Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz: Very Early Head to Toe Breakdown

This fight is not anywhere close to finalized yet, but remains quite likely after St-Pierre defended his UFC welterweight title for the sixth time at UFC 129.

St-Pierre has solidified his position among fans after getting past Jake Shields: either the most boring champion ever or one of the top two pound for pound fighters in the world.

While there are undoubtedly still some fans that fall into the middle ground, the bottom line is that just about anyone who enjoys watching MMA would like to see “Rush” take on somebody who is both a legitimate challenge, and can push the pace of the fight. 

Enter Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. 

Diaz is recognized for having some of the best boxing and jiu jitsu in MMA, as well as tremendous overall toughness and an iron chin.

Not to mention that Diaz is regarded as one of the most exciting, fast paced fighters out there right now, so GSP would be hard pressed to use a typical, conservative game plan against him.

Let’s take a look at the various aspects of this fight that could potentially turn into a five round classic. 

Boxing

St-Pierre is one of most technical, efficient boxers in MMA today.  His jab in particular has always been good, but has been recognized as particularly favorable after breaking Josh Koscheck’s orbital bone at UFC 124.

Meanwhile, Diaz is known for having some heavy hands, possessing the ability to finish much bigger, stronger fighters due to solid technique and a killer instinct that is tough to overcome.

GSP is not one to stand and trade with credible strikers, while Diaz has no problem taunting power punchers like Paul Daley to hit him in the face.

Also keep in mind that Diaz has 13 knockout victories on his resume, while St-Pierre has eight.

Diaz’s technical brawling style is far more likely to end a fight than St-Pierre’s moderately paced, albeit it very precise, striking.

Advantage: Diaz

Kickboxing/Muay Thai

Long story short, when’s the last time anyone can even remember Nick Diaz throwing a kick that did any real damage?

Or even when he jus threw a leg kick in general.  While St-Pierre’s kicks don’t always mirror Mirko Cro Cop in his prime, ask Matt Hughes or Jake Shields if he can inflict some pain with his head kicks.

The advantage here is obvious.

Advantage: St-Pierre

Wrestling

This is easily where the biggest disparity exists in this fight.  St-Pierre’s takedowns and top control are simply fantastic, while Diaz has no wrestling skills to boast of.

When Diaz went 0-3 in at the end of his UFC during 2005 and 2006, he lost to Diego Sanchez, Joe Riggs, and Sean Sherk, welterweights at the time who were known to be pretty solid wrestlers.

At this point in his career, Diaz does not even go out of his way to defend the takedown, since he is completely comfortable working submission from his guard. 

This one’s a no brainer.

Advantage: St-Pierre

Jiu-Jitsu

Both men are black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  The fact that Diaz got his from Cesar Gracie shows how committed he is to his grappling game.

Not that St-Pierre’s black belt is a piece of garbage, but anyone who gets a black belt from a Gracie is touted for having excellent skills on the ground.

In 22 career wins, GSP has just five career victories by submission, and has not forced an opponent to tap since he locked in an armbar on Matt Hughes in December of 2007.

In Diaz’s 25 career wins, he has notched eight wins via submissions.  While this is not substantially better than GSP, keep in mind that Diaz has a lot of wins by knockout.

Also, in the past two years, Diaz has won three of his past six fights via submission.

While St-Pierre is not a guy who is going to get tapped very easily, Diaz’s submission game off his back makes him a tough match up for the French-Canadian. 

Advantage: Diaz

Strength

While GSP claims he only lifts weights to look good, it is no secret that he is one of, if not the most powerful fighter, at 170 pounds. 

His ability to both defend and complete takedowns are a couple of examples of how strong Rush is, and not to mention that his top control is nearly impossible to overcome.

Diaz is a guy that relies on training on the mat, ring, and cage like an animal, not known for being a big gym aficionado.

This is an element that will be particularly important when the fight inevitable hits the ground, since Diaz has not dealt with a strong, explosive wrestler in a long time.

Another category where the advantage is clear as can be.

Advantage: St-Pierre

Stamina

Not a whole lot to say here: both guys are praised for being able to go the distance when it is necessary.

Neither St-Pierre nor Diaz is one to get gassed out when the going gets tough, so picking a clear winner here is pretty much a coin toss

Advantage: Even

Prediction

St-Pierre is, at worst, one of the greatest UFC champions of all time. 

Nick Diaz is one of the biggest fan favorites in MMA, at least when he’s actually inside the cage fighting.

However, let us not develop too much of a short term memory when looking at this fight: GSP has consistently beaten top ten welterweights in guys like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields, and Thiago Alves. 

He has also beaten UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes twice, and also has two victories over a very probable future inductee in BJ Penn.

Diaz has been on the Strikeforce roster since 2009, and the organization has been notoriously thin at welterweight.  

Outside of KJ Noons and Paul Daley, Diaz has not faced off against a top tier welterweight since 2006. 

GSP will no doubt be able to take Diaz down routinely, but he will probably end up letting him back up quite a bit as he will be weary of testing his jiu jitsu game on the ground.

St-Pierre is between a rock and hard place though, as fighting Diaz on his feet will force him to eat some hard punches at some point.

To be fair, GSP is certainly capable of hurting Diaz with his strikes as well, and Diaz will probably get dropped to the canvas if he taunts St-Pierre to hit him with all he’s got.

Also consider that at some point, GSP should be able to do some serious damage with his vicious ground and pound after securing a takedown.  

In the end GSP's power and wrestling advantage will come up huge, as will his very strong submission defense. 

Diaz will undoubtedly hurt GSP and push him to the brink, but even against a very tough challenge, St-Pierre's will be able to follow through with a very effective game plan and grind out a decision.   

Prediction: St-Pierre via split decision