UFC 137 Results: Nick Diaz Retires B.J. Penn, Earns Shot at Georges St-Pierre

Dana White, president of UFC, can cry all he wants about Nick Diaz not being prompt to media appearances, but there’s no way he’s keeping the star welterweight from a shot at the title, be the holder Georges St-Pierre or someone else.

Not after the way Diaz dismantled B.J. Penn in Las Vegas at UFC 137.

Diaz was dominant in his first UFC fight since 2006, bludgeoning “The Prodigy” with quick, powerful strikes to earn a win by unanimous decision. Penn seemed to have the edge early on when he took the fight to the mat, but Diaz weathered the early storm to own the final two rounds from his feet.

In fact, Diaz was so good in the octagon that Penn, one of two men in UFC history to claim championships in two separate weight classes, announced his retirement at the conclusion of the bout, seeing the physical beating he took as enough evidence to suggest that the sport had passed him by.

Diaz wasted little time after the fight before calling out GSP, accusing the crafty Canadian, who (of course) was sitting beside the octagon, of withdrawing from the event out of fear rather than injury. Diaz, the reigning Strikeforce welterweight champion, had originally been slated to face GSP in the headlining fight, but was dropped to second billing, along with B.J. Penn, when he failed to show up for several promotional events leading up to the bout.

Diaz was replaced by Carlos Condit, who subsequently bowed out once it was clear that GSP wouldn’t be around to put his title belt on the line.

Despite the prior disappointment, Diaz took full advantage of his opportunity to headline a UFC fight card so soon after rejoining the circuit. In one fell swoop, Diaz sent a living legend into retirement, reasserted himself as a force to be reckoned with at the highest level of mixed martial arts and, of course, earned the right to challenge the winner of a GSP vs. Condit match for the UFC welterweight belt.

Not a bad way for a fighter to reintroduce himself to the UFC, to say the least.