Nick Diaz Retires? Why He Should Still Fight Georges St-Pierre

At UFC 143 in Las Vegas, Carlos Condit won a five-round unanimous decision over Nick Diaz to capture the UFC interim welterweight title. After the fight, though, a visibly frustrated Diaz appeared to quit the sport, asserting he was the true winner.

"I think I'm done with this MMA," Diaz told Joe Rogan in the postfight interview. "I don't need this [stuff], you know what I mean? I pushed this guy backwards the whole time and he ran from me the whole fight. I landed the harder shots. He ran the whole time...if that's the way they think you have to win, then I don't want to play this game no more."

Diaz is a mercurial guy; it remains to be seen how serious he was/is about retirement. He could never fight again, he could recant 10 minutes from now. It's impossible to read that guy's tea leaves.

But for the good of the sport, here's hoping the inimitable Diaz reconsiders. And not only that, here's hoping he eventually gets that big fight with welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

Why? Because he's a great fighter, first of all. And second, he has single-handedly injected new interest and intrigue into UFC's welterweight division.

He did it with his now-famous call-out of GSP after his win over B.J. Penn at UFC 137 (a fight after which, interestingly enough, Penn announced his retirement only to later reverse course).

St-Pierre, MMA's most famous and arguably dominant champion, was dangerously close to cleaning out the division, removing all drama from the weight bracket he rules. Then Diaz comes in and refocuses the spotlight.

Diaz gave the Ali of GSP his Joe Frazier figure—a foul-mouthed foil to Boy Scout St-Pierre.

That's probably exactly what St-Pierre sensed when he specifically requested Diaz as his next opponent, and made no secret of his desire to see Diaz best Condit so the two would meet. Trash talking, and maybe even enmity in general, seems not to come easy to St-Pierre. It's all Diaz knows. Both fighters are brilliant. And a rivalry was born.

That rivalry should be consummated. Diaz claimed GSP was not really injured, and was really just scared to face him. If Diaz walks away now, what prevents others from making similar claims about him? St-Pierre, Diaz and fans on both sides deserve the dispute to be settled in the cage.