UFC 137: 4 Reasons Nick Diaz Being Pulled from UFC 137 Is a Good Thing

Nick Diaz has been pulled from his UFC 137 title matchup with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

The fighter replacing him will be Carlos Condit, who was previously scheduled to fight at UFC 137, but against BJ Penn in the main event of the evening.

Diaz was pulled from the fight after not showing up for a UFC press conference in Las Vegas, after having already missed one in Toronto.

UFC President Dana White has had problems in the past with Diaz not playing ball and has evidently decided that keeping Diaz in the main event would be too risky at this point.

Many fans were looking forward to seeing Diaz scrap GSP and are disappointed that the fight isn't happening, but there are some positive spins you could put on the situation.

Here is four reasons Diaz being pulled from UFC 137 is a good thing.

Nick Diaz Never Deserved a Title Shot to Begin with

Nick Diaz received a UFC title shot for a couple reasons.

First, the fans wanted to see the fight happen.

Second, he was the Strikeforce welterweight champion, so the UFC could use that fact to make it seem like he actually deserved the shot.

However, when you take a look at Diaz' record, it quickly becomes apparent that he has no business stepping into the cage with the No. 1 welterweight in the world.

Although he is riding an impressive win streak right now, Diaz record is padded with a lot of mediocre fighters; Diaz has never beaten a top-ten welterweight.

Diaz is a tough fighter and one of the most exciting in the sport today, but if you haven't defeated anyone in the top ten of your division, you don't deserve a crack at the UFC champion.

If He Won, Nick Diaz Would Be a Horrible UFC Champion

Realistically, Diaz had an extremely small chance of beating Georges St-Pierre, but anything is possible in MMA.

Missing the UFC 137 press conference of evidence of how horrible a UFC champion Diaz would be, if he beat GSP.

UFC champions have a very demanding schedule and are often called to press conferences, photo shoots and interviews.

Diaz hates being in the public eye and avoids doing all of these things as much as he can.

A UFC champion is expected to act professionally at all times and represent the company well.

That's not something that the UFC can count on Nick Diaz to do.

Carlos Condit vs. Georges St-Pierre Is a More Interesting Fight

Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre had potential to be a really exciting fight, but GSP vs. Carlos Condit is the more interesting fight.

Why?

Condit has a much better chance of actually dethroning the long-time UFC welterweight champion.

Diaz and Condit are actually very similar fighters, considering that they both have great stand up, are crafty and active off their backs, and wrestling is there biggest weakness.

The difference between the two is that Condit has one-punch knockout power and Diaz does not.

Diaz is a punches-in-bunches kind of fighter who wears guys out by landing punch after punch after punch. Condit just needs to land one big shot to finish a fight—he showed us that against Dan Hardy.

Condit has also defeated more relevant competition at welterweight than Diaz, which suggests that he would be more capable of defeating St-Pierre.

In my mind, the more unpredictable the outcome of a fight, the more interesting it is and Condit vs. GSP is a more unpredictable fight than Diaz vs. GSP.

It Gives Jon Fitch the Opening He Needs

Jon Fitch has spent most of 2011 sitting on the sidelines because of a shoulder injury.

Now that he has been medically cleared to fight again, Fitch has been looking for an opponent, but all the big names at welterweight seemed to be booked up.

Condit fighting St-Pierre leaves BJ Penn without an opponent for UFC 137 and that is a perfect opening for Fitch.

Penn and Fitch fought earlier this year in February, in a fight that was intended to determine the No. 1 contender for the welterweight championship.

Unfortunately, the match ended in a draw and since then Penn and Fitch have been unable to settle the score.

Fighting Penn at UFC 137 is the ideal opening for the UFC to get one of their most prominent welterweight contenders back in action, plus Fitch and Penn have unfinished business, so it makes that much more sense.