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Dana White: Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz slated for UFC 137 in Las Vegas

Mandalay Bay Events Center will host title unifcation bout on October 29

UFC 124

Ryan Remiorz / AP

Georges St-Pierre, from Montreal, celebrates after defeating Josh Koscheck, from Waynesburg, Pa., with a unanimous decision to retain his welterweight title at UFC 124 on Saturday in Montreal. The mixed martial arts fight went the distance with St-Pierre winning 50-45 on all three judges’ cards.

Despite his insistence last week that a fight between Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz was nowhere close to happening, UFC President Dana White announced Wednesday the bout would headline UFC 137 in Las Vegas.

White revealed the news through a message on his twitter account. According to his tweet, UFC 137 is set for Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

It will be the first matchup to pair a UFC champion against his Strikeforce counterpart. The super fight became possible when Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, purchased Strikeforce in March.

Diaz, the Strikeforce champion who has won 10 fights in a row, appears as the only suitable 170-pound challenger to take on St. Pierre.

St. Pierre is on a nine-fight winning streak of his own after beating Diaz’s teammate, Jake Shields, at UFC 129 in Toronto. Some discussed the possibility of St. Pierre moving up to middleweight to fight pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva.

But St. Pierre never expressed interest and would rather stay at 170 pounds for now. Diaz’s first run in the UFC ended unceremoniously in 2006 after a three-fight losing streak.

Diaz went 4-4 overall in the UFC, but has looked like a different fight since then. He’s gone 14-1 with one no contest against the best competition available outside of the octagon. His most recent win came via first round knockout against Paul Daley.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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