UFC 100 Scraps: Is St. Pierre Up For The Bigger Challenge?
Now that the air has at least somewhat cleared around Brock Lesnar, it’s time to turn the spotlight over to who else but Georges St. Pierre.
Any fan worth their weight in pay-per-view dollars can tell you the problem “Rush” now faces after thoroughly cleaning out the 170lb division. Albeit this “problem” is probably the best (or worst, if you’re a cynical bastard) type that a fighter can have. Joining the ranks of Anderson Silva and BJ Penn to a whinier extent, Georges St. Pierre has simply performed too well for his own good, or at least division.
The GSP who still has to prove himself among the best in the world is officially gone. Here to stay is the French-Canadian world beater who utterly destroys everything in his path including the “toughest challenger yet”, a phrase which almost seems laughable in hindsight. Undeniably, there is just a massive talent gap between St. Pierre and every other struggling minnow in the welterweight pond. Some of those little fish may grow and mature enough to prove a formidable challenge to GSP one day, but not any time soon.
Generally speaking, I’ve never been too keen on the notion of St. Pierre indulging some extra coq au vin and testing the waters at middleweight. My reasoning, as St. Pierre himself has hinted before, is a simple matter of ounces and distribution. Now I sound like a drug dealer. Nevertheless, while GSP is obviously a physically terrifying welterweight, his height and lean body-type lead me to believe that he isn’t ideally equipped to hang with the fiercest shark in the 185 pound tank. I’m speaking of course about one particular predator, The Spider.
I’m not about to lie to you and state that I wouldn’t be all shades of curious to see how St. Pierre fares against some of the top dogs in the middleweight order. But without challenging Anderson Silva in the superfight to end all superfights, is GSP delving into middleweight once or twice even worth the trouble?
I say this because, as much as I like St. Pierre, I do not believe that he should bother challenging Anderson Silva. As great as GSP is, Silva is just a terrible, terrible match up for him. Though to be fair Anderson Silva is a terrible match up for just about everyone, however GSP makes no exception.
If it pleases the UFC to throw “Rush” into a couple MW contests to keep casual fans from forgetting his name while other welterweights develop, I’ll understand and tune in as usual. But I also won’t lose any sleep if GSP announces tomorrow that he’ll be staying at welterweight for the rest of his career. The man has already proved to the world all he needs to as one of the finest mixed martial artists to ever put on a pair of four once gloves. The determining question will surely be, is Georges St. Pierre content with a career that doesn’t include taking a crack at The Spider? We’ll find out soon enough…
In other musings:
-While were on the subject of St. Pierre, I couldn’t help noticing that between rounds Greg Jackson spoke to GSP like a fragile child on his first day of kindergarten. I don’t mean to mock the methodology because clearly, it works. But did anyone else find it just a bit unsettling to see a grown man address his fighter in such a matter? Maybe I’m just an insensitive jerk.
- Its funny how Dan Henderson, who readily admits that he knowingly went the extra mile (air bomb punch) on an unconscious Michael Bisping, gets so little flack for doing so- mostly because everyone hates Bisping and has a certain respect for Henderson. I guess I can’t really argue with that.
-Mark Coleman defeated Stephan Bonnar…legitimately…what? Yea, that just happened. I’ve watched the fight three times now, and three times I still can’t believe what I’m seeing. Does Coleman really have something left in the 44 year old tank or has Bonnar fallen off something awful? It could be a combination of both. But you’ve certainly piqued my curiosity, Mark.
- Its so common to criticize UFC judging yet they keep giving us the ammunition. A 30-27 call for Akiyama against Belcher, really? Was there a meth sale going down by the judging booth?
-I’m glad Jon Fitch proved that Paulo Thiago is good, but he ain’t that good. Way to play mythbuster, Jon.
-I would really have loved to see any number of other fights on the UFC 100 telecast. Jones-O’Brien, Coleman-Bonnar or Danzig-Miller all would have done nicely. I know the ppv timing is a sticky science, but it was UFC 100, wasn’t it? Do we not get anything for our previous 99 events worth of good behavior?
-For some reason I could not receive UFC 100 in HD when I ordered it from Comcast. I called Comcast and they said it wasn’t being broadcast in HD and there was nothing that they or I could do. Anyone else have this problem? Should I just switch back to DirectTV?
-Lastly, in case you forgot, Bruce Buffer pulled off the once in a lifetime Buffer 360! Shake and bake!
Tags: Georges St. Pierre, UFC 100
Loading ...
I think Comcast is feeding you a line of BS. It was definitely broadcast in HD. I watched it with my own two eyes up here in Canada, so I would imagine that an HD feed was available in the US.
Canada’s one thing, I’m thinking my problems might have been a localized issue (Philly)
Localized is right.
About half the year I live down on the Jersey Shore, and our Comcast had the same “no HD for you!” deal going on.
