GSP dominates trash-talking Diaz in UFC

MONTREAL, Canada — It was a war of words the likes of which Georges “Rush” St. Pierre had never known before and it was against one of mixed martial arts’ most vocal trash talkers in Nick Diaz.

The build up to this fight was incredible and forced GSP out of his comfort zone. It was apparent that all the verbal venom being slung in his direction had started to get under his skin. Fans all but expected St. Pierre to come flying out of the gates in all out berserk mode.

The anticipation for this match was off the charts. For Nick Diaz, it was just another day with another opponent to piss off.

Regardless of who got the better of the verbal exchanges, what mattered most was what St. Pierre and Diaz did inside the Octagon, and not what they did out of it.

As soon as they stood face to face against each other inside the cage, Diaz was bursting at the seams to get a crack at the decorated Canadian. For Georges St. Pierre, it was just another day at the office.

Ground and pound

The fight played out much as most experts predicted, with St. Pierre taking Diaz to the ground and overwhelming his helpless opponent with hammer fists and elbows. GSP took Diaz’s back multiple times and continued to pile on the damage.

Diaz tried multiple times to work in a Kimura off a roll, but GSP transitioned away from it every time much to his surprise.

By the middle of round two, it was painstakingly obvious that Diaz much rather preferred to be standing up where he had the advantage with his superior striking as opposed to being on the ground where GSP could just wear him out.

Nonetheless, when St. Pierre wanted the fight to go to the ground, the fight went to the ground. The same type of action continued on to the end, earning St. Pierre a unanimous 50-45 shutout to retain his UFC Welterweight championship.

High praises

“I never took it personal,” said St. Pierre regarding all the pre-fight trash talk. “(Diaz) is a veteran, he’s been fighting longer than me. He was in the UFC before me. I’m a big fan. He’s one of my favorite guys to watch. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to fight him. I knew he’d make a good fight.”

Diaz tried desperately to derail St. Pierre off his game-plan by egging the Canadian fighter to engage with him in front of his hometown fans but was mostly unsuccessful. It wasn’t the usual, frenetic paced Nick Diaz we saw in the cage, perhaps GSP had a little something to do with that. The fight was as expected, all business.

“I didn’t want to fight in Boxing range. He (Diaz) is the best boxer in mixed martial arts. His Jiu-Jitsu is amazing. He has a very unusual scramble style. I don’t have training partners like that. When you fight a guy like this it’s almost impossible to get ready,” said St. Pierre.

“I don’t want to make excuses. I came out a little flat. I just want to thank GSP for giving me the credit I think I deserve,” said Diaz.

What’s next?

The fight against Diaz was St. Pierre’s 13^th championship fight, falling second only to Randy Couture’s 15 total.

For Nick Diaz, retirement may be on the horizon.

“I have to decide if I even want to do this anymore. To be honest, I don’t know if I really got any more,” said Diaz in the post-fight with Joe Rogan.

“I don’t make excuses. I think I’m done with mixed martial arts. I’m tired of getting banged up like this.”

Diaz has sounded off on retiring even prior to the GSP fight, but was lured into a lucrative matchup with the pound-for-pound staple.

“Hopefully I made enough money to invest in something,” said Diaz.

Despite the perennial retirement sentiments coming from the veteran Diaz, he later expressed interest in a rematch.

“I think I could beat you, I really do,” Diaz told St. Pierre. “I think I could do better against Anderson Silva too.”

For GSP, Johny Hendricks seems to be next in line.

Said Dana White in a tweet after UFC 158: “Hendricks is the number one contender. Done.”

On a four-fight win streak beating the likes of Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Martin Kampmann and Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks went right after GSP for a title shot he believes he’s earned.

“If not,” said Hendricks, “I’ll fly to your (St. Pierre) house, I’ll hire a ref, and we’ll do something about it.”

Hendricks has the wrestling ability and strength to match that of GSP and the power in his standup game to be a dangerous opponent. – Rappler.com