Georges St-Pierre Targeting November UFC Return, Wants to Fight Nick Diaz
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is targeting a November return to the Octagon after recovering from a knee injury and surgery and hopes to fight Nick Diaz in his first fight back.
“Hard training will be in July, and fighting again I would say beginning of November,” St-Pierre said Monday on Inside MMA on HDNet. “Of course [I hope to fight this year]. Late October or the beginning of November would be good.”
St-Pierre hopes Diaz wins his clash with Carlos Condit next month at UFC 143 for the interim welterweight title because it would set up a bigger fight for his return and a matchup that was previously scheduled twice.
“The reason why I wish Nick Diaz to win that fight is because I want to fight Nick Diaz. I don’t want to fight Carlos Condit, I want to fight Nick Diaz. 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.”
A November return would be more than 18 months after St-Pierre outpointed Jake Shields in his most-recent fight at UFC 129 this past April in front of a record crowd in Toronto, Canada for his 10th-straight win.
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It sucks that my boy GSP is out for most of this year, but more important that he rehab his knee properly and make sure he’s %100. All the best Georges.
As for Nick winning, even if he beats Condit he should have to win another defending (Ellenberger, should he beat Sanchez) the belt sometime in the early summer to set up a fight against a returning GSP in November.
GSP hitting Condit low with this statement. Then he thinks the Title holder is going to wait 9 months for another fight with him. Just Cause he only fights 2 a year doesn’t mean thats how Diaz or Condit rolls.
The Division has Ellenburger and Henricks knocking on the door, how long do they have to wait on GSP then Year and a half maybe or just fight winner of Diaz / Condit
I dont think so. Diaz makes a great villian for GSP, Making his return a bigger event and thus a better chance to make more money.
And although he didny say it, I’m sure GSP wants to punch diaz in the face for all that sh!t talking.
Yeah, I think GSP just wants to beat the p1ss out of Diaz for the stupid sh1t he’s been saying. I don’t think GSP is intentionally dissing Condit with his remark, I think it’s more about wanting to teach Diaz some manners. Condit is a well spoken, respectful guy, who I am sure GSP would be pleased to defend his belt against. It’s just that Diaz is a **** and as Corey points out Georges probably just wants to punch him in the fac.
Be careful what you wish for Georges.
@learntoread
I think Nick has proven to be tough and good at what he does but because GSP is a power,atheltic,skilled wrestler, it would be a very bad matchup for diaz.
I agree with the collective. GSP is the most respectful guy in the game and IMO he means no disrespect whatsoever to condit. I just think he wants to make an example out of Diaz for talking $hit. And before all the trolls come out to play, GSP WANTS to fight Nick Diaz and he’s NOT scared of Condit. If he had to fight condit he would welcome the fight. If he has a choice it’s Diaz.
Whoever ends up as the interim champ, Condit or Diaz, I would think they would want to fight at least once more before facing GSP. Why? They would stay active and fresh and that would be a huge advantage going into a title fight with a GSP who hasn’t fought in over a year and who is coming off an injury.
GSP!!
@jazz – you and I are always on the same page when it comes to GSP. The more time that goes by before his return, the more people forget how incredibly dominant he is. The only knock people have on his is his lack of finishes as of late, but he owns his opponents on the way to victory after victory. I honestly believe that neither Diaz or Condit (or anyone else for that matter) has more than a Serra’s chance against him. When he does come back, the fact that so many have forgot his greatness will go a long way towards selling the fight, but in my opinion his next fight is over before it begins.
What ‘GSP-over-fanatics’ seem to be completely forgetting (or purposely disregarding) is that Georges is coming off MAJOR surgery on a very serious injury…one that has ended careers.
What you’re also not taking into account, for whatever reason, is the fact that GSP will have been out of action for A YEAR AND A HALF by the time fight night comes around this November…and that’s even ‘if’ he can make it back inside the octagon that soon. If that doesn’t spell “ring rust”, then I don’t know what does.
Sure, you can go on all day about how “amazing” and “dominant” GSP has been in the past (and there’s no denying that), but to think that same level of fighter is going to show up come November, coming off major surgery and a HUGE layoff, you’re being a bit delusional guys. Just sayin’.
