With Zuffa’s recent acquisition of Strikeforce, UFC will feature its first title unification bout as UFC Welterweight champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre will defend his title, and his #1 ranking, against Strikeforce Welterweight champion Nick Diaz live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on October 29, 2011.
St. Pierre is one of the best-rounded and most effective fighters in the history of Mixed Martial Arts, but ever since his loss to Matt Serra he has adopted an extremely cautious wrestling and ground and pound style to the detriment of his striking ability. He also has a tendency to overestimate the effectiveness of his own jiu-jitsu, as he showed in his bout with Dan Hardy, where he kept sacrificing position on ill-fated submission attempts. Against Diaz he is going to have to fight extremely smart, because even though his vastly superior wrestling means he will be the one dictating whether the fight plays out on the feet or on the ground, Diaz has the ability to put a hurting on him in the standup and has more than enough jiu-jitsu to capitalize if St. Pierre sacrifices his position. Of course, being underneath St. Pierre on the ground is not an attractive position for anyone, including Diaz, who is likely going to have to survive a serious beating while looking for any openings off his back.
Georges St-Pierre’s Last Five Opponents:
- Win over Jake Shields via Unanimous Decision at UFC 129.
- Win over Josh Koscheck via Unanimous Decision at UFC 124.
- Win over Dan Hardy via Unanimous Decision at UFC 111.
- Win over Thiago Alves via Unanimous Decision at UFC 100.
- Win over BJ Penn via TKO at UFC 94.
Nick Diaz’s Last Five Opponenets:
- Win over Paul Daley via TKO.
- Win over Evangeliats Cyborg via armabr.
- Win over KJ Noons via Unannimous Decision.
- Win over Hayato Sakurai via armbar.
- Win over Marius Zaromskis via TKO.
Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz
Bodog.com Odds
- St-Pierre (-365)
- Diaz (+285)
Betonline.com Odds
- St-Pierre
- Diaz
Bookmaker Odds
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