Who says you have to play the game ‘just a little bit‘ to be a star? Nick Diaz just signed a new 8 fight contract with Zuffa that will allow him to fight in both Strikeforce and the UFC with the new deal beginning with a shot at the welterweight king Georges St Pierre at UFC 137 in Las Vegas.
In a campaign that began in earnest immediately following the 209’s systematic beat down of Mayhem Miller at Strikeforce: Nashville last year, Nick Diaz has been calling out GSP every chance he’s had. Just like pot being legalized in his home state, Nick always wanted it to happen, but he never thought it was possible. Then it happened. A few years later Diaz wishes really hard for a GSP match…and his wish is granted. Anyone else thinking Nick Diaz has some sort of supernatural powers or found a Genie bottle?
The awesome Sergio Non of USA Today caught up with Caesar Gracie to discuss the terms of the deal:
Officials for UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, started looking into the possibility of St. Pierre vs. Diaz soon after the acquisition of Strikeforce in March. The St. Pierre bout falls under a new eight-fight deal that Diaz signed with Zuffa, Gracie said.
That contract allows Diaz to fight for both of Zuffa’s mixed martial arts promotions. But it precludes professional boxing, which Diaz originally planned to pursue in the fall.
“They were very fair in their dealings with us,” Gracie said. “It was kind of a complex contract because of the boxing, so he obviously had to be compensated for not boxing and taking this fight instead.”
I’m assuming this will be the first of the Strikeforce/UFC title unification matches and now that they have shown that the red tape can be cut by giant Zuffa brand scissors, what do we need to do to get Jacare back in the cage? I will tell you this: make sure Nick asks for unlimited wishes before he uses the third one on this.
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