Who ever wins the interim title next month will have the advantage when they meet Georges in November, both mentally and physically, being that they’ll have been active (beating top notch competition / title fight(s)) and healthy (not coming off major injury / ring rust).
Personally, I’m assuming Nick Diaz will be victorious over Condit in a very competitive fight. If that is indeed the case, the truth of the matter is, will Georges have it in him to go through (what Daiz’s recent opponents have described as) “a sprint though hell”…I guess only time will tell.
@learntoread
Dude you must have missed the last part of my post.
“Whoever ends up as the interim champ, Condit or Diaz, I would think they would want to fight at least once more before facing GSP. Why? They would stay active and fresh and that would be a huge advantage going into a title fight with a GSP who hasn’t fought in over a year and who is coming off an injury.”
You basically said what I said above.
If I could say anything to all the top WW’s in the UFC right now I would say “NOW IS THE TIME TO BEAT AND DETHRONE GSP”. Like I said above, GSP will be very vulnerable when he comes back and if there was ever a time where a Nick Diaz had a shot at actually beating GSP, it’s now. Cage Rust is very real for some fighters (not lesnar or chael) and it totally effects your confidence. So I hear you on that.
But IMO, GSP and his camp are very smart. They will make sure GSP is properly healed and well trained when he returns. So cage rust or not, a healthy st pierre is STILL arguably the best wrestler at WW. Having said that, GSP would STILL be a very dangerous matchup for either condit or diaz. Those guys have stuggled like hell against wrestlers. And I don’t think I need to remind anyone that besides being a great wrestler, gsp is not such a bad striker/grappler/jitz player.
So to say “gsp supporters are delusional” is funny. I think it’s the Diaz fans that are delusional. Or in denial. The fact is that gsp has only used his wrestling and grappling to win his last few fights and anyone who knows who diaz is knows that that’s all gsp would need to defeat nick who is primarily a boxer.
But I’ll stop there because I don’t think Diaz is even going to get passed condit.
I am a gsp hardcore fan, and I can say that he is in danger of losing when he returns, but at the same time, his skills are far beyond any ww including diaz so it’s still hard for me to see gsp losing to diaz or condit even after he comes back from a long layoff and injury.
If he was returning to fight Jake Ellenberger then I would be very worried if I were gsp. IMO Jake is the only dude who has a real chance against GSP.
@ jazz:
Nothing in that post really debunks the points I made, although you do contradict yourself a bit.
My point was that GSP has a serious injury that has ended other MMA fighters careers. The fashion in which he trains, he could very well re-injure his knee during the next training camp post-surgery.
You trying to state that Diaz fans are in any way “delusional” for being realistic about this situation is just silly. (*’Cause last time I checked, elite wrestlers depend on their knees for their explosiveness…I’m sure you’re aware of that.)
Trying to state that a majorly ring rusted, coming off serious injury, not at his best mentally, Georges St. Pierre is still FAR superior than the (then) defending WW interim champion is what makes GSP-over-fanatics sound “delusional” man. That “power” and top notch “athleticism” you speak of might not be the same once he returns, you need to accept that possibility jazz. Also, being out of the cage for over a year and a half (due to injuries) will most definitely effect his skill level, especially when he has a hungry & healthy champion standing across the cage from him ready to go 5 rounds again.
P.S. Ellenberger probably won’t even get past a determined Diego Sanchez, let alone become the interim WW Champion…just sayin’
HAha I could just hear that robot voice of his saying the quote above lol. BUt what’s funnier is that A yes be careful what you wish for and B the winner of condit/diaz likely fights Hendricks or Ellenberger anyway.
And on that note, I hope condit beats diaz, and then whoops Gsp for overlooking him, even accidentally.
Well a determined Diego sanchez got beaten to a pulp by Penn and “some British dude” too. I love how everyone overlooks Ellenberger. Anything could happen as all fights go, but Ellenberger is a beast. Straight up.
Tip: The fight with Penn was at LW, VS. a basically emaciated Sanchez.
Also, it’s been well documented and reiterated by Sanchez that he was in no way “determined” or motivated going into that fight with John Hathaway.