I like Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit in much the same way I enjoy salsa verde and salsa roja. Both fighters and both condiments bring something unique to any given situation. I don’t want to pick only one because it’s better than the other, and I don’t want to live in a world where I can’t have both drizzled over my tacos. Together, they round everything out just right, and if you disagree, your opinion does absolutely nothing towards me altering how I enjoy my Mexican food. GSP has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to fight Carlos Condit. There have even been rumors that he’ll move up in weight to avoid fighting a fellow Greg Jackson fighter (although they’re probably not true). No, GSP wants to fight Nick Diaz, and he has made it an obsession to rant about it in every press appearance since Cesar Gracie has suggested that Georges be stripped of his belt. Check out this quote from a recent interview on UFC.com.
“I am very nervous that Carlos Condit will win on Saturday night, and that I won’t be able to fight Nick Diaz this summer. I feel bad, it is weird that I want him to lose, but I have never wanted to fight anyone as much as I want to fight Diaz. I don’t truly hate him as a person. I don’t know that he is a bad guy, but I hate what he brings to the sport with the disrespect and the unprofessional things he says and does. It is sort of a professional hatred. He has been nothing but disrespectful and arrogant towards me. During UFC 137 (week) I felt like I had to walk around Las Vegas with my fists ready (to punch Diaz) because every time I came across him he wanted to fight there and then. Every time the elevator opened (in the hotel) I needed to be ready to fight in case he stepped in. I was on edge all week. This guy is crazy. I am used to hearing (smack) talk from opponents, Matt Serra did it, Dan Hardy did it, and Josh Koscheck did it, but with Diaz he has taken it to another level. He and his coach (Cesar Gracie) have called me a coward and tried to disrespect my accomplishments. All that has done though is make me determined to beat him up. He will bring out the best in me, I will be 100% focused, like a bomb-expert defusing a time bomb. When my back is against the wall and I have no choice but to win, when I cannot lose to this person under any cost, that is when I am most dangerous.”
GSP will learn who he fights on Saturday night at UFC 143 at around midnight if you’re on the East Coast, 9:00 pm if you’re on the West coast, or sometime in the metaphysical unknown if you’re hanging out with Ricardo Arona at a surf resort halfway across the world. In a perfect world, the fight will end swiftly in Diaz’s favor so that the inevitable war of words can begin, but getting through Carlos Condit is likely to be a grueling job, and we’re glad we’re not in Nick Diaz’s position right about now. [Source]
