Georges St. Pierre vs Nate Diaz May Still Be Happening as Dana White Confirms the UFC is Still Negotiating With Both Camps…

This one seemed like it was all over before it had even begun. No sooner than UFC President Dana White had announced that the UFC was working on a potential lightweight showdown between Nate Diaz and Georges St. Pierre, both camps came out in adamant denial.

St. Pierre has a history with the Diaz brothers, having beaten Nate’s older brother Nick way back at UFC 158, way back in 2013, in the Canadian’s native Montreal. It’s this particular history that is proving to be one of the main barriers to the fight.

However, Dana White insists that negotiations are not over and that there is still a solid chance of progress in making this fight go down. He confirmed the UFC hasn’t given up on the match-up and were still trying to make it happen.

Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte, USA TODAY Sports.

Dealmaker

White made a guest appearance on the UFC Unfiltered Podcast, hosted by his buddy Matt Serra and Jim Norton. The UFC President was adamant that he had not said that the fight was close to being a done deal, but did say that the company was still down for it to happen. He told the podcast:

“Never, ever, ever did I say that was a done deal. I said it was a fight that I would like to make for LA. That’s what I said. It’s a fight we’re looking at and it’s a fight we’d like to make. Never did I say it’s a done deal. Not even close.”

So while it’s not close, the fact that the UFC hasn’t given up on it suggests there must be some reason why they are still negotiating. Expect to hear more about this one in the future. Also White did strongly insinuate that the fight was close to happening the very first time he talked about it. Just saying…

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports.

The Players

Georges St. Pierre is arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time. He’s definitely in the conversation anyway. The most successful welterweight in the division’s history, he also became a middleweight champion in 2017, when he came out of hiatus to beat Michael Bisping. ‘Rush’ is one of the most intelligent and effective fighters in the sport.

Nate Diaz is most famous for his pair of fights with Conor McGregor. The brash Californian is a member of the Skrap Pack and is becoming as well-known for his brawls outside the cage as those in them. He hasn’t fought since losing a narrow decision to ‘The Notorious’ back in 2016 but is expected to return this year.

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports.

Obstacles

Of course, there are obstacles in the way of this one. Not least is the fact that St. Pierre, a natural welterweight, has just fought at middleweight. That is a huge amount of weight to cut. Theories suggest that he’d do it as a test run for potential later fights against McGregor or Khabib Nurmagamedov.

Furthermore, St. Pierre suffers from ulcerative colitis. Dana White only recently said that he believed St. Pierre had retired because of this, but this was denied by the Canadian’s camp. Dana makes things up as he goes along though, so don’t be too surprised by this.

Also problematic is the history that the Diaz brothers have with St. Pierre. Nate’s older brother Nick believes that his IVF was tampered with, while he was doing his weight cut, and that this affected his performance the night they fought. It all adds to the intrigue of this potential battle. Who do you think would win?

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