Georges St-Pierre on possible fight with Nate Diaz: “I considered it”
At the start of this month, UFC President Dana White made what was at the time, a mindblowing announcement that would see somewhat of a fantasy match up between former UFC Welterweight/Middleweight Champion Georges St-Pierre and Nate Diaz. The bout was being pushed for August 4 at UFC 227 which would have seen another anticipated return for GSP.
The buzz of this potential fight was so high that early betting odds were getting released, however after hearing about all this, Diaz was not buying it, and of course in typical Nate Diaz style, it didn not take him long to speak out saying in a Facebook post that St-Pierre was juicing and Dana White’s claims were just him “selling wolf tickets.”
But eventually after a while of non-mention regarding the fight, it eventually fell through altogether. St.Pierre however, was determined to set the record straight on the issue when appearing on UFC Commentator Joe Rogan’s The Joe Rogan Experience Wednesday where he revealed that the negotiations for the Diaz were indeed legit, but also confessed he and his team contemplated it too.
“I considered it,” St-Pierre said. “And I analyzed it, and I talked with Firas (Zahabi), with my trainer and everybody. We were all on the same page on that, it’s not worth it.
“Nate Diaz is an incredible fighter, very well-rounded. However, if you put yourself in my shoes, there’s nothing good that can come out of it except money, and money is not the only thing drives me. If I beat Nate Diaz decisively, most people will say, ‘Ah, he took an easy fight,’ or whatever. The critics will say, ‘He’s a bully. He fought a smaller guy.’ Maybe he’s not even smaller than me. A lot of 155er guys are bigger than me right now. He’s a big guy. He’s about the same size as me, but because I competed at 170 for most of my career, it will make me look bad. It will make me look like a bully, and this is if I win decisively.
“If I win and it’s like a war, back and forth, people will say, ‘Ah, you suck.’ And if I get beat, oh my God, forget it. For my legacy, it’s the end of the world. All of the work I put in is finished. And I could have a bad day. Something that I discovered during my career is that, being the strongest man in the world, that was my dream when I was young. That’s why I did UFC. I wanted to be the strongest man in the world. And I realized over the years, it did not exist. You cannot be the strongest man in the world. This is an illusion.”
Who do you think would have won between Georges St-Pierre and Nate Diaz had they fought?
