Dana White tweeted this afternoon that Georges St. Pierre is out of the UFC 137 main event due to injury. As a result, Nick Diaz ironically steps into the main event versus BJ Penn while Carlos Condit is taken off the card completely as he wants to wait for GSP.
Dana White tweet (via ESPN):
“I just landed in New York City, and what do I always say? I have to deal with bad [stuff] every day. GSP is out with an injury!!!”
Diaz originally taken off the main event with GSP for no-showing media obligations now is in the same place he would have been had he not decided to skip the pressers. Condit now must wait for the GSP title shot, as we assume he still gets a shot at GSP.
Payout Perspective:
Second to the Fox deal, the biggest happening in the UFC this year are the injuries to key fighters. Losing GSP will definitely hurt the PPV buy rate for 137. Fortunately, having BJ Penn on the card helps save some viewers. With the UFC planning an ambitious 34 events in 2012 and starting a new partnership with Fox, this year’s rash of injuries is a reminder of one of the realities with the sport: injuries can force out marquee names. Just this year, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Rashad Evans and GSP have had to be replaced due to injury. Not to mention Jon Jones taking time off for an injury. Certainly, the latest injury to GSP had to have Dana White making calls to the fight camps of Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez to make sure that nothing happens to each prior to the biggest night in the UFC’s history.
GSP’s injury definitely hurts the welterweight division and creates a backlog for welterweight contenders waiting for a shot at the title.
So Nick gets to headline after all. Will he be getting his PPV money like he would have under his original deal?
Although nothing specific had been mentioned, I assumed that if Nick put on a good performance against BJ he would get the next shot at GSP. Now it looks like he’ll have to wait for GSP to fight Condit. However, I don’t think there was much interest in the GSP-Condit matchup; should Nick beat BJ what are the odds that Dana will let Nick skip ahead of Condit and take the next shot at GSP?
@Diego,
That’s a good question re Nick’s payout and GSP’s return fight. We assume Condit will be the next title defense for GSP but if Diaz wins, I would not be surprised if we see GSP defending his title against Nick next.
Ouch…