Super Bowl Weekend is shaping up to be very interesting, as the UFC has planned three important bouts for UFC 143 in Las Vegas.
Already announced is the fight for the welterweight championship that was originally planned for October. Nick Diaz will get to challenge Georges St. Pierre, in a fight that he earned by dismantling future Hall of Famer BJ Penn at UFC 137. Diaz had been pushed out of the title fight weeks before when he failed to show up for multiple press conferences, but right after the fight with Penn, his comments pushed him right back into the forefront of the title picture.
St. Pierre was set to defend the title against Carlos Condit, however a leg injury pushed him off the card, and into the spectator’s seat. He is expected to be fully recovered from the injury, and has gone on record as looking forward to fighting Diaz because of the the comments that the Stockton California native made about him. Diaz has long been considered an interesting and dangerous matchup for St. Pierre, and at UFC 143 he will have the opportunity to show us whether those ideas are true.
Another welterweight matchup with important divisional implications was recently announced. The previously announced title contender, Condit, will face off against Josh Koscheck. Koscheck recently returned from the eye injury that he suffered at the hands of St. Pierre during his unsuccessful bid for the 170-pound title last December. He stepped in last month to dispatch veteran Matt Hughes with a first round knockout, but afterwards, questions began to circulate about whether he would remain at welterweight, or move to the 185-pound division. Being paired with such a high-profile opponent implies that he will be staying put.
This will be an important fight for Condit because a victory all but assures him a shot at the belt. There are different accounts of the specifics of how it played out, but Condit was still pushed out of the title shot against St. Pierre when Diaz was reintroduced as the title challenger. Now the Greg Jackson fighter must get through Koscheck to place himself in the situation where he is truly considered the number one contender.
The third planned bout for this evening features Anthony Pettis going up against Joe Lauzon. Both of these fighters are coming off of wins against tough strikers in Jeremy Stephens and Melvin Guillard respectively. Pettis and Lauzon pose interesting threats to one another, as they are both very active on the feet and when the fight hits the mat. While they both need a few more victories before either is considered a true top contender, this fight is exactly what the lightweight division needs to clear up the muddled title morass.
Coming on February 4, 2012, UFC 143 will take place on the night before the biggest football game of the year. With the announcement of these three bouts, it would seem that the UFC is looking to put on one of its biggest fight cards of the year as well.
I don't know that Diaz has long been considered an interesting and dangerous matchup for St. Pierre. My recollection is that until Diaz beat Penn, many people considered Diaz no challenge for GSP.