GSP vs Diaz set for Oct

[Brule]

Don't know why, but i got a funny feeling about this one. I'm calling Diaz with the upset.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2011/06/01/gsp_diaz/

[JamesC]

I'm not really a GSP fanboi, but I really can't stand the Diaz brothers.

They're both the epitome of douchebags that learned how to fight.

[Brule]

I agree James. I'm not really a fan of either. For me, GSP is the New Jersey Devils of the 90's that played the trap and were successful doing it, but it made hockey a bit boring to watch. I would like to see him be a bit more risky and go for the kill. Don't know much about Diaz lately, but from what i remember he had some skills.

[JamesC]

Well I dunno if he's THAT bad, lol. He's no Tim Sylvia, at least.

He can be a bit boring to watch at times, though. His last fight absolutely blew. I'm willing to bet that Dana has a talk with him about this(again) and that he'll show us some action against Diaz.

Besides, the Diaz brothers notoriously push the pace. I think that is where GSP shines the most. I just don't see him being able to win the fight by outscoring because Diaz will be going for a knockout the whole time, I bet.

This is my hope at least.

[lkfmdc]

The Diaz brothers are scum bags. The only person worse is their trainer, who is KING of the scum bags.

the UFC gives the fans what they want, even though 90% of them don't understand anything about MMA. Put a guy who thinks he is a boxer (and isn't) and has no wrestling against GSP and you know what will happen?

GSP will take down and dry hump Diaz for 5 rounds and win, then everyone will complain it was a boring fight

[David Jamieson]

I'll take my poutine eating ripped superman countryman for the win.

Diaz? He'll get repeatedly kicked in diaz.

bwahahahaha

[n.mitch]

Gsp via unam decision, to.good at everything for diaz

[JamesC]

The Diaz brothers are scum bags. The only person worse is their trainer, who is KING of the scum bags.

the UFC gives the fans what they want, even though 90% of them don't understand anything about MMA. Put a guy who thinks he is a boxer (and isn't) and has no wrestling against GSP and you know what will happen?

GSP will take down and dry hump Diaz for 5 rounds and win, then everyone will complain it was a boring fight

I'm good with ground and pound and submission attempts, but if he does just try and win by points from superior positions and a few takedowns it WILL be a boring fight.

But, like I said, GSP usually does really well when others push the pace. I seriously get tired of watching the Diaz brothers talk **** even while fighting. Like you said, they're scumbags.

[sanjuro_ronin]

It takes TWO to make a fight exciting.
GSP has been relying on his wrestling and grappling skills more and more and that tends to make for a more "boring" fight.
But as a champion, one does what one needs to do to win, period.

[JamesC]

I agree that winning is winning. Doesn't make it an interesting fight, though.

[Dragonzbane76]

koshcheck and diaz brothers both fall into the douchbag catagory in my book. Most people complain about GSP's gnp wrestling being boring, but I enjoy the intricacy of wrestling most don't I understand. a win is a win by any means.

[Hebrew Hammer]

The only thing Diaz will win is the trash talking in the ring and I give him a slight edge in butchering the English language slightly more than our Francophone champion will. Unless GSP over looks him, Diaz will contemplate retirement after this one.

Strikeforce has booked Fedor Vs. Henderson in a super fight on Sat July 30th in Chitown. Goooood Loooorrrddd...this will be awesome....someone is getting knocked the f@#$ out!!!!

http://www.strikeforce.com/

[Dragonzbane76]

Strikeforce has booked Fedor Vs. Henderson in a super fight on Sat July 30th in Chitown. Goooood Loooorrrddd...this will be awesome....someone is getting knocked the f@#$ out!!!!

awesome!!!!

[Brule]

THE CANADIAN PRESS

LAS VEGAS -- The scene was so surreal at the Mandalay Bay Events Center that all Georges St-Pierre could do was shake his head and look for the hidden camera.

"Are you trying to prank me?" said the UFC welterweight champ, cracking a slight smile.

St-Pierre was more shocked than amused by Nick Diaz's absence Wednesday from a second straight press conference to promote their UFC 137 main event, a no-show that led to Diaz being dropped from the card.

"Maybe he is here and he is going to come out and say, 'This is a prank."'

But this was no gag.

Not only was the former Strikeforce champ not in Las Vegas on Wednesday, a day after he failed to fulfil media obligations in Toronto, but his absence forced UFC president Dana White to pull him from the Oct. 29 show and replace him with 170-pound contender Carlos Condit.

"I've promoted over 1,600 fights in my career," said White, who showed gathered media members and fight fans a video promoting Condit as Diaz's replacement for the card, which had just begun selling tickets Wednesday morning.

