Shortly after 3:00 p.m. today, UFC president Dana White made the announcement that many MMA fans have been hoping to see for months. "U wanted it! U GOT IT!!! GSP vs DIAZ Oct 29th UFC 137 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas," stated White via his Twitter account.
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz have both strung together impressive winning streaks over the past several years.
Since August 2007, St-Pierre has won 9 fights, going unbeaten against the likes of Josh Koscheck (twice), Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, and most recently Diaz’s friend and teammate Jake Shields.
In the meantime, Diaz has defeated 10 straight opponents in various weight classes ranging from 160-pounds to 170-pounds to as much as 180-pounds. The list of fighters that have fallen to Diaz in that time, include Katsuya Inoue, Muhsin Corbbrey, Thomas Denny, Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, Marius Zaromskis, Hayato Sakurai, K.J. Noons, Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, and Paul Daley.
The talk of this fight reached a fever pitch on March 12th of this year, when the UFC’s parent company Zuffa purchased Strikeforce. Prior to that point, St-Pierre (the UFC welterweight champion) vs. Diaz (the Strikeforce welterweight champion) was unlikely due to the two men fighting for rival promotions.
Now that both promotions are under the same ownership of Zuffa, fight fans will finally get to see who the best 170-pound fighter in the world is later this fall. St-Pierre and Diaz will put their titles on the line in a title unification bout at UFC 137 – St-Pierre vs. Diaz. The event will take place on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.