UFC 137 Fight Card: 3 Reasons BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz Is a Better Main Event

For those that are just catching up on the latest MMA news, around 5 pm ET, it was announced that UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre had to pull out of the main event of UFC 137 against Carlos Condit due to a knee injury.  

BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz is now acting as the main event for the card; a bit ironic considering how Diaz was originally slated to face GSP for the title before being pulled for no-showing two consecutive press conferences.  

UFC President Dana White has already announced that Condit will wait for a healthy GSP instead of waiting for a different opponent on the same card.

While this is no doubt a disappointment in a year that has seen UFC main events go up in smoke on several occasions, this may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise.  

Here are three reasons why BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz is a better main event than GSP vs. Carlos Condit.  

Better Chance of a Finish

While Carlos Condit is an exceptional finisher with 26 of his 27 wins coming by way of knockout or submission, it is no secret that GSP likes to fight safe.  

The French-Canadian is a tremendous athlete and undoubtedly one of the best fighters who has ever stepped inside the Octagon, but the bottom line is that St-Pierre has not had a conventional submission or TKO finish since April 2008.  

Meanwhile, Nick Diaz and BJ Penn are two of the most aggressive fighters of all time.

Both boasting crisp boxing and slick jiu-jitsu, Diaz has 21 stoppages in 25 career victories, while Penn has racked up 13 finishes over the course of 16 career wins.  

Better Stylistic Matchup

This goes hands and hand with the previous slide.

GSP has some of the best takedowns and top control in the business, while Condit's takedown defense is mediocre at best.  

While Condit's great submission and sweep game off his back always give him a chance, there were better odds of St-Pierre executing his takedowns and controlling The Natural Born Killer from the top position for five rounds. 

Diaz vs. Penn will see both fighters looking for blood and trying to finish the fight from the opening seconds. Neither Penn nor Diaz has ever been accused of being boring or fighting safe.  

Better Personalities to Hype the Fight

As great of a fighter as GSP is, he certainly is no superstar on the microphone. The same can be said of Condit, though to be fair, he has only been involved in a handful of high profile UFC fights.

Does this phrase sound familiar?    

"(Insert next challenger here) is going to be my toughest challenge yet. He is a very dangerous fighter that has beaten plenty of top notch opponents."

That is without looking the exact quote up, but everyone reading can agree that is what GSP says leading up to each and every one of his fights at this point.  

He also always comes up with a rationalization of how he is going to win the fight. Yawn.  

Not every fighter is going to be Chael Sonnen on the mic, but some fighters are just more interesting than others. 

Nick Diaz is actually a notoriously bad interviewer since he somehow manages to be both confrontational and awkward at the same time, but he always speaks his mind and usually has some ridiculous things to say.  

BJ Penn is not known for being particularly outlandish, but he is recognized for being brutally honest in his interviews.  

The Prodigy tells it how it is—something that every sports fan can appreciate.  

Penn and Diaz respect each other so there may be little, if any, trash talk leading up to the fight, but their media segments will still be worth listening to.