A second meeting between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz — this time, in a grappling match — was on the table for December, but that will no longer be taking place, according to the former UFC welterweight champion.
St-Pierre previously announced at this year’s UFC International Fight Week that he would compete at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational event on Dec. 14 in Las Vegas, but an opponent was not named. St-Pierre recently revealed who the name was that was in store for fans — along with the bad news that he won’t be competing at all at the event.
“They had an opponent, his name was Nick Diaz,” St-Pierre told UFC broadcast partner TSN. “People that are familiar with this sport know we competed against each other in mixed martial arts. Unfortunately, he’s hurt. I think he has a neck injury, and I just got hurt myself. I’ve got a shoulder injury.
“I have to wait a few weeks to see if it will require surgery, because some of the things are wear and tear and can heal by itself, but when I got hurt, maybe it could be mechanical. I have to wait a few weeks to see if I’ll require surgery. Unfortunately, it will be cancelled, perhaps postponed [for] the future.”
The 42-year-old St-Pierre is widely considered one of the sport’s all-time greats after putting together an impressive 26-2 record — 20 of those wins inside the octagon — including winning and defending the UFC welterweight title on multiple occasions, and ending his career winning the middleweight championship when he finished Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 217 in November 2017.
With the excitement surrounding a comeback, of sorts, to the combat sports world, St-Pierre says there were a lot of big and interesting names presented to him, but it seems that Diaz — one of his biggest rivals, and the man St-Pierre defeated via unanimous decision at UFC 158 — was the frontrunner.
“There were talks about Nick, and Kamaru Usman, at some point Demian Maia, Gilbert Burns, but it was only talk [because] the main guy was Nick Diaz,” St-Pierre explained. “I’m not the one on the front line to talk about these things. The negotiation is made with my agent, the name is there, and when everything is settled, let’s go.”