Probably the only thing better than seeing Hendo KTFO Bisping would have been to see Hendo KTFO Bisping in HD…
i was thinking the same thing about Henderson! I am surprised not much news has come out about The Count? normally after one of his fights a lot of people talk about him! not this time though??????????
same thing with the HD!
I think GSP could stand with any MW…not directly comparing the 2 fighters, but Fedor fights people much heavier and we dont see him having too much trouble.
I think Hendo would have taken a lot more flack had Brock not been such a disgrace at the last point that many people watched.
Comcast sucks, i got it in Direct TV HD
I totally agree about UFC 100 not giving us more fights. I think if they cut down the pre-fight hype between each fight aired to 5min/fighter they could easily put at least one more fight on any ppv card….or air some pre-lims on SpikeTV or Vs. for gods sake, many of the fans have bought most PPVs for the last 3 years at least. We watch that same hype for a month leading up to the fights, then are bombarded with more hype the week leading up. Just show us some freakin pre-lims already!
I know we who watched it were a bit surprised that Henderson admitted to dropping the flying elbow on purpose and in all honesty were kind of expecting some sort of mention from the NSAC. I think this act kind of fell through the cracks, considering what happened later. And don’t let that be an invitation to restart those shenanigans on this thread.
Anderson Silva is actually The “Spider”. Kendall Grove would be da “Spyder”. =)
Doesn’t matter really, GSP would destroy either.
I strongly disagree with the notion that A. Silva is a bad matchup for GSP. How do you figure? I think he is a great matchup.
In the Dan Henderson fight, Dan easily wrestled Silva to the ground and kept him there with ineffective ground and pound for most of the first round. Same for Travis Leuter who was able to keep Silva floored for a good portion of the first round with jujitsu attempts.
Though neither was able to do any real damage or finish of Silva, both were able to nullify his striking game by keeping him on his back. GSP is as dominant as it gets in the sport today when it comes to wrestling, his jujitsu is top notch and his striking skills are far beyond that of Henderson or Leuter.
I believe if the two fought and GSP has a similar game plan to that of which he had against Alves, GSP could easily take A. Silva to a 5 round unanimous decisions victory. No questions asked.
I have to greatly disagree that Anderson Silva is a terrible matchup for Georges St. Pierre. On the contrary, GSP is a terrible matchup for Silva. Silva has shown us that he has zero takedown defense and not so good sub defense..how??….Onlytrue1 back me up on this because Travis fu*king Lutter!!!! MOUNTED, YES MOUNTED Silva. Leites was able to take Silva down fairly easy in the first round of that fight and Hendo also took Silva down quite easily. Now standing of course Silva is stronger and can clinch up GSP and mess him up with knees, but i feel that everyone underrates the hell out of GSP’s striking, he’s fast as hell, has good footwork and puts up sick combos that Silva has not seen yet. Silva, what can i say, the guy can out strike anyone at anytime, he is fast for 185, but GSP is faster, but does not have the power that Silva carries. If GSP were to take Silva to the ground, then it’s over period, he is too good on the ground and Silva got mounted by Lutter so enough said. Now GSP would be the underdog going into this fight if it ever happened, but he has a better chance than most people would give him.
Now with that said i agree that maybe Georges St. Pierre should not challenge Anderson Silva, he should continue to defend his belt at 170 and completely destroy everyone because he still can establish himself as the best Welterweight ever, BUT he did say he’s fighting now for a legacy so why the fu*k not fight Anderson Silva, imagen if he were to beat Silva, how huge would that be and the fight alone would easily be the biggest fight in MMA ever. Go get his a$$ GSP!!!
Ya if leites can get on top of Silva for a round then GSP could for the better part of five.
TRAVIS LUTTER!!! Did mount Silva….. so I really cant say GSP wouldn’t give A. Silva all the hell he could handle..
As stated so many times and as he {GSP} has proven he is by fair the best Wrestler in the game right now.
MK4 hey dawg you IMO are right on the money with what you said. GSP is fighting for a legacy now so hey why not???
Butttt Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddel never fought in a different Weight class but they are considered the GREATS!!!
I think all this super challange fights in different weight classes is cool but it may cause a problem later when much bigger and skilled guys crush smaller skilled guys ala Cro-cop vs Wandy Silva.
Wandy aint been the same since.
TRAVIS LUTTER!!!!! LOL MK4
OT1, you should memberize yourself
FR my boyyyy what is up man long time no post to!!
Yeah I had a little technical difficuty memberize’n my self a long time ago. {You remember the crazier version of OT1}
But now I’m the new and improve’d Clean version of myself like GSP so soon homie soon.
hahaha the clean version, nice good on ya
Me thinks I’ll have to do a separate post about Silva being a bad fight for GSP.
