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Nick Diaz is Looking Past Georges St-Pierre to Even Bigger Fights

Nick Diaz is Looking Past Georges St-Pierre to Even Bigger Fights

Nick Diaz is heading into the biggest fight of his career at UFC 158 against welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, but the Stockton, Calif., native is admittedly looking past St-Pierre to even bigger fights.

Diaz has been eyeing a fight with St-Pierre for a long time, years. He finally has his shot at the reigning king of the 170-pound division after leaving the UFC and coming back, having the fight scheduled and then canceled and then scheduled again for March 16. But for Diaz, the fight with St-Pierre is just a cobblestone on his path to pound-for-pound greatness.

“I’m always on that, looking to the future. Me and Georges St-Pierre, we’re a lot different,” said Diaz on a UFC 158 media conference call on Thursday. “For me, I look past every opponent because I know I’m in this. I’m not just looking at one obstacle. I think for me it’s easier to deal with when I accept the fact that I’m never going to get out of this.

“It’s not just good fights, it’s fighters. I’m looking past every opponent to get to the No. 1 spot of the welterweight division and then I look past that. I look further beyond that.”

If Diaz were in St-Pierre’s position, he would have accepted a fight with middleweight champion and pound-for-pound best Anderson Silva.

“Like, if it were up to me, I’d take that fight with Anderson Silva. I would say, yeah, of course, I’m looking forward to being the best that can be, always,” said Diaz. “The next best thing has always been the next closer fight to the No. 1 fight, and that’s what I’ve been working toward this whole time. I always have that mindset.”

Diaz isn’t just looking past St-Pierre for a potential fight with Silva, he wants to win titles in multiple divisions in the UFC. It’s only ever been done by Randy Couture and B.J. Penn.

“If I had that option available to me I would be honored to be in that position and I would be gratefully accepting of that position or fight if you will with the 185-pound champion or the 155-pound champion (Benson Henderson),” said Diaz. “I would take either fight, and I think I could beat either guy. I would like to be the guy to win a title at both weights.

“I’d like to be a runner-up in the pound-for-pound rankings. That’s the No. 1 goal aside from the No. 1 ranking in the welterweight division.”

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