UFC 137 Breaking News Notebook: Comments from Diaz, Sonnen, Faber and Dana White

St-Pierre vs. Diaz Is Set

The on-again, off-again Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz is apparently back on.

At the UFC 137 post-fight press conference, Dana White announced the matchup.

“Carlos Condit is going to step aside,” White said. “St-Pierre’s next title fight will be against Nick Diaz.”

The bout quickly came about following Diaz’s impressive unanimous decision win over B.J. Penn. In the post-fight interview, the Strikeforce welterweight champion made the brash statement that St-Pierre was scared of him.

According to White, St-Pierre was not pleased with those comments.

“Since 2004, I’ve never seen GSP like he was tonight,” White said. “GSP flipped out tonight.”

White had more from his conversation with St-Pierre.

“He’s (Diaz) the most disrespectful guy I ever met,” White said, repeating what St-Pierre told him, “I’m going to put the worst beating on him in the history of the UFC.”

Diaz immediately reacted to St-Pierre.

“I got to come off like that just to get a fight,” Diaz said, not happy with the situation. “I got to be the bad guy just to get the fight.”

Upon hearing Diaz’s statement, White quickly added, “It worked.”

Chael Sonnen's Verbal Barrage on Anderson Silva

The worst kept secret in MMA is Chael Sonnen’s desire for a rematch against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

“He’s a big nuisance,” Sonnen said. “He’s just a nuisance. He’s a fake and a phony.”

Sonnen has taken to the media to go after any angle possible to make the match happen. This includes verbally going after Silva’s training partners.

“Are you fighters or aren’t you?” Sonnen said. “Black House has so many excuses they should just be called Team Backout."

Another Chance for Faber

Urijah Faber is set to take on Brian Bowles on November 19. Since the fight announcement, rumors began to circulate that the winner would receive a chance at Dominic Cruz’s bantamweight championship.

“Yes,” Faber said, when asked if the winner would fight for the title. “At first, there was talk of me having an immediate rematch with Cruz, but I want to beat a top contender first.”

Should Faber vs. Cruz 3 take place, the match-up would be Faber’s fourth title chance in his last eight fights.

Faber offers no apologizes for what some people believe is preferential treatment for biggest star from the now-defunct WEC.

“I’ve been in the top of my weight class for eight years,” Faber said. “There’s haters out there. If someone wants to beat me to get into one of these title shots, then go ahead and do it.”

Lauzon Ready to Get Back in the Cage

After his scintillating submission victory against Melvin Guillard at UFC 136, Joe Lauzon is already talking about his next potential opponent.

Lightweight striker Anthony Pettis is clearly in his sights.

“I think it’s going to be an exciting fight,” Lauzon said of the former WEC champion. “We have talked about it.”

Lauzon also knows when he would like the fight to take place.

“I would love to fight in Vegas on the Super Bowl card in February,” Lauzon said. “We’re both exciting fighters. We both go for it."

Japan's MMA

Prior to the explosion of the UFC in the United States, MMA was first popular in Japan. But with the UFC buying Pride Fighting Championships and its subsequent replacement, Dream, not having much mainstream success, the future of the sport is cloudy at best.

HDNet announcer Mike Schiavello believes there still is opportunity.

“The small shows are flourishing at the moment,” Schiavello said. “The big shows? Not so much. Dream is still in a pretty good position. Hopefully, they can still do a New Year’s show.”

“I don’t think it will be like the Dynamite show as we know it. I think there’s a 60 percent chance.”

Next Featherweight Title Shot

Chad Mendes was recently passed over for a shot at Jose Aldo and the featherweight championship in favor of the better-known Kenny Florian.

Florian failed in his attempt to win the title, and now, the UFC may be close to calling Mendes’ name to face Aldo.

“We haven’t signed any contracts, but I truly believe I should be the next one in line,” Mendes said. “Whenever they tell me, I will be there, front and center, to sign that contract.”

UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen also confirmed that the fight was close to being announced.

“Mendes is the No. 1 contender in the featherweight division, but I’ll leave it at that,” Sonnen said, clearly alluding to the potential title bout. “I don’t want to say what’s next for him because it’s not public yet.”

With the UFC recently announcing that it will be returning to Brazil on January 14, 2012, Aldo vs. Mendes would appear to be a perfect fit from a timing standpoint for the main event spot.