UFC
Dana White: Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz will not coach TUF 14, not on for UFC 140 [UPDATED]
May 25, 2011 - 6:00:16 PM Dana White: Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz will not coach TUF 14, not on for UFC 140 [UPDATED]

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

For every fan getting excited about the seeming inevitability of a fight between UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz, UFC President Dana White is here to throw some cold water on the notion.

In a new video interview with HeavyMMA, White discussed the fight, the rumors the two would possibly be Ultimate Fighter coaches and the future of Strikeforce, and none of his comments inspired much hope for any of the proposed issues.

"I guarantee you that those two will not be [the] coaches [on The Ultimate Fighter 14]," he said. "Not even close. All the stuff that's out there about that fight and the meeting that we had here is all bulls***."

When asked if we would be seeing that fight at a potential UFC 140 event in Montreal in December, White simply said, "No." He then shifted to his recent comments about Strikeforce that brought questions about the organizations future as a separate entity, and White gave the impression that a lot is still in flux.

"It's all still a work in progress," White said of Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce. "We don't know how we're working this whole thing out. Obviously we're still running Strikeforce fights and we have this deal with Showtime, but we don't know how we're going to handle that type of a situation. We want to put on fights people want to see, we've got to figure it out."

White was asked if Strikeforce would share the same fate as the UFC's former sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting, and while White's answer wasn't a straight "yes," it once again conveyed a sense that it may be inevitable.

"I have no idea [if Strikeforce will have the same fate as the WEC]," he said. "I mean, obviously we have a deal with Showtime, and we want to continue to put on fights with Strikeforce. The question is, can we make it work? It has to make business sense. It didn't make sense for the old owners, we need to make sense of it."

Link to Video Interview

Penick's Analysis: Well, there are a few ways to take some of his comments on the GSP-Diaz situation. Clearly they won't be the coaches for TUF, as that one was laid out for a guarantee. And his comment about St. Pierre-Diaz not coming to Montreal doesn't mean the fight itself won't happen, that just may not be the date or the location for a fight once they're able to figure things out. I'm sure they've got holdups with the Showtime commitment, Diaz's Strikeforce contract and needing to find a way to make the fight happen, but while it's not a certainty yet I really think we're going to see that fight happen. It might not be December, it might not be Montreal, but I think ultimately we will see the fight happen. TUF was always a longshot for the two of them, and I'm intrigued to see who they will have in that coaching spot, so that's not disappointing to hear, but I'm going to hold on hope that the fight itself will be made.

UPDATE: White spoke with reporters following the UFC 130 pre-fight press conference and elaborated on the meeting he had with Diaz in Vegas last week. Per MMAJunkie.com, here's what White had to say:

"Diaz came to Vegas because some boxing promoter was running around saying he was going to box Lacy. That's why he came. Everybody was like, 'What's he going to do? Is he going to box? What do you think?' (I said), 'I think I'm going to sit down and talk him out of boxing. That's what I think.' And that's what happened."

"I'd say it was little bit of everything [to get him out of wanting to box]. The funny thing is all these boxers want to come over here and fight our guys – because the media talks about the money in boxing and boxing makes so much money. They have no clue what they're talking about. You get out there and talk to 90 – maybe 95 – percent of the boxers, and they would love to be over here. It's just one of those things. You've got to reel the guys in sometimes."

Topic Question: When do you think GSP and Diaz will fight? Or won't they? Web visitors, comment below in our new Reader Comment Area (linked to Facebook). App users, send us your thoughts at mmatorch@gmail.com or visit our desktop website to comment.

[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]