Sunday, August 14, 2011

St-Pierre vs Diaz get a UFC Primetime Treatment

The next installment of the "UFC Primetime" event-preview series could feature a fighter who often hates the attention.

For the next edition of the three-part Spike TV series, UFC 137 headliners Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) and Nick Diaz (25-7 MMA, 6-4 UFC) likely will be featured.

UFC president Dana White, though, admits the inclusion of Diaz could present hurdles, but he's confident they can be overcome.

"It would be interesting, getting Diaz (and) having the camera following him for more than 10 minutes," White joked this past weekend.

UFC 137 takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. In the championship pay-per-view main event, St-Pierre puts his UFC welterweight title on the line against Diaz, who vacated his Strikeforce belt to rejoin the UFC for the first time in five years.

Different than the UFC's traditional "Countdown" show, "UFC Primetime" goes more in depth and focuses on some of the biggest fights of the year. St-Pierre has been a frequent participant, though the sometimes-isolated Diaz would make his series debut if he's chosen for a UFC 137 special.

And White knows it will be a difficult sell.

"It's going to be very unpredictable," he said. "I don't ask him to say anything special, to change who he is or whatever, but you've heard me say it a million times: 'Give me [a little]. Just play the game. Do what you're supposed to do professionally, and this will all work out.'"

Although Diaz often can be seen chatting up fans at events, he's notoriously guarded with media. He does few interviews, and more often than not, he'd rather praise his team and teammates than talk about himself during the segments. But such a scenario would work well for the "Primetime" series since so much of the series focuses on pre-fight preparations.

Besides, White doesn't want Diaz to change who he is.

"I don't ever ask anybody to not be themselves," he said. "I don't ever tell people what to say. I don't ever do anything like that. He is who he is, and he can be who he is. But you have to play by some of the rules. You have to."

Source: UFC 137's St-Pierre vs. Diaz title fight likely to get "Primetime" treatment

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