I agree the judging was wrong for Akiyama (27-30) but after watching the fight I still say Akiyama won.
I don’t think losing to Silva would hurt GSP’s legacy as a fighter much less as one of (and maybe one day THE) greatest welterweight(s) of all time. But then there is the chance of him winning which obviously would do only good for his career.
I think the time would be now for them to set up the fight though. Because if Hendo wins another you better believe he is gonna be looking for a rematch. Silva will fight in August which should give him a few months to come back and prepare for a MW fight (win or lose granted there are no serious injuries). GSP will hopefully be healthy by then at which point Hendo might already be set up for another fight. So I think now it’s just up to GSP to make up his mind on whether he wants to fight in the MW division or not.
GSP unarguably could take down the Spider in a fight. However, that’s about where it ends. GSP is like a diety up here in Canada, but it’s not worth it for him to fight Anderson. Eric said it: ounces and distribution. Silva is just too darn big. Silva’s 6′2, GSP is 5′10. Silva walks around at 220, GSP at 185. GSP does not cut a lot of weight compared with other WWs. Anderson cuts a lot of weight. IMO, GSP is fighting at his best weight class, while Silva is fighting at a smaller weight class than he should be only to be dominant. Let’s see Silva vs Forrest first.
As far as the Hendo sucker punch goes, anyone see the post fight press conference? When asked about Hendo’s admittance to wanting the extra punch Dana promptly said “He was joking”. Kind of reminded me of that Family Guy episode where someone asked why the history books for Germany were blank from 1939-1945 and the thick accentend German goes “WE WERE ON VACATION”. Dana knows Hendo put his foot in his mouth and tried a little damage control.
I just hope that what happened to BJ Penn against GSP won’t happen to GSP against Anderson Silva.
This is why I hate the cross-weight class “superfights”. They ulitmately prove nothing.
I want someone to win because they have more skill, not more size. As much respect as I have for GSP, I don’t think he would have looked quite so Herculean if he’d had to get down to 155.
Conversely, I think GSP has a lot more skill than Anderson Silva, but I don’t want him getting ragdolled because he just isn’t fighting in his appropriate weight class. And Silva coudln’t make 170 if you put a gun to his head, so the point of these bouts, other than financial, escapes me.
Oddly enough, all three of these guys has an almost supermantural talent for MMA. Think about how GSP turned himself into an amazing wrestler. A lesser fighter could never get the same results starting the dicipline so late in competative life.
We’re luck to be able to watch them ply their trade simultaneously in this boom time for the sport…
I agree that these “super fights” should not happen so regularly or not even at all. Neither fighter has much to gain except for more money. I would be all for these fights if both fighters agreed to meet at a catch weight where both guys would weigh-in at the same weight which would make thigns a bit more fair and interesting, but i know that’s a long shot. I don’t think that GSP would get beat by Silva the way Penn got beat by GSP. I would love to see someone literaly beat every guy in their division, that would be interesting to see. I would love to see GSP vs Anderson Silva, but i wouldn’t mind if this fight never takes place at all.
GSP vs Henderson would be a good one, GSP would tune him
“tune” <—– what?
He’d tune him because Henderson is a little tone deaf and GSP would help him with it.
dude I still don’t know wtf that shiiit means
fr702 – I think that “tune him”, might be short for “tune him up”, which I believe is the way urbanites used to refer to a beating back in the “Boyz in the Hood” days or something.
Wellfire is trying to tell you that he thinks GSP could beat Hendo.
I think.
Well I learned long ago not to assume what people mean on the interwebbs…. Hendo v GSP hhhhmmmmm that overhand right is dangerous left hook as well wrestling yup, hey good fight imo
WELLL being a urbanite myself I cant say I have ever used the expression tune him in regards to a fight. But hey maybe I didn’t watch enough Boyz in the Hood!!!!
Is it possible that GSP leaves MMA altogether, albeit for a brief period of time to test the waters of Olympic Wrestling.
He was set to represent team Canada at the Olympic trials for the 2008 Summer Games when Serra went down with an injury before his fight with Matt Hughes causing GSP to get lured into a Interim title fight with Hughes (which we’re all glad he took).
But, now that the division is cleaned out, and since GSP isn’t getting any younger, maybe he’ll give the Olympics in 2012 a shot and try to win a gold medal for Canada.
It seems to me that Georges is a guy who feeds on competition, and would want to test himslef by attempting to outwrestle the best wrestlers in the world. He’s already outwrestled the best wrestlers in his UFC weightclass.
GSP said it himself, he’s not fighting to win the belt anymore, he’s fighting to establish his legacy. And what better way to establish a legacy than to be the first Olympic Gold Medallist in UFC History. And the first UFC champion to win an Olympic medal.