"This has never, ever happened once. Never. We've never had a situation where a guy just goes MIA and doesn't show up for this stuff."

White said that he last talked to the 28-year-old from Stockton, Calif., on Monday night, when Diaz assured him he was going to take the second flight the UFC had booked for him to Canada.

But when word got out on Wednesday morning that Diaz -- who has had a much-publicized disdain for dealing with the media during his career -- was not going to make the press conference in Las Vegas, White said his hand was forced.

"I'd had my reservations about Nick Diaz for a long time," White said. "You've heard me use the term 'play the game.' All I asked him for was this much. When he signed, I said, 'Let me tell you what kid, add up all the purses of your career, this will be biggest fight of your life.'

"You have the opportunity to fight GSP and win the welterweight title. But I told him I needed him to do certain things. You have to promote the fight. You have to show up for pressers. You can't start fights at fights."

While both White and St-Pierre were wrapping their minds around media members' questions about the incident, Diaz's manager Cesar Gracie called White while he was on stage.

"Cesar just said, 'I agree with what you're doing 100 per cent. I've been trying to chase Nick Diaz all around town,"' White said relying Gracie's message to the stunned crowd's delight. "Nobody can find (Diaz). He thinks it's as weird as we all do."

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trainer from the famed Gracie family took his statements even further when he discussed the disappointing development with several MMA outlets Wednesday after the press conference.

"I was pretty ****ed off when I first heard about this, obviously for our team, and personally it's something I've worked for, for so many years," Gracie told MMA Weekly.com. "Bringing this kid from Stockton when he was 16 and making him this world class fighter, and for him at this moment to do something this stupid, and not show up for something he was supposed to show up to, it's very frustrating to me to say the least.

"I know we all need more chances in life, we all make stupid mistakes in our lives. Nick has never had a real job, he doesn't know what it's like, like a lot of Americans have to do, get up work two jobs like a lot of us to put food on the table and here he's given this opportunity, where he beats this guy it's like winning the lottery and he doesn't get on a plane to Vegas or Canada or whatever. You can't do that. There's no way you can do that."

At first a bewildered St. Pierre (22-2 MMA record) thought perhaps something terrible had happened to Diaz (25-7-1), like a death in the family or an accident. And while the 30-year-old champ tried to make light of the situation at times -- "Maybe he's been taken away by aliens?" -- he admitted he felt disrespected by Diaz's actions.

"It's a lack of professionalism," said St-Pierre, who has won nine straight fights in the Octagon dating back to April 2007.

"I showed up to do my job, but Nick Diaz did not show up to do his job. ... There's consequences to this."

Like Diaz's status as a UFC fighter, which White said, "we'll see what happens," but hinted would likely come to an end. Not too much a very significant payday.

"He was going to make life-changing money for this fight," White added. "And maybe the thing is with Nick Diaz, maybe he did crack under the pressure. Maybe he folded under the spotlight."

St-Pierre repeated several times that he just couldn't believe the surreal circumstances.

"I just don't understand how someone doesn't show up for an opportunity like this," said St-Pierre, who on Tuesday admitted his frustrations about changing his training schedule around only to have Diaz flake out. "I just can't believe it. It's amazing.

"If you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for your family. It's a little bit selfish."

While the recent news weighed heavy on him, GSP said with only seven weeks until the bout his mind had already shifted towards Condit (27-5), a fellow Greg Jackson-trainee.

"I do believe Carlos Condit is more dangerous than Nick Diaz," St. Pierre said. "If they fought, I would put my money on Carlos Condit, so for me it's a bigger challenge.

"Condit has more power, way more diversity of attack than Nick Diaz has. I think he's going to be a way more dangerous opponent than Nick Diaz."

Condit -- who has four straight, including three finishes in a row -- was overwhelmed by the news.

"I've been fighting for nearly a decade and there has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears that has gone into that," Condit said in a release. "A lot of sacrifices have been made both personally and professionally, and I'm looking forward to showing the UFC that I am deserving of this opportunity."

Something that White said looking back on the situation now, he should have known Diaz never would appreciate.

"I knew what I was getting myself into when you get Nick Diaz," said White of Diaz (who fought with the UFC from 2003-2006), who during his Strikeforce bout with K.J. Noons last October refused to participate in a conference call.

Other well-publicized incidents like Diaz's post fight brawl with Joe Riggs in a Las Vegas hospital, or his role in a post-fight melee with Jason "Mayhem" Miller last April were warning signs to White -- but nothing as "insane" as Wednesday's hijinx.

"I expected some problems and headaches over the next couple of months. But I didn't expect this," White said.

[GeneChing]

Remember when Diaz was DQed for medical marijuana? I was at that event.