice”.

The prospect of a cross-promotional fight between the talented welterweight champs was amped up a level this past weekend at UFC 129 based up on comments from promotional head Dana White who explained he planned to meet with Diaz to sway him from boxing and acknowledged Diaz was the only legitimate challenge currently waiting for St. Pierre at 170-pounds.

If the two sides are unable to come to an agreement Diaz will look to build on his 1-0 record as a professional boxer against a 25-4 competitor in the sport. Lacy’s last fight came in December where he was outpointed by Dhafir Smith who holds an overall record of 24-20-7.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

St. Pierre will serve as a familiar face on the show after having been part of UFC Primetime specials for past bouts against Dan Hardy and B.J. Penn, while Shields is obviously a newcomer to the treatment as the match-up with GSP is only his second appearance in the Octagon.

Both fighters hold two of the more impressive winning streaks in MMA with St. Pierre having found success in eight straight bouts dating back to August 2007 and Shields nearly doubling the impressive mark at fifteen victories over a few more years. Among the former Strikeforce middleweight champ’s victims are Martin Kampmann, Yushin Okami, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit, Jason Miller, Paul Daley, and Dan Henderson. Comparably, “Rush” has taken out a number of notable adversaries as well including Penn, Hardy, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, and Jon Fitch.

St. Pierre’s previous in-ring outing came in Montreal, a dominating decision win over Josh Koscheck last month at UFC 124, and played a major role in drawing more than 23,000 fans to the Bell Centre to set the current record for attendance. “Rush” improved his record to 21-2 with the performance, his eighth straight victory in the Octagon.

Comparably, his challenger at UFC 129 has nearly doubled GSP’s streak of consecutive wins, as the former Strikeforce middleweight champ has emerged with his hands raised fifteen straight times including success against Dan Henderson, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, Paul Daley, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Robbie Lawler, and of course Martin Kampmann in his UFC debut last October. Shields is 26-4-1 overall in his career with only a single loss by way of a finishing performance. He has not lost in more than six years.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

A Conversation with Clay Guida (HeavyMMA.com)

A Breakdown of Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann (Versus.com)

Holly Madison Returning as Special Guest Ring-Girl (CagePotato.com)

Strikeforce’s Best of 2010 Winners (MMAConvert.com)

Jimmy Smith Looks to be Leaving the Bellator Broadcast Team (MiddleEasy.com)

Dog the Bounty Hunter Cornering a Fighter at UFC 125 (WatchKalibRun.com)

Want to Increase Your Riddum to GSP Levels? (MMAScraps.com)

Check Out the UFC 125 Pre-Event Press Conference (FIGHT! Magazine)

Mike Swick Off Fight Night 23 due to Injured Opponent (MMAFighting.com)