Unless Dan made additional comments after the fact, I don’t think you can count something he said moments after it happened, still high on adrenaline, and excited about an awesome knockout as “readily admit[ting]” he went the extra mile. He obviously knew he connected and I’m sure he was pretty certain it was a knockout but in the split second before dropping the flying elbow I don’t think he was doing it just to shut Bisping up – he was trying to finish the fight. We’ve all seen fighters continue to GnP or hold a submission after the opponent is clearly out but they’re waiting for the ref to call it and in this case the flying elbow was damn near instantaneous. His actions could also be called the “killer instinct” that we (for the most part) expect the fighters to have. Didn’t Matt Brown take some crap when he didn’t want to continue pummeling Pete Sell when Sell was clearly out of it?
The comment itself is damning but considering when it was made I don’t think there is any substance behind it but as I said previously, I’m not aware of any further comments he has made in regards to it.
Ok well I can go round and round about GSP v Anderson Silva and there will be pleanty of time to get down with that argument..
People aren’t tooo upset about the great AirBomb well simply cuz most have been waiting sooooo long for it, and so when it happend it was a moment of greatness I guess (some sites are calling it one of the greatest moments in MMA history) also most didn’t bittch when Rampage took a few extra on Wanderlei (which I was more upset about then Hendo on the Bis, Yves was literally pulling Quinton off of Wanderlei) and imo the “extra” shot wasn’t worse then Babalu on Heath but I can understand all cases and arguments on this…
Fitch won by decision and well ya it happend but that fight was pushed back soo much perhaps he was out of his “game”
I think that it is more of a tone thing with Jackson talking to GSP, and it does work but it does sound odd to say the least, calmly stating “I don’t care attack him with your groin”, um really what does that mean?
Coleman won and well he did win that fight none of us saw that coming, good for the old man…. Should he retire?
Jon Jones isn’t in the top 10 in the world rightnow imo, but damn he is entertaining and I hope he keeps getting better good for him
Akiyama won that fight was it 30~27 mehhh probably not but he did win the fight, my friend who would be discribed as a casual fan scored the fight for Akiyama, but he said it was closer than 30~27 but no doubt that Akiyama won that shhh
BUFFER DID the 360, this should be a bigger story imo
I loved UFC 100
I personally think Coleman should go out on this high note. He’s been in MMA since near the beginning, and it would be a nice post script to his career to go out with a shocking underdog win over a TUF guy no one saw coming…
leave on a win against Bonnar is a wonderful idea imo
FR what up big homie!!!
The AIR BOMB was just that another Bomb on an unconsious seizing guy!
Dan even admitted he gave him another shot on purpose just to shut him up longer!!!
Sooo What we don’t like Bisping it is the same and just as diry as the rest!! Is it okay to get in cheap shots on guys we dont like vs giving a cheap shot to some on we do like???
Imagine when Rashad KTFO Chuck Liddel if he gave him an AIR BOMB afterwards and Admitted he gave him an extra punch just to shut him up!!! MAN would the world have lost thier minds on that!!!! So the same should apply to HENDO albiet Great but none the less dirty.
On Greg Jackson talking to GSP like that I take it none of you guys ever played FOOTBALL or been in the ARMED FORCES of some type???
Trust me what Greg Jackson was doing was nothing!!
If any thing it was Normal..
His man is in a war, he’s gotta keep him focused with Forceful, YET Easy to understand commands being that he is being punched and kicked etc in the face… Sorta make it hard to concentrate on things when that happens!!! Your brain tends to short out and you start making dump mistakes especially when your groin is broken… LOL
Yes Coleman RETIRE go out on a good note: even though I doubt he will.
Buffer 360 ruled there aint no topping a grown a$$ man doing a 360 spin during live ppv tv during the biggest UFC event in the middle of the ring!!! OH and getting Paid for it!!
how do we do True, Just got back to Cali and well don’t know how long I will be here but hey whatever I guess…
Hey if what if the reasoning for Evans not doing that to Liddell is due to the simple fact of pure RESPECT for your opponent, point being that Evans respects Liddell and we all know that neither Hendo nor Bis respected one another, and for the Air Bomb well I believe Hendo that he did it to shut him up a little longer… Lyoto respects Evans thats why when he brutally ko’d Evans he didn’t continue to put that beating on Evans…
Point is that with UFC 100 (unlike alot of other UFC’s) there were quite a few “personal” matches that proceeded to get heated before, during and after the fight. Lesnar v Mir, Hendo v Bisping.. Those fights were personal and brutal, and so be it, like I said earlier or whatever that the AirBomb wasn’t as bad as Quinton’s extra shots on Wanderlei while Yves was pulling Quinton off of him… Anyways ya
Got ya!! Fr that does make sense but look at it like this in that case.
You dont think Rampage/Wandy was extremely personal and lack of respect for one another???
