A superfight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre is no longer imminent.
St-Pierre, the UFC welterweight champion, will “probably” defend his title against rival Nick Diaz next, according to company president Dana White.
After St-Pierre beat Carlos Condit last week in his return from being out 19 months due to injury, the talk of a megafight between GSP and middleweight champion Anderson Silva heated up. Silva was even in Montreal for the St-Pierre-Condit bout and has said repeatedly he wants GSP next.
Even White seemed confident the big-time matchup would go down, even going as far as to target May for the date.
Apparently, all that is now out of the window because St-Pierre is adamant he wants Diaz next even though Diaz is coming off a close loss to Condit and suspension for marijuana use.
“Georges St-Pierre went on vacation, but when he came back we were talking about Anderson Silva,” White said. “He said, ‘I want Nick Diaz. Me and Nick Diaz have unfinished business. We were supposed to fight. That’s the fight that I want.’”
Diaz has also not been shy about his dislike for St-Pierre and how much he wants to fight him. There is a lack of respect between the two, dating back to last year when Diaz was supposed to fight GSP, but blew off a pre-fight press conference. White punished him by pulling him off the fight and moving Condit in. St-Pierre ended up getting hurt anyway and Diaz beat up BJ Penn in an entertaining brawl.
“Georges has been off for a year,” White said. “(Silva is) a tough fight for him to come back to. He asked personally for the (Diaz) fight.”
This decision will likely not go over well with the traditionalists since Diaz lost his last fight and he’ll now get a title shot. Johny Hendricks was supposed to be the No. 1 contender after knocking out Martin Kampmann last month.
“Listen, Johny Hendricks has had great fights,” White said. “You talk about winning in spectacular fashion, this guy hits people so hard they skid across the Octagon. (But) he’s no position to demand anything. Georges St-Pierre is the champ, he has been forever. If that’s the fight he wants, then that’s probably the fight we’ll give him if Diaz accepts it.”
This isn’t the biggest money fight the UFC could do with St-Pierre – that would be against Silva – nor does it make the most sense. But I guess GSP has developed a lot of good will over the years and has earned the right to demand a fight.
St-Pierre-Diaz will draw nicely and White said he will even consider Rogers Centre in Toronto, which is the UFC record holder in terms of attendance with 55,000.
White always says he puts on the fights fans want to see and this is one of them. It just wouldn’t be on the top of many lists right now.
mraimondi@btc365-futebol.com