According to HeavyMMA.com, Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz wants to take on Georges St. Pierre or Anderson Silva.

Nick Diaz is scheduled to defend his Strikeforce welterweight crown against Evangelista Santos Jan. 29 in San Jose, Calif., but that didn’t stop him from calling out UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre on a media conference call Thursday promoting “Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg.”

“I want to fight Georges St. Pierre,” said Diaz.
Diaz’ Cesar Gracie teammate Jake Shields takes on St. Pierre at UFC 129 on April 30 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

“I think my partner (Jake Shields) is going to take him out to be honest, coming up,” added the Strikeforce champion.

“I got here and started fighting before most of them, including Georges St. Pierre, in the UFC. I was really mad at first that they were getting fights and recognition when I was here first,” said Diaz when asked how he stacks up against other top ranked welterweights.

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UFC 124 takes place tonight from Montreal and the main event features a contest for the UFC Welterweight contest. Here are my picks for this UFC PPV.

UFC Welterweight Championship Bout – Georges St. Pierre (20-2) vs. Josh Koscheck (17-4): This is a rematch from a bout in 2007 that St. Pierre won by unanimous decision. Koscheck has the skills to beat St. Pierre but lacks the big-fight experience and overall composure that St. Pierre brings to the octagon. Look for GSP to come out wanting to strike and Koscheck looking for takedowns, as each wants to come out showing strength in what is their perceived weakness. Ultimately I think St. Pierre has more skills and will out-class Koscheck an score a fourth round submission by choke.

UFC Heavyweight Bout – Stefan Struve (23-4) vs. Sean McCorkle (10-0): McCorkle has been making waves for his trash talk, but he still is young to the UFC while Struve has experience in the octagon and has good skills to compare to a grappler like McCorkle. I think Struve will handle a fast start from McCorkle and then find a way to finish him via choke in the third round.

UFC Lightweight Bout – Jim Miller (18-2) vs. Charles Oliveira (14-0): Oliveira has had a great start to his UFC career, but I think he runs into a bad matchup with Miller, who is a superior wrestler that will be able to get him to the ground and control him while avoiding Oliveira’s slick submissions. I like Miller to dominate the fight on the ground and score a decision win.

UFC Lightweight Bout – Joe Stevenson (36-11) vs. Mac Danzig (20-8-1): Stevenson has been showing improvement over his last few fights but he needs a win, as he has lost three of his last five bouts. Danzig has lost four of his last five bouts and needs a win to stay in the UFC. His desperation should bring out his best efforts while Stevenson should also be on top of his game. Ultimately, Stevenson is the better wrestler while the two are comparable in striking, so that should be enough to earn him the decision win.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Thiago Alves (22-6) vs. John Howard (14-5): This fight should be a slugfest as both men are at their strongest working their muay thai striking. Alves has better form while Howard has better power but the key to this fight is that Howard is coming off a fight where he dominated by a lesser opponent than Alves while Alves hasn’t struggled with strikers in his career. Alves should be able to work leg kicks and tire Howard before finishing him with a barrage in the third round.

HeavyMMA.com previews UFC 124, including Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck.

For the second time this year, the UFC has set up shop at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

Back in May, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua earned an ovation for taking the light heavyweight title from Lyoto Machida in convincing fashion. This weekend, if hometown superstar Georges St-Pierre is able to retain his welterweight belt by beating public enemy #1 Josh Koscheck, they’re going to be putting a new roof on the home of Les Canadiens.

The biggest crowd in UFC history is expected, and they’re going to be in for an incredible night of fights.

Georges St-Pierre (20-2-0) vs. Josh Koscheck (15-4-0)
Four months of The Ultimate Fighter, an episode of UFC Countdown and all kinds of Koscheck trash-talk has everyone acutely aware of the situation here.

Instead of adding my two cents, I’ll just say that this is a tremendous way to end an great year of UFC events, with one of the best fighters in the world defending his coveted championship against his arch rival.

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Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com downloads some news about UFC 124:

UFC 124 is official for December 11 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will meet his rival Josh Koscheck.

Officials from the promotion announced the news earlier today.

“I love this fight,” UFC President Dana White said in the official press release. “GSP is one of the best pound-for pound fighters in the world and Josh Koscheck is not the same fighter Georges fought last time.

There is no doubt that this is a title fight between the two best 170-pounders in the worl. Koscheck told the people of Montreal he’s going to walk into Georges’ hometown and take the title. This fight is going to blow the roof off the Bell Centre.”

The match up comes as now surprise, since the two welterweights elected to coach opposite one another on the latest season of “The Ultimate Fighter“. However, it is not the first time the two have met.

Prior to his champion status, St. Pierre met Koscheck at UFC 74 in Las Vegas, Nevada over three years ago. The Canadian superstar took home the victory with a unanimous decision after three rounds of action.

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Tonight brings the rematch of Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua with UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 from the Bell Centre in Montreal. The card doesn’t have a lot of overwhelming bouts outside of the main event, but each fight should be interesting. Here are my picks for tonight’s main card:

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship – Lyoto Machida (16-0) vs. Mauricio Rua (18-4) – Shogun exposed weaknesses in Machida’s once-thought unstoppable style in the first meeting at UFC 104. Now, in this rematch, look for Machida to approach the fight from a different style and make the proper adjustments to win this fight decisively. Shogun gave one of his best efforts at UFC 104 and he has the potential to win this fight, but Machida has a better team around him to have him prepared to win this contest. I like Machida to win by TKO in round four.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Josh Koscheck (16-4) vs. Paul Daley (23-8-2) – This fight will determine who will coach alongside UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre, in the next Ultimate Fighter and also be the new No. 1 contender to St. Pierre’s title. This fight can be won by Koscheck if he checks his ego at the door and takes the fight to the ground as Daley is the better and more powerful striker but struggles on the ground. Look for Koscheck to feel Daley out early, but eventually rely on his wrestling skills to get the fight to the ground where he will sink in a choke in round two.

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