Especially the way Wandy kept antagonizing Rampage about getting the “Knock out award of the night bonus” Make check out to me name” and pushing him during weigh-ins and the trash talk about “He remembers me 22 knees?”
Plus all Rampage’s personal issue’s with the law + his trainer + moving trainin camp to england + he got like 3 kids + losing the title, then having to face the man that seperated you from yourself or conscienceness?? TWICE!! End of the year fight card?
IMO no excusses its all the same it was meant with evil intent after knowingly the man was unconscientious 1 AIR BOMB punch/elbow shot or 3 punches to a down sleep snow angel making axe murderer is the same to me. ITs Wrong and should all be looked at the same. EITHER WAY I LOVE IT!!!
One problem I see with this deal of fights getting personal and letting a couple extra shots slide is what happens when a fight is personal and someone locks in a kneebar or RNC?
Holding onto submission holds can do some horrific longlasting damage, maybe more so that an airbomb or a couple extra cheap shots.
I remember BJ Penn givng Jens Pulver an extra squeeze after he tapped, and that was as ugly as h&ll IMO.
Imagine if Mir had held onto his kneebar against Brock Lesnar in their first fight because he thought he was getting disrespected?
This will end badly if they don’t nip it in the bud.
Do I think Hendo should have hit Bisping an extra shot because the Brit apparently can’t close his mouth and be respectful?
Absolutely.
But where does it end?
Just wondering…
As a fan, I don’t mind seeing superfights that carry over multiple weight classes. The reason I don’t mind it is out of sheer entertainment value and nothing more.
What I don’t like about it, however, is the obvious knock in that it ties up the defense of a weight class’s title for nearly a year. The fighter moving up a division has absolutely nothing to lose. If his title is vacated then that would be a different story.
I also don’t care for the windfall that follows these types of fights becasue they are unfounded. What I mean by that is the winner of these fights still do not adequately reflect the better fighter, only the heavier fighter because in these fights, the scales lean more toward sheer size and less towards skillset as the most distinguishible advantage.
However like I said in the first piece of this post, as a fan I think these superfights are entertaining, if not anything more. If GSP fights Anderson Silva, I think it would be great, just so much as we keep it at that: a superfight solely for entertainment purposes and not to test which fighter is a better fighter, because of the size discrepancy, that is impossible. Anderson walks around at about 215ish, GSP walks around at about 185ish which is apples and oranges. If you don’t beleive me that a size disconnect that big will neutralize skills, than why don’t you just take a peak at what’s been happening in the heavyweight division.
i would like to comment on the fact that having a super fight would be amazing on the entertainment value. But… this sport has a good reputation so far in safety aspects but you cant honestly think that by putting two fighters in different weight cats but a big shot is a wise thing to do. look at brock and mir for instance in ufc 100. he bashed the living **** outta Mir and totally dominated him by the sheer size difference. It wont be long till something really bad happens to a fighter and then what will that do to the sport apart from giving it a bad name. i personally think people should think about their safety and not turn the great sport in to a human cock fight cause thats what will happen it something terrible wrong happens. I read an article about Bisping and yes i think he was out classed that evening, on the other hand he has done great things for the british interest in the sport and its becacause of hime i follow UFC. anyways i personally think Bisping cant say anything as what can you say once you have been banged out. you aint gonna get a sorry from him as i know he was trash talking hendo but he still has pride!
anyways cant wait till the UFC hit Manchester as i will be there!
take care all
ready for some truth guys? here it is. gsp is an amazing fighter, hands down no arguements. silva is a amazing fighter, again no arguements. bj is a great fighter no arguements. bj fought the bigger, stronger guy in gsp and what happened the second time? complete and utter domination and annihalition[sp]. what happens when gsp goes up in weight to face the bigger silva without having a fight or two against guys at 185? the same thing that happened to bj.
people are so blind to it because they love gsp. look at it from a unbiased point of view guys, gsp has two issues if he faces anderson immediately, 1. he did nothing to earn the title shot over very deserving contenders in maia, marquardt, and hendo. 2. he has yet to face a tough mw, its a different division with tougher competitors. if gsp gets to earn his title shot it will be different. gsp is great but he hasnt proved he can hang with the top dogs at mw, marquardt, maia, hendo, and anderson [can he? based on talent maybe, but those guys are all tough and dangerous, not to mention bigger and just as fast if not faster than gsp]. cote would be a good matchup for him as his first encounter at mw, then have gsp get marquardt-maia loser, then maybe if he wins that one he can get a title shot. have gsp earn his shot by beating any two of those guys and then he might be ready for anderson [if anderson is still the champ at the time, and if anderson is still at mw]
anderson silva moved to 205 and he didnt get a title shot, who did he get? james irvin. now in his second move he gets a former champion in forrest. what happens if he beats forrest[its not a layup forrest is very tough and dangerous for silva and stands a dammn good chance of beating him]? another top contender, or maybe a title shot, if machida isnt the champ. silva has said that the 205 belt is machida’s.
