GSP vs. Nick Diaz and 6 MMA Fights That Were Never Meant to Be

The feud between UFC welterweights Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz has been one of the most talked-about topics in the MMA world in 2012.

Since Diaz’s departure from Strikeforce and arrival in the UFC, fans have been calling for the two champions to meet head-to-head to determine who truly is the No. 1 welterweight fighter in the world. They were set to do that at UFC 137 in Diaz’s return to the promotion, but after he opted to skip out on numerous press appearances, the UFC’s hand was forced in removing him from the main event.

That was just the beginning to this crazy saga.

Both fighters have become increasingly hostile toward one another in recent months. However, it is beginning to look like this fight just might never happen.

This isn’t the only “dream” fight that has somehow never happened, though. There have been many others and some that are arguably even more surprising.

There are a variety of reasons these fights haven’t occurred, but let’s count down the top six MMA fights that were never meant to be.

Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz

It appeared for a moment that Nick Diaz might be looking at the unemployment line following the UFC’s decision to boot him from the main event at UFC 137. His repeated acts of disrespect toward the organization and the press put the promotion in an awkward spot, but when they finally got in touch with him, someone near the top apparently decided to spare the kid from Stockton.

Not only that, but they opted to put him back on the fight card for UFC 137, only against a new opponent, BJ Penn. Shortly thereafter, news broke that Georges St-Pierre had been injured and would need to be removed from the main event fight against Diaz’s replacement, Carlos Condit.

Diaz went on to defeat Penn in what became the main event of the pay-per-view fight card. The performance was so dominant and Diaz’s trash-talking toward St-Pierre had worked to his advantage so much that he had once again leapfrogged Carlos Condit, re-earning his place as the No. 1 contender for the UFC welterweight title.

St-Pierre and Diaz were once again tentatively scheduled to fight in early 2012, but on December 7, 2011, it was revealed that St-Pierre had suffered an ACL injury that would sideline him for the majority of 2012. Once again, the fight was off.

Condit and Diaz were placed in an interim title fight at UFC 143, with Condit narrowly coming out on top, thus knocking Diaz out of the title picture for the time being. But what was even more detrimental to his title aspirations is what came next when it was learned that Diaz had failed a drug test for the UFC 143 bout against Condit, thus earning himself a year-long suspension.

Frustrated with the outcome of the fight and the positive drug test, Diaz has now threatened to leave the sport forever.

With St-Pierre out with an injury and Diaz gone from the sport for a year, it is becoming increasingly evident that this fight just might never happen. 

Frank Shamrock vs. Ken Shamrock

Former UFC champion versus former UFC champion, same last name versus same last name, adopted brother versus adopted brother, friend versus friend, enemy versus enemy.

How did this fight never happen?

Ken Shamrock and his teammates at the Lion’s Den, including Frank Shamrock, dominated the early days of the UFC. It was this group of fighters who helped revolutionize the sport and truly begin bringing it to the mainstream in the United States.

Things were good between the adopted brothers during this time, but over the years, the relationship began to sour. Whether it was the rumored mistreatment of their father Bob that Ken claims Frank engaged in, or the egos of both brothers, eventually the two men went on separate paths and have not been teammates since.

Both men claim that they’ve tried to set up the fight before without it ever coming to fruition, but one thing is for certain: It would have made both of them a lot of money.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett

Given their impressive resumes in the heavyweight division and their dominance over the majority of the other competitors in the Japanese promotion at the time, it seems crazy to look back and realize that Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett have still never fought.

They were actually rumored to finally do battle in Fedor’s final Pride heavyweight title defense at Pride Shockwave 2006, but Barnett opted to turn the fight down due to his belief that he was not in his peak physical condition at the time.

The two men were then set to fight on the Affliction: Trilogy fight card in 2009, but a failed drug test for steroids saw Barnett denied of his license to fight in California.

Following Fedor’s eventual loss to Fabricio Werdum in Strikeforce, it appeared that the two heavyweights might eventually meet late in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. However, Emelianenko’s loss to “Big Foot” Silva in the opening round made sure that never happened.

Now with both fighters’ ever-turbulent UFC/Zuffa contract negotiations and Emelianenko’s repeated hints at retirement, it’s hard to believe that we will ever see what would have been one of the most highly-anticipated heavyweight fights in MMA history.

Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara

The story of Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara is one that not many know about outside of the fans and media who pay very close attention to the sport, but it is one that pretty much defines the phrase “never meant to happen.”

Rivera and Sakara were originally set to meet in August 2010, but an injury knocked Rivera off of the card. The fight was rescheduled for late 2010 in Germany, but this time an illness caused Sakara to drop out of the bout unexpectedly.

The fight was finally set up again at UFC 133 and two fighters even made a comedy hype video with one another where they spoke very highly of the other man, completely opposite to how the usual UFC fight hype is created. These warriors seemed to be more ready than anyone to finally get to meet one another in the Octagon.

But a torn ACL forced Sakara out of the bout just weeks before the event.

“I honestly feel like this fight wasn’t meant to happen,” Rivera told Bleacher Report MMA in July 2011, just days after Sakara dropped out of the UFC 133 bout. “There’s no way that you set up the fight this many times and it falls through. It just wasn’t meant to happen.”

Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva

Georges St-Pierre makes his second appearance on this list, this time in a fight that he never agreed to and in a division that he never even competed. But that hasn’t stopped many fans from calling him out for “ducking” current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Silva and St-Pierre have completely dominated their respective weight classes for years now and the number of viable contenders continues to dwindle as they look stronger and stronger with each successful title defense. With that comes the expectation from fans that one of these two fighters should change weight classes to setup an eventual “super fight.”

GSP has been given the task of moving up in weight by most, given Silva’s age and his ability to move up to 205 pounds from time to time as it is.

The welterweight champion hasn’t made any plans to make a move up in weight class anytime soon, though, and as frustrated as that makes some fans, it’s time to get over it.

Tito Ortiz vs. Dana White

Last but not least comes the fight that many of us always wanted to see between UFC President Dana White and perhaps his most irritating employee ever, Tito Ortiz.

Given Ortiz’s ability to put fans in the seats and sell tickets, though, the former light heavyweight champion only fought once (in his second pro fight) and will likely never fight for another promotion. His ability to sell himself has secured him a job through many rough years.

However the fighter’s non-stop complaining about pay, benefits, health care, etc. has gotten on Dana White’s nerves over the years, so much so that he even decided to “fire” the Huntington Beach Bad Boy from coaching on The Ultimate Fighter in 2010.

Ortiz and White’s feud even got so heated at one point that the two men agreed in principle to a boxing bout. But after disagreements on the specifics of the contract, Ortiz failed to show up at the weigh-ins in March 2007. The bout was then canceled by the athletic commission and has never been rescheduled.

The two men seem to have finally buried the hatchet and the new-found bromance makes it very unlikely that we’ll ever see these two lace up and throw down in either an MMA or boxing bout. 

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.