By Tyler Mason, Sportsnet Staff
The entire Octagon’s a stage, and all the fighters are players.
But recently, the most dramatic division has featured the welterweights.
At this point, everyone knows the story between Georges St-Pierre, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit and all the plot twists that unfolded over the past few months. It has left us with Condit as the new UFC interim welterweight champion, our usual antagonist Diaz facing a suspension for a failed drug test, and perennial protagonist St-Pierre injured and potentially sidelined for up to 11 months.
The news of Diaz’s positive test was not surprising. It’s been well documented that Diaz has a medical marijuana licence in California and this isn’t the first time Diaz has had problems with drug tests. The most notable was the NSAC overturning Diaz’s 2007 win over Takanori Gomi due to a positive test for marijuana.
But now a possible rematch between Diaz and Condit isn’t going to happen, and our two most interesting characters, St-Pierre and Diaz, are out of the welterweight scene.
So where does that leave the rest of the division? First off, all eyes will be on Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez on Wednesday.
Watch UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger on Sportsnet East and Ontario starting at 8 p.m. ET (tape-delayed on other regional channels).
Ellenberger has earned his nickname “The Juggernaut,” tearing through the UFC’s welterweights with five straight wins. His most recent was a knockout victory over Diaz’s teammate Jake Shields, the last man to fight St-Pierre.
If Ellenberger can get through Sanchez in impressive fashion, expect fans to start throwing his name out there as the next challenger to new interim champion Carlos Condit. It’s not like they don’t have history. In his UFC debut, Ellenberger dropped Condit in their September 2009 meeting before losing a close split decision.
Two other wrestlers with power in their hands, former No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks, are also set to quarrel at the UFC on FOX show on May 5. And the trash talk has already started on Koscheck’s end. He tweeted: “#UFConFoX u think Hindricks will fight like a man or what??? MAY 5th I hope u boo the piss out of me 2! I am so #Motivated 4 this fight!”
His motivation is understandable, especially considering that it was Hendricks who knocked out Koscheck’s teammate Jon Fitch in 12 seconds in December.
Then there is St-Pierre’s training partner Rory MacDonald, whose only loss came at the hands of Condit. In that fight he won the first two rounds and was on his way to a decision win before being overwhelmed in the third.
Firas Zahabi, MacDonald and St-Pierre’s trainer, has stated in the past that he doesn’t see the two ever fighting each other because of how close they are. So with St-Pierre sidelined this could be MacDonald’s only chance to get a shot at the belt. Otherwise, MacDonald could find himself in one of two situations familiar to MMA fans: Either languish as a top contender like Mauricio Rua did while Wanderlei Silva dominated in PRIDE or seize the opportunity ala Jon Jones when teammate Rashad Evans withdrew due to injury.
However, it might not all be about the UFC title. According to the UFC’s Kenny Florian, St-Pierre said he would give up his belt to fight Diaz, which would derail the plans for him to fight Condit. Regardless, it’s refreshing to see a division teeming with foils for St-Pierre when it seemed he was destined to end up like UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes.
Hughes’ title runs showcase a fighter before his time. Before the injury St-Pierre’s career could have mirrored that of Hughes — a few missteps, but with no immediate challengers. The injury adds doubt and after the dust settles in the welterweight division the question remains, will this strange and eventful history end?
Tyler Mason is a new guest blogger for sportsnet.ca. His video breakdowns of fight cards can be seen as part of Sportsnet’s UFC Fantasy feature. He is also a regular co-host with (Showdown) Joe Ferraro on Sportsnet 590 THE FAN’s radio show “The Showdown.”
