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Georges St. Pierre answers a question during a news conference to announce the card for UFC 137, including his fight against Nick Diaz, Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Diaz was pulled from the fight and replaced with Carlos Condit due to multiple failed media appearances, missed company flights and general disappearance.
Published Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 | 4:30 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 | 7:26 p.m.
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The switch at the top of the upcoming UFC 137 fight card could have resulted in two more intriguing bouts than the ones originally scheduled.
Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, for one, is more concerned with new opponent Carlos Condit than originally scheduled challenger Nick Diaz.
“If Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz were to fight, I would put my money on Carlos Condit,” St. Pierre said. “For me, it’s an even bigger challenge.”
Diaz, a former Strikeforce champion, forfeited his shot at St. Pierre last month by failing to show up for a media tour. UFC President Dana White decided to swap the positioning of Diaz and Condit.
Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) now faces B.J. Penn (16-7-2 MMA, 12-6-2 UFC) in the co-main event before St. Pierre and Condit battle in the headlining match of the card on Oct. 29, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
It was a move White didn’t hesitate to make, because he said St. Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) vs. Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) was always the fight that interested him most.
“If I wouldn’t have made the fight fans wanted to see,” White said, “Carlos Condit would have been fighting GSP.”
Condit has four consecutive wins, including three in a row by knockout. The recent tear has given him the reputation as a striker, but it was less than four years ago that Condit won four straight by submission.
In total, he has 13 wins via knockout and 13 by submission. Condit said he thought he posed the greatest threat to St. Pierre for two reasons — his versatility and tenacity.
“He’s a great champion and a great fighter, but I try to challenge a guy mentally,” Condit said. “Are you willing to go as far as I am to keep this belt?”
St. Pierre has mostly cruised over the past four years. He’s won nine straight fights and hadn’t lost a round in more than three years before encountering Jake Shields at UFC 129.
Many thought Diaz would be the one to force St. Pierre into a battle. That responsibility now falls to Condit.
Diaz is left with a bout that’s not nearly as attractive to him. In addition to making less money, Diaz also considers Penn a friend as a former training partner.
“I’ll fight whoever, whatever, anything,” Diaz said in a video he posted to YouTube. “I’d definitely rather fight GSP, of course.”
Check below for a rundown of the rest of the fights on the UFC 137 card.
Heavyweight Bout: Cheick Kongo (16-6-2 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) vs. Matt Mitrione (5-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) Mitrione, a former NFL player, gets the step-up in competition he deserves with Kongo, who is coming off one of the most dramatic comeback knockout victores in mixed martial arts history.
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (27-9-2 MMA, 4-5 UFC) vs. Roy Nelson (15-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) The 37-year old Cro Cop’s MMA career could be coming to an end as this is the last fight on his UFC contract. In Nelson, he finds another fighter on a two-bout losing skid.
Featherweight Bout: Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. George Roop (12-7-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) Many consider Hioki, who will come over from Japan for his first American fight, the No. 2 featherweight in the world.
Lightweight Bout: Dennis Siver (19-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) vs. Donald Cerrone (16-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) The winner projects to leap right into title consideration, as the two have combined for nine straight victories entering this preliminary bout.
Tyson Griffin (red) hits Hermes Franca (blue) at UFC 103 at American Airlines Center in Dallas tonight. Griffin defeated Franca.
Featherweight Bout: Tyson Griffin (15-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) vs. Bart Palaszewski (35-14 MMA, 0-0 UFC) Griffin, a Las Vegas-based fighter, could further move up the featherweight divisional ranks with his second win since dropping from lightweight.
Middleweight Bout: Brad Tavares (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Dustin Jacoby (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) Two prospects looking to separate themselves early in their UFC careers meet here.
Bantamweight Bout: Scott Jorgensen (12-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs. Jeff Curran (33-13-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) Jorgensen continues his quest to another shot at the bantamweight belt after falling to Dominick Cruz last year against Curran, who last fought in the octagon at UFC 46.
Light Heavyweight Bout: Brandon Vera (11-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) vs. Eliot Marshall (8-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) Vera was momentarily cut from the organization after a UFC 125 loss to Thiago Silva, but got another chance when Silva’s win was overturned to a no contest because of a failed drug test.
Lightweight Bout: Ramsey Nijem (4-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) vs. Danny Downes (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) Nijem was favored to win the last season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, but Tony Ferguson knocked him out in the first round of their finale bout.
Middleweight Bout: Chris Camozzi (15-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Francis Carmont (16-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) One win was all it took for Camozzi to get another shot in the UFC after losing his spot eight months ago.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
The problem with pay per view, is that it sucks. Paying $50 to watch something on TV is a ripoff. I can basically buy a seat for the price I pay to watch at home...
Not to mention, most of the fighters get screwed when it comes to pay so in my book, pay per view is not worth it.
UFC needs new fighters and more respectable fighters like GSP and less like Rampage, run over people cause I had to many energy drinks, Jackson.
I agree to a certain extent, but if you think you can get a seat at a UFC event for $50 you are for the most part sadly mistaken.
From my perspective PPV has certain advantages. While it can't always match the excitement of being there live, depending on where one would be sitting, oftentimes watching on a screen offers a better and more up-close view of the action.
Bathroom breaks are easier to manage. You can eat and drink more on the cheap and in the comfort of your own home.
And its not unusual at all for people to either host and provide the PPV and eat and drinks and ask people to pitch in the $5 or $10 bucks or whatever to defray the homeowners expenses.
Either that or host and pay for the PPV and ask people to BYOB. Either way, a relatively large group of people end up spending like $10 or so to watch the fight, food and beer included. In the latter example the homeowner may pay the $50 for the fight, but he or she also has people bringing them beer they would have otherwise had to buy on their own.