Just to play devils advocate, both Marquardt and Henderson already had their chances and lost to A. Silva and I disagree that the MW division is more stacked than the welter-weight. Totally disagree. Silva has been having cake walks with guys like Leites and Cote. Unfortunately his level of fighting has suffered as well because of this. Ya know what they say, you want to be the best you have to fight the best. The better fighters are at Welter weight and look what GSP has done to all of them.
In my opinion, Alves, Fitch, Koscheck, Hughes and Penn are much more formidable opponents in the welter weight division than guys like Leites, Cote, Leuter and Leben in the MW. I left out Hendo and Franklin cause both can make a case for fighting regularly in LHW division due to the dominance A Silva has had in MW.
Regardless, I too agree there is no way GSP deserves a title shot at MW. I do feel a catch weight of 180, super-fight would be awesome and that GSP has a very good chance of coming out on top.
Silva will never fight Machida at 205, which is unfortunate cause I would love to see that fight just as much as I would Silva vs GSP.
My predictions:
Machida wins over Silva standing tko.
GSP wins over Silva ground and pounding to a decision.
Comcast is definitely BS’ing you. I have DirectTV and was able to watch it in HD with no problem whatsoever. Comcast is actually terrible for PPV’s, I had them for a while and have been much happier since switch over to DirectTV.
True. Comcast only shows UFC events in HD as part of their OnDemand programming. They never show it live in HD. Part of the reason that I switched to Dish.
i want to see hendo-gsp, but i think hendo is too tough for gsp espcially as his first opponent at 185, and we dont know how gsp will come back in his first fight from his torn groin. plus swick-kampmann winner gets a title shot but that is a lay-up for gsp.
anyone else notice the huuuuuuuge bump on st pierres right elbow prior to the fight starting? looked at least the size of a golf ball. and i know people will say it’s cuz he was next to a bigger thiago alves, but gsp looked out of it. smaller, looked like he might be sick or injured before the fight. throw on a pulled groin halfway through and he still destroyed alves! dude’s amazing. so much that the once stacked ww class no seems completely empty in my eyes. i can’t think of any fighter that comes near deserving a title shot. i think ufc is going to have to push the spider vs st pierre fight unless they want to risk having these guys continue to just fight lesser opponents. i don’t see gsp winning, but i know i see tons of viewers wanting to see it.
As much respect as I have for GSP, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t comment on the whole GSP-Anderson Silva thing.
GSP should not be getting a MW title shot. I’m sorry, but its true. I spent how many days here pounding Brock Lesnar for his fast-tracking, so how could I reasonably condone it just because GSP has my respect and an embarrassingly broad skillset, and Lesnar possesses the reverse?
I do understand why these superfights take place, but I think maybe there should be some ground rules, such as title vacating [where applicable] and catchweight limitation.
If GSP wants to challange himself, thats great, but IMO he should vacate the title because honestly he has nothing left to prove. At 170, GSP can’t be beaten, he can only beat himself, sort of like BJ Penn at 155.
If they come to the cage on fight night physically healthy, mentally focused and emotionally prepared, it doesn’t matter what their opponent does, they win. Period. And they’ve proved it time and again, so it isn’t just an opinion.
That understood, an appropriate first MW fight for GSP would be against Michael Bisping. Bisping is clearly not top 5, maybe not top 10, but he is a quality fighter who just happened to be facing a far superior fighter last Saturday night.
Plus Bisping has a “name” which will help draw interest. Assuming GSP gets past Bisping, then he can ask reasonably for a contender. The standard path should be several quality wins, 2 top 10 wins, a top 5 win, and then a title shot.
GSP can be spotted the “several quality wins” because he’s GSP. Beating Bisping would start him on his top 10 track. From there, who knows?
On this one I have to disagree with bigchris2328, in that I don’t want to see GSP-Hendo.
Hendo is the exact wrong sort of opponent for GSP, in that Hendo packs LHW power and experience onto a MW frame. As much respect as I have for “Rush”, Hendo in all likelihood would ragdoll and Couture 101 him into an ugly loss.
I think a good MW track to the title would be maybe Bisping, the returning Belfort, Maia or Marquardt, and then Silva, assuming those men are still in good MW standing come fight time.
Of course this won’t happen, because Dana White isn’t going to wait until 2011 for a GSP superfight. The interest is there, which means the money is there, so most likely it will be one MW fight for GSP and then a title shot.
Not fair, and disrespectful to the sport and the division’s other competitors, but thats how Dana White does business in the UFC.
Just as Brock Lesnar…
I don’t think GSP deserves a title shot against A. Silva either.
Infact I would prefer them to fight at a catch weight of 180 with no titles on the line.
