Georges St. Pierre Defends Diaz Fight: “Can’t Fight Everybody”

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre

"Rush" defends controversial fight with Diaz

Johny Hendricks. Anderson Silva. Nick Diaz. Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre wants you to know he can't fight them all at once.

Throughout his run with the UFC, GSP has taken whatever fight the promotion has thrown at him with no questions asked, so when the champion asked for Nick Diaz rather than contender Johny Hendricks or a super-fight with Anderson Silva, Dana White was more than happy to oblige.

So when the fight was made official for UFC 158, "Rush" came out to defend his choice:

"This fight has been waiting to happen for a long time," St-Pierre said. "It's the big fight. That's what people want to see.

"Everybody wants to fight me now. It's crazy. I cannot split myself in half. If I would have not have done that, I would do another fight, and fans would have complained. If I fight another guy, they both would have complained. What do you want me to do? I cannot split myself in different pieces and fight guys all at the same time."

St. Pierre also went into detail on why he saw Diaz as the number one contender and not Johny Hendricks:

"I believe Diaz is No. 1 ranked," St-Pierre told MMAjunkie.com. "The guy has been there for a long time. He took out a great name (in B.J. Penn). His fight with Condit is very controversial. For some people, he won the fight. For some people, he lost.

"Hendricks, when he fought Koscheck, personally I would have given the fight to Koscheck. … I speak with my heart, and that's what I believe. I would have given Koscheck that fight, even though I don't like Koscheck."

"I do feel bad for Johny Hendricks, but put yourself in my shoes," St-Pierre. "[Diaz] is a big fight. For me, right now, it's the fight that makes the most sense. If I fight Anderson Silva, I have to go up in weight. It will take me time. I cannot fight Anderson in March. It would take time. So right now, I take the fight that is the most logical.

"I just came back from 19 months. It's a long time, and the fight that people wanted to see that I can give it to them fast and when it's time to do it is Diaz. … So it's a big fight that people want to see me in, Diaz and I, so I want to make this fight happen for myself, for the fans and for the UFC."

Since coming off his victory over Carlos Condit at UFC 154, GSP has found himself in a lose-lose situation in that no matter what fight he takes, someone is going to be upset, whether it be other fighters or the fans. However with the champion set to take on Diaz, the two will look to conclude a fight that should have happened a year ago at UFC 137, when the Diaz was pulled from the fight for not making a media appearance.

While some may argue it's the wrong matchup, it's hard to imagine that the time leading to the fight and the battle itself being anything but exciting as the two seem to have a genuine disdain for the other.

Check out all our UFC 158 news here