UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is focused on his return to the UFC, but a future bout with a fighter he’s not fond of remains on his mind.
St-Pierre’s trainer Firas Zahabi told MMA Fight Corner that the Canadian superstar and all of his fans still want to see him fight Nick Diaz, a fighter whom GSP has called disrespectful.
“Everywhere we go the fans are asking me for Nick Diaz,” Zahabi said. “They’re always asking me when Georges is going to fight Nick Diaz.”
One major obstacle is the fact Diaz — who is currently serving a one-year suspension for testing positive for marijuana metabolites — says he is done with mixed martial arts for the time being and his future in the sport is up in the air.
“When I tell (fans) he’s retired, they have this crazy look on their face, like ‘that’s crazy they still have to fight.’ I think Georges wants that fight. I think Diaz deserves a lot of money for that fight. I think they should pay him significantly. I think it’d be a big fight. I think everybody would be watching. Nobody would miss that fight. And I think for Diaz, he’s not happy. From what I hear, Nick Diaz is not happy with all the judging in the sport, and I can understand all that, but hopefully he changes his mind. He’s a great fighter and definitely a lot of people want to see that fight.”
Right now, St-Pierre is tentatively scheduled to meet the interim champ Condit at UFC 154 in a title unification bout on Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
GSP’s knee has recovered well from surgery after tearing his ACL prior to UFC 143 and Zahabi said it’s just a matter of GSP, who has been participating in recent sparring sessions, getting back into fight shape.
“I think in August we’ll be ready to see if he’s capable of a training camp,” Zahabi explained. “Right now I got him working with lighter fighters. We’re still taking some precautions. But nonetheless, he’s moving really well. For a guy that hasn’t sparred for eight months, I’m really impressed with what he’s doing and I’m really expecting that by August he’ll be back to what he used to be like.”
Structurally GSP’s doctors say his knee is 100 per cent and Zahabi believes now they just have to get his coordination, confidence and timing back to an elite level.
“The timing has gone out of the window and today’s sparring was a big step forward. Timing looked really good, a lot better than in the first sparring and I’m really happy. I think I’m confident for August he could start training camp.
“Fighters, when they tear their ACL, some of them never come back. They’re never the same. That’s the truth.”
Zahabi, the UFC and all of GSP’s supporters hope St-Pierre comes back just as good as before his injury and are eagerly anticipating a bout with Diaz sometime in the future.