A super fight is just that, a super fight. It’s not a title fight.
Neither guy has gone through the others respective weight class and earned a title shot.
ya catchweight of 180 would be better. I dont wanna here about how anderson couldnt make it either cause he weighed in at 182 for the leites fight.
jcohl i mentioned cote as gsp’s first fight at mw, then if he wins give him maia,marquardt, or hendo being they are the top 3 contenders. i also agree he should vacate the title due to being better than everyone else at that division as of this moment.
however i forgot to mention this as have all the other mma maniacs here. didnt gsp lose to matt hughes in their first fight even though he was hanging with him? what happened next? gsp started at the bottom of the top 5 and went on to get better before beating hughes in a rematch. anyone besides me think fitch and alves will get better by having lost to gsp?
bigchris2328, not that I don’t like the idea of a GSP-Cote bout, but I’m pretty sure they are friends and these days no one wants to fight their boy, unless the money’s right
And most definitely I think everyone GSP faces and beats benefits from the experience. Right now I’m betting Alves is more pi$$ed than anything else, but after he cools off he’ll realize it’ll make him a better fighter.
In Jon Fitch’s case I honestly don’t think he can get any better. He’s simply always going to be the second best WW in the UFC, unless GSP retires or the mother ship comes back to get GSP and take him to their planet of super MMA fighters or something…
while we are on the topic about guys moving up or down to challenge other champions….hold on 1 second, Bj Penn has NOT cleaned out his division like Anderson Silva or George St. Pierre, Penn has only beat Pulver(who was done anyway), Stevenson(who never deserved a shot in the first place), and Sherk, that doesn’t qualify as cleaning out your division. Just had to get that out the way.
Now, if someone like Anderson Silva or Georges St. Pierre want to test themselves and try a different division then they should do so but like jcohl said, they should leave their title behind for the rest of the division to fight over since they have already proven themselves OR like i said before, Silva and St. Pierre don’t have to fight for a title, they should meet at a catch weight and have a fight at a specific weight, no titles on the line thats the way it should be, but if someone wants to fight for the title, then they should give up their belt and make a run at the title that they want and earn that title shot rather than just getting a shot handed to you like Brock and Penn.
Georges St. Pierre is the best fighter in the world, the whole Anderson thing is not going to happen, not for a while thats all everybody talks about what about GSP and HENDO two great wrestlers and both with KO power! that is somthing that nobody is talking about I think the UFC should just announce is outta nowhere, that will get the ufc nation pumped for sure
i completely agree with the lack of fights broadcasted…UFC 100…throw us a bone!!!! and to add insult to injury, i had to stare at a heavily blood-stained octagon for 5 fights wondering who murdered ronald mcdonald! and i still don’t know!!!
That was the blood of Matt Danzig! Couldn’t think of anyone on the card I’d rather it be! =) Hopefully the UFC let’s that insect loving, tree hugging, vegan packing loser go!
THE OBVIOUS person for GSP to fight next is none other than Jake Shields. He has to be ranked top 5 in the world on anyone’s WW list and probably top 3 on most peoples, only behind GSP and Fitch.
UFC needs to sign Shields to fight GSP.
Also need to sign Fedor, Barnett and even Rogers to really test the dominant wrestlers that now dominate the HW division in Lesnar, Carwin and Valasquez.
And hell, give me Cung Le for A. Silva too! lol!
Get-a-signing, Dana!
Lesnar, Machida, Silva and GSP are all dominant champions in their respective weight classes. We may not see belts change hands for some time. One could argue that if Penn can get past Florian, he too could continue to dominate at LW. But with Sanchez and Guida waiting in the wings, I do believe that the LW belt is the only one we will be seeing change hands in the next year, if something isn’t done soon.
BRING IN FEDOR, SHIELDS, BARNETT, CUNG-LE and even ROGERS!!!!
Rogers I agree with, Fedor is problematic at best, Barnett for sure if he beats Fedor, otherwise whats the point, but Jake Shields?
Isn’t he fighting for the Strikeforce MW Interim title?
And if Cung Le can’t be bothered to show up for work in Strikeforce, where he’s the MW champion, what makes you think he’ll show up for work in the UFC, where his a$$ would get pounded in the cage?
Just sayin…
Yes, but Jake Shields is their current welter weight champion. He just has no competition in Strike-force as he is leaps and bounds ahead of the next guy.
i like how rogers has many people jumping on his bandwagon. i for one am not. what has he showed? he ko’d a weak chinned AA in 30 seconds. and now people are calling for him and brock? wtf? overreem will take care of rogers, and overreem cant hang in the ufc, not trying to cause anything, but all he has is kickboxing. who else has that primary skill in the ufc that got pwned on july 11th 2009? the count bisping who was out for a LONG count.
