We all want Nate Diaz back, but perhaps not like this.
If you were to ask us if we wanted to see Nate Diaz fight in 2018, we would respond, 'Yes' without hesitation. Replacing the Stockton native's name with Georges St-Pierre will warrant the same response. However, asking us if we'd like to see them fight each other... that would be very different.
We know that's the route the UFC want to go with both fighters. Dana White
recently confirmed on the UFC Unfiltered that they are targetting a lightweight contest between GSP and the younger Diaz brother for UFC 227. While the prospect of seeing St-Pierre make his lightweight debut is somewhat interesting, the match-up isn't without its problems.
Firstly, the result will almost definitely be used to fuck up the pecking order already established in the division. It's hard to see either Diaz or St-Pierre not get a title shot with a win without having to beat an elite contender already in title contention.
It's also not a great fight from a stylistic point of view. Sure, anything can happen in fighting, but GSP has made a career out of beating guys like Diaz. He would be the overwhelming favourite and a one-way mauling would be the anticipated result. There is little evidence to suggest the fight would be in any way competitive.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/995472714440855555
We're not surprised, motherfuckers
The huge payday that would come with fighting GSP seems of little interest to Diaz. As he told
MMAJunkie, he still holds a grudge against the Canadian for what he perceived as cheating when he defeated his brother Nick in 2013. That being said, he doesn't appear too hot on exacting revenge for his sibling.
“No, I’m not fighting that fight. Like I said, he cheated when he fought my brother, so I just had to bring up old shit because they’re trying to brush it off like it’s nothing. I got other shit to do, and it was just weird because we never even really talked about it.”
Diaz added that he asked the promotion for a specific opponent for his return. Without naming who the fighter is, he added that the fight fell through. Right now, it's hard to tell exactly who he wants to return against. However, he made a point of declaring his interest in doing 'something'.
“Nobody interests me right now, but I’m interested in doing something. I don’t think the UFC wants any of those fights to happen because we haven’t been talking about none of them. So time will tell.”
It's probably for the best that we don't see Diaz vs GSP for the sake of making stars collide. However, if it's a case of seeing him likely get bested by GSP or never fighting again, we'd probably take the former option. The fight game is better when Diaz is around. He's certainly been missed.
