St-Pierre talks Diaz, tune-up fights

UFC 143 is LIVE on PPV Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET

Story & photo by Anthony Springer Jr.

Listening to him talk, you’d think UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was the one fighting on Saturday night. Forced out of action with an ACL injury, the champ has plenty of reason to be cage side as Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit battle for the interim welterweight strap—he fights the winner next.

After Diaz trashed the Canadian, St-Pierre seems motivated to get back in the cage to face the former Strikeforce champion. Gone are the usual pleasantries from the usual St-Pierre sound bites. He sounds excited to be in the sport again. That’s what a Diaz victory on Saturday brings: an enthusiastic St-Pierre.

“I hope he does, I pray he does,” St-Pierre said of a Diaz win. “If he does, the scenario [for our fight] will be perfect.”

St-Pierre quickly calms his enthusiasm. After all, Carlos Condit is no pushover and Diaz W is far from certain. “If he doesn’t, I don’t want to bother myself thinking about him, but I hope he does.”

Realistically, St-Pierre has more to worry about than Diaz (or Condit). When he returns to action, he’ll have been out for more than a year. Most fighters talk about the ring rust accrued during long layoffs. For the champion, it’s not about the rust, it’s about losing the feeling—and he doesn’t plan on losing the feeling. Which explains why he’ll be Octagon-side come fight time.

“What you lose after a period of time is not a technique,” he explained. “The feel of the Octagon. You lose the feel. One way I stay in the feeing, l Saturday night, I’ll be ring side, I’m going to feel the same tension like I’m in the Octagon. When my training partners fight, I’m going to go to keep the feel. The butterflies, the walk out. It’s important to keep that. If you don’t get it for a long time, your body doesn’t react to that.”

Keeping the feeling is important. Famed boxing coach Freddie Roach, whose trained St-Pierre in the past suggested a “tune up fight” before he returns to top competition. The idea was soundly dismissed.

“In boxing and MMA, it’s different. In MMA there’s no such thing as a tune up fight. There’s nobody I can say is a tune up fight. Everybody is so dangerous. In boxing there’s optional title defenses. I personally believe it’s ridiculous. If you’re a champion, you fight the main guy. If I was allowed to choose my opponent, it’d be the easiest thing in the world. I’d make more money.”

“Nick Diaz and I are at the perfect time to fight each other. That’s why I hope he wins the fight. For the fans and everyone, that will be the biggest fight UFC ever had. I guarantee that.”

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February 2nd, 2012

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