Georges St. Pierre’s Injury, Diaz vs. Condit, and the UFC Welterweight Division

In the division that Georges St. Pierre has dominated in recent history, the UFC Welterweight division has seen a number of unpredictable events happen in the past several months. GSP was originally scheduled to face Strikeforce star Nick Diaz this past October at UFC 137. This was supposed to be one of GSP’s toughest opponents, and the guy that could potentially dethrone our champ. Fight fans were excited for this bout, but in the weeks leading up to the fight things got weird. Nick Diaz failed to contact UFC President Dana White about missing scheduled press conferences. Dana White was obviously pissed and immediately demoted Diaz from his title shot. If that wasn’t bizarre enough, the subsequent events that followed were just as shocking. White decides to give Condit the shot at the belt, instead of having him face off against B.J. Penn at the time. Okay, that seemed fair enough. But it didn’t stop there. GSP’s camp had to pull him out of the night, thus making Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn the main event. This left Carlos Condit without an opponent. Condit’s camp decided he would wait for his chance at GSP opting not to fight while GSP recovered. Diaz sent Penn into retirement with his victory and Dana White, along with most fans, wanted to see the Diaz vs. GSP fight that they were originally promised. Condit looked to be shit out of luck but what can you do. So, Joe Silva re-booked Diaz vs. George St. Pierre for UFC 143. But, just a month ago, the MMA world heard the devastating news that GSP needed knee surgery and would be out for at least another 10 months. Now, the UFC has booked Condit vs. Diaz for the Interim Welterweight belt, with the winner guaranteed a unification bout with GSP once recovered.

That was a lot to handle, I know. So currently, we await UFC 143 where Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz will square off for another chance at glory. Diaz will surely come in as the favorite, having more experience than his opponent. But as we saw with Jon Fitch vs. Johnny Hendricks, anything can happen. Fitch was the #2 fighter in this division, claiming a remarkable record with only one defeat at the hands of GSP. Hendricks knocked Fitch out with a stunning left hand in just 12 seconds. This was something not even the champ could do to Fitch.

To say the division is all shaken up is an understatement. What has happened in recent months was ridiculous but those kinds of things happen in this sport. The unpredictability of MMA is one of the main reasons people love it. Georges St. Pierre will surely have his hands full when he recovers from knee surgery, as a lot will have changed in the division he has kept so constant for so many years.

-Nordon