10 big UFC fights that failed to deliver

#6: Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz, UFC 158

GSP promised to go to a "dark place" to beat Nick Diaz, but the fight was a letdown

When a long-awaited fight between UFC Welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and controversial contender Nick Diaz was announced for 2013’s UFC 158, most MMA fans were buzzing despite Diaz not having fought since a loss to Carlos Condit a year before. It didn’t matter – Diaz was surely the man to force an exciting fight out of the notoriously conservative GSP, who hadn’t finished an opponent in four years.

GSP even talked up the fight more than he did usually, promising to beat Diaz down like nobody ever had before, even suggesting he was willing to go to a “dark place” in his mind in order to find the motivation to take out the challenger.

Diaz claimed St-Pierre was “selling wolf tickets” – basically overhyping the rivalry – but it didn’t matter; the whole MMA world waited with baited breath for the fight.

Sadly, it didn’t come close to delivering the excitement that fans were hoping. Diaz simply had no answer for St-Pierre’s takedowns and ground control, and while he got in some decent combinations as GSP began to tire down the stretch, it was largely a one-sided fight – but not the beatdown that St-Pierre had promised.

The fight still drew a huge buyrate and somehow, neither man’s reputation seemed harmed by it, but compared to the hype it garnered going in, it was hard to label it as anything other than a massive letdown.