UFC 137 Results: BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz Breakdown and Prediction

The talking is over, and it is finally time to find out how Nick Diaz stacks up against the welterweight elite.

The former Strikeforce champion is set to do battle at UFC 137 with former two-division UFC champion and MMA legend B.J. Penn.

Since leaving the UFC in 2006, Diaz has soared up the MMA ranks. His controversial personality and exciting fighting style has drawn a massive following, who seem to believe Diaz is the successor to Georges St-Pierre's welterweight throne.

Diaz was originally slated to face St-Pierre, but he was yanked from the bout after missing two scheduled press conferences for the event.

As fate would have it, Diaz ended up in the main event of the fight card anyway, after an injury forced St-Pierre to pull out of his fight with newly-appointed challenger Carlos Condit.

Diaz now makes his triumphant UFC return in the headliner of a major pay-per-view card, and unfortunately for him, his new opponent isn't any easier.

He'll now face Penn, who is coming off a first-round knockout victory over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes and a draw with perennial welterweight contender Jon Fitch.

While Diaz has seen massive improvements in his overall fight game since his last UFC run, there are still some major question marks surrounding the Stockton native.

Diaz is currently riding a 10-fight win streak, but out of all of those opponents, Paul "Semtex" Daley was the only one ranked as a Top-10 welterweight.

As fans, it's easy to become infatuated with stats, titles and personalities, but the most important thing in the sport is quality of opposition.

Penn is a completely different monster from Evangelista Santos, K.J. Noons, Hayato Sakurai and Marius Zaromskis.

Diaz's primary weakness has always been strong wrestlers with good submission defense. In all his time away from the big stage, he has yet to face one fighter who fits that description.

Recently, Penn has made a few interesting points about rounding off his game in an attempt to reach his peak and full potential.

In his bout against Fitch at UFC 127, we saw Penn utilize offensive wrestling and top control. This is an entirely new aspect to Penn's game that could present major problems for a fighter like Diaz.

With all of the talk, records and world titles, Diaz is an attractive pick in this dream matchup, but sometimes you have to bank on more than just stats.

A cold splash of realization will hit MMA fans all around the world, as Penn drops Diaz in the first round and finishes with a barrage of ground strikes.