Just to clarify, I’m not calling for a Lesnar-Rogers bout, I’m just saying that by all reports Rogers is a viable HW prospect, and has done well fighting in the “minor leagues”. The UFC seems intent on stacking their HW division, so that being the case they should garner as much talent as they can.
Makes sense, no?
And while yes, Andrei Arlovski has a variety of in-cage issues, I think Rogers handling of him merits a looksee from the UFC.
As it relates to Overeem, I purposefully left him off of my HW options thread over in the forums, for that same exact poor skillset reason.
Maybe kickboxing is all the rage in Holland and other parts of Europe, and heavily influecnes their MMA guys, but here in the States ESPECIALLY in an MMA cage it’s just a sign that you’re going to get grounded and defeated either by submission or ref stoppage.
NOTE TO EURO-MMA FIGHTERS – BEFORE GETTING YOUR PASSPORT AND YOUR DUFFLE BAG AND HEADING OUT TO THE AIRPORT TO COME TO AMERICA TO FIGHT IN THE CAGE STOP BY A WRESTLING GYM OR SUBMISSION GRAPPLING STUDIO AND LEARN A FEW THINGS BEFORE COMING HERE !!!
Note to the Euro fighters eh! well lets see GSP=Canadian, Spider=Brazilian, Machida=Brazilian! America is not all that now is it! Shame really i have read all your other posts and they are good but having you head up your own arse is just the icing on top of the cake!
kieron, notice I said EURO fighters.
Last time I checked, “mate”, neither Canada nor Brazil was located in Europe.
If it makes you feel better I could change “America” to the “the Americas”, or the “New World”, if that assuages your accidentally bruised ego and cures my alleged rectal-cranial inversion.
But look on the bright side, you guys do have awesome TV like Doctor Who, Torchwood, Primeval, Hu$tle, Robin Hood, Hex, MI-5, which I think you lot call “Spooks”, and so on. Not to mention Harry Potter in the movies and bookstores. Plus you guys did a bang-up job in last season’s TUF.
Your fighters like Bisping might be napping and a pace off the mark in terms of a well rounded MMA skillset, but your TV is turning us all into BBC Americans…
i know that barzil,canada etc are not america but it seems unfair to diss Europe like that. My point was that GSP is not an American and nor is anderson silva and Machida who are world champs. As a fellow brit this sport is new to me and i have only been following the sport now for a couple of years. i think it wont be long till someone from europe will dominate a weight cat as britain especially love fighting as a nation. America by far has the facilities and much more to pick from and it only seems natural to say that your nation is the best. it wont be long i reckon before the sport really picks up in europe and then hopefully take the UFC by storm. but for now i will humbley sit back and watch our great selection of TV as you put it lol
regards
kieron
i meant brazil as well just the big fingers lol!
Kieron – truth be told one of the reasons I love this sport is the “internationalism” of it. At almost any MMA show, regardless of size or location, you can find people of various ethnicities cheering for fighters of different but equally various ethnicities.
And yes, right now America sort of draws the best from different disciplines, just look at how many Gracies and Machados have emigrated from Brazil to California, New York, and Hawaii. But as the sport grows, I can easily see a time when there is a Gracie BJJ studio in London, or maybe Manchester. Or both.
I recently advised a close friend of mine from college that is trying to open a combat sport studio in SanFrancisco [fusion of kajukenbo and submission grappling] to instead do it in London, and he laughed in my face. After looking into it more, he was like, “damn, I should’ve listened to you bro, MMA is huge in England”.
If I had the skills and credentials, I would be looking at locations in London instead of posting here at mmafrenzy
I mentioned on another thread that a guy like Dean Lister could really clean up if he opened a submission grappling school in the UK. The sport is really growing there, and it’s only a matter of time before UK fighters get sick and tired of losing fights because they don’t have the skills and training to keep some ground pounder off of their legs.
My point, however harsh sounding and cartoonish, is that our British cousins if they really want to embrace MMA then need to be given ALL of the pieces of the puzzle, not just the ones that come out of Holland and Thailand.
A serious ground school will better serve the UK MMA fanbase, and DEFINITELY help their fighters. If a guy like Michael Bisping threw himself into BJJ, or even wrestling, he would IMO go a lot further than he will without it.
And as for our nation being the best in terms of marital arts or combat sports or MMA, I’m betting Brazil and maybe Japan would have something to say about that…
when you put it like that its so true. i was disappointed to see bisping loose because he is british, and just reading what people have to say about him on here makes me think that he was protected alot but i dont think he was protected to keep british interest. i will watch the sport even if there wasnt a british person involved at all as there are so many amazing fighters that i like more. but what bisping has done is that he has brought the UFC to the UK more and for me thats amazing because i think before he showed up it didnt happen since 02. i only hope his loss hasn’t dampened the chances of more shows in the UK even if he never fights again.