UFC
Georges St. Pierre to Nick Diaz - "Now it's time to walk the walk" at UFC 137
Jun 2, 2011 - 6:00:48 PM Georges St. Pierre to Nick Diaz - "Now it's time to walk the walk" at UFC 137

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Now that the fight has been officially announced, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has made his first public comments about his upcoming October showdown with Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, St. Pierre expressed excitement in taking on a fighter who has talked a lot about him in the past.

"I'm excited," St. Pierre said. "Because it's been a long time he's been talking about me, saying like he's the best, he was saying I was avoiding him and stuff. But I never avoid anybody."

"Now it's time to walk the walk. It's going to be a good fight."

St. Pierre's UFC Welterweight Championship will be on the line in the fight, and though there hasn't been any definitive word on the status of Diaz's title heading into the fight, that belt isn't of interest to St. Pierre anyway.

"For me, I don't care about the other title," St. Pierre said. "The title that means the most to me is UFC. It's the most prestigious one. The UFC is (like) the NFL of football, the Stanley Cup of hockey. That's the one that everyone's wants to have."

"I don't care about gaining the Strikeforce title. I'm a UFC guy and I want to stay in the UFC the rest of my career. That's where I belong... Right now I'm champion. I don't care about fighting for a title. I care about fighting the name and Nick Diaz, he's the guy to beat right now. He's the guy that a lot of people rank him even No. 1 so that's why I want to fight him."

Diaz is an opponent who many feel will, at the very least, force St. Pierre into more of a fight than we've seen in a number of recent performances. The Champ has taken out Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields in unanimous decision victories, and in each fight none of his opponents offered up much in the way of resistance. But Diaz's bottom game and dangerous striking have some thinking he'll at least provide St. Pierre with a test wherever the fight goes, and St. Pierre is happy to have that test.

"I know Diaz, the way he is," said St. Pierre. "He's the kind of guy I'm happy to fight. I like fighting guys who are not easy like this, that have a kind of warrior spirit."

"I don't know him as a person but he's a very exciting guy to watch. I'm happy to fight him. He's going to bring the best out of me, because he's always putting on a good fight, going forward. It's going to be a good fight for me."

The fight will take place as the main event of UFC 137 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 29.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Diaz has said for the longest time that he feels he's better than Georges St. Pierre and everyone on the UFC's welterweight roster. He's getting his chance to prove that in October, and he's getting a big pay bump along with it. St. Pierre is happy to oblige him this opportunity, and as the guy at the top of the heap he'll continue to motivate himself in whatever ways he can. Diaz is sure to say more to St. Pierre than any of his previous opponents have, and all that talking will lead into this fight. It'll be on St. Pierre to shut Diaz down and to prove to him that there's a reason he's been on top as long as he has. This is going to be a highly marketable and entertaining fight, and it's one I can't wait to see. As St. Pierre says here, the time for talking is done, and Diaz is going to have to back up everything he's said over the past few years in this one fight. That makes for an awesome dynamic, and the fact that the fight is taking place is fantastic.

[GSP art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]