Georges St. Pierre makes first comments on fighting Nick Diaz at UFC 137: 'It's time to walk the walk'

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will look to go 2-0 against the Cesar Gracie camp when he defends his division title against Strikeforce 170-pound champion Nick Diaz at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
St. Pierre is fresh off a five round unanimous decision win over Diaz's friend and training partner Jake Shields, who was unable to dethrone the Canadian at UFC 129 back on April 29 in Toronto. GSP's five round title defense was marred by an inadvertent eye-poke and fans are in a "Rush" to erase the memories of his last performance.
Enter the Diaz.
The foul-mouthed fight monger recently scored an improbable come-from-behind victory via first round technical knockout over British striker Paul "Semtex" Daley back on April 9, and has been vocal about finding new challenges outside the Strikeforce promotion.
You know the old saying, "be careful what you wish for."
St. Pierre (22-2), widely considered one of the best wrestlers in mixed martial arts, is currently riding a nine fight win streak dating back to April 2007. And as he tells Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press (cue GSP accent): "I never avoid anybody."
Says Rush:

"I'm excited, because it's been a long time he's been talking about me, saying like he's the best, he was saying I was avoiding him and stuff. But I never avoid anybody. Now it's time to walk the walk. It's going to be a good fight. For me, I don't care about the other title. The title that means the most to me is UFC. It's the most prestigious one. The UFC is (like) the NFL of football, the Stanley Cup of hockey. That's the one that everyone's wants to have. I know Diaz, the way he is. He's the kind of guy I'm happy to fight. I like fighting guys who are not easy like this, that have a kind of warrior spirit. I don't know him as a person but he's a very exciting guy to watch. I'm happy to fight him. He's going to bring the best out of me, because he's always putting on a good fight, going forward. It's going to be a good fight for me."

As recently as just a few days ago, UFC President Dana White was dispelling rumors of the potential blockbuster match-up, shooting down the fight with claims that there were still "many hurdles" to overcome to make the fight happen.
And while it appeared possible for a short time that Showtime may have nixed the bout, it's all systems go for a Halloween weekend showdown later this year.
This will be the first time Diaz (25-7) has competed under the UFC banner since a Nov. 2006 win over Gleison Tibau. He hasn't fought in Las Vegas since his infamous "No Contest" against Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33 in the Thomas & Mack Center over four years ago.
St. Pierre heads back to "Sin City" for the first time since his unanimous decision beatdown of Thiago Alves at UFC 100 back in July 2009.
Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz for the UFC welterweight championship of the world