Today MMATorch published a column by Nick Grinups suggesting George St. Pierre be on the list of opponents for Nick Diaz when he returns to UFC. It was five years ago this week that MMATorch published an article about UFC looking at featuring Nate’s brother Nick and George St. Pierre in their “Primetime” series ahead of their scheduled (but ultimately cancelled) UFC 137 fight. Here is the story but Jamie Penick as it originally ran on Aug. 8, 2011.
The UFC should rename their “Primetime” series “The Georges St. Pierre Show,” as they are once again looking to feature the UFC Welterweight Champion in the three-part program on Spike TV ahead of his UFC 137 fight with former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz.
However, it’s not going to be the easiest thing to put together. Diaz is notoriously difficult in going along with extra things asked of him outside of training and getting in the cage, so the prospect of having a camera crew follow him for three weeks ahead of the event may not go over so well.
“It would be interesting, getting Diaz [and] having the camera following him for more than 10 minutes,” UFC President Dana White joked this past weekend (transcribed by MMAJunkie.com). “It’s going to be very unpredictable. I don’t ask him to say anything special, to change who he is or whatever, but you’ve heard me say it a million times: ‘Give me [a little]. Just play the game. Do what you’re supposed to do professionally, and this will all work out.'”
If he can convince Diaz to do the show, it would be the fourth time St. Pierre has had a fight featured on the program. The series began with his fight with B.J. Penn at UFC 94, and was brought back again for his fight with Dan Hardy at UFC 111. The next two iterations of the show came for other fights, as Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson were featured ahead of UFC 114 and Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez ahead of UFC 121.
St. Pierre then let the cameras back in for his fight with Diaz’s teammate Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto this April.
Should Diaz agree to take part in the series, White’s simply asking for a little cooperation, but doesn’t want him to be anything he’s not.
“I don’t ever ask anybody to not be themselves,” he said. “I don’t ever tell people what to say. I don’t ever do anything like that. He is who he is, and he can be who he is. But you have to play by some of the rules. You have to.”
Their fight will take place as the headliner of UFC 137 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on October 29.
Penick’s Analysis: I always enjoy seeing St. Pierre’s training regimen, and seeing how he changes things up on the different Primetime series has been very entertaining. The Primetime shows with GSP have done a good job of bringing more recognition and exposure to his opponents, so in that respect it would be great to see Diaz on the show. It would also be great to see into Diaz’s life a bit more, as he’s always been a bit of an enigma at times, and seeing how he trains and how he is in a different capacity would be enjoyable for fans as well. If White was able to get Brock Lesnar to take part, maybe he’ll have success with Diaz.
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