Hmm. Some things GSP said in a recent interview.
1. GSP thinks Koschek beat Hendricks.
2. Nick Diaz deserves the title shot and is the no.1 contender.
3. He wishes people would stop asking about Anderson Silva. GSP says he has trouble cutting and bulking, so a move up to MW would be permanent for him. There are too many fights left at WW right now.
4. He says he wants to finish fights but he doesn't have the power of Rampage or the accuracy of Anderson Silva.
Also, Jon Fitch has been cut, along with some not so recognizable names. Figured I'd post this here to get some other responses.
Dana elaborates on the Fitch cut. Apparently there's been huge backlash.
"Compounding the matter was the fact Fitch was ranked No. 9 at 170 pounds by the UFC's own ranking system at the time of his release. But White said the cut was justified because Fitch was ranked and on his way down, not up.
'Jon Fitch was ranked number nine, OK, however you want to look at that, he's ranked number nine, whether it's right or wrong or the rankings are bull---- or whatever,' White said. 'Ranked number nine right now. Now, this isn't a case where Jon Fitch was ranked No. 9, No. 7, No. 6, No. 4, No. 2 and then we cut him. He was ranked No. 1, fought for the title and then he was ranked No. 2. He was ranked No. 3, 6, 7, and now he's 9. That's called the downside of your career. He's on the downside.'"
What did everyone think about the fights last night?
Liz got Ronda's back, which surprised me. Ronda still won in expected armbar fashion though. Can't wait until UFC gets some of the other women into the division. The Miesha Tate rematch needs to happen. Alexis Davis needs a shot too.
Machida vs Henderson was interesting. It was a split decision, so I'm wondering if any of you disagree with the outcome.
Originally posted by StyleTime
Dana elaborates on the Fitch cut. Apparently there's been huge backlash."Compounding the matter was the fact Fitch was ranked No. 9 at 170 pounds by the UFC's own ranking system at the time of his release. But White said the cut was justified because Fitch was ranked and on his way down, not up.
'Jon Fitch was ranked number nine, OK, however you want to look at that, he's ranked number nine, whether it's right or wrong or the rankings are bull---- or whatever,' White said. 'Ranked number nine right now. Now, this isn't a case where Jon Fitch was ranked No. 9, No. 7, No. 6, No. 4, No. 2 and then we cut him. He was ranked No. 1, fought for the title and then he was ranked No. 2. He was ranked No. 3, 6, 7, and now he's 9. That's called the downside of your career. He's on the downside.'"
Dana White is full of donkey shit. He'd try to defend slitting the throat of a paraplegic.
Originally posted by StyleTime
Machida vs Henderson was interesting. It was a split decision, so I'm wondering if any of you disagree with the outcome.
I thought Machida won, but honestly, it showcased nothing from either fighter and all-in-all, was a terrible fight.
I actually really liked the Machida Henderson fight, I was surprised so many people thought it was so bad. I think this is just where I and the general MMA population fundamentally disagree, imo a fight like that that isn't too eventful but far more tension filled is way more exciting then just watching two guys brawling.
I liked the Silva-Stann fight but at the end of the day it did mostly just consist of two men swinging wildly at eachother and was more of a brawl than a technical fight, leaving you guessing who's chin was going to hold out the longest. I liked it just because it was cool to see Wanderlai able to take some legit shots (anybody think his chin might be a lot better at LHW?) and that he could still hang with the younger guys. But ultimately this was not a contest between two great martial artists of great fight technicians.
The way Machida fights is almost a work of art imo, I love watching him skillfully evade attacks, all the feints he throws, even his trip was beautiful, and imo there was a hell of a load of tension in that fight, maybe partly because I'm a Machida fan, but knowing that Henderson could actually end the fight with one punch, and seeing him get close to landing it, kept me on the edge of my seat way more than a typical brawl would. Plus, it this was a 5 round fight, we would have seen Machida up his attack a bit more imo, you could actually see by the midway point of the third round that he had kind of figured Dan Henderson out and was really opening up and being a lot more aggressive, landing some big kicks. If Henderson didn't have such a great chin he would have probably been dropped at some point in that fight.
Well imo, the secret to JDS's success lies in his defencive grappling (TDD as well as ability to get out of bottom position) as well as his striking (chin, power, speed, and skill). The problem when he goes up against Hunt is that the grappling probably won't be a factor, and in Mark Hunt you have someone with an even better chin, faster hand speed, similar level of power, but a way higher skill level.
You remove grappling out of the equation, there's noone at HW who can beat Hunt.
edit - He's one of my favorites at HW as well. And of course, sad as it is to say, he'd have no chance against a Cain Velasquez or Daniel Cormier or someone, but against any striker I'd favor him heavily.
Kind of a weird fight imo. That GSP could take him down easily was no surprise at all, but the fact that Nick Diaz had basically nothing to offer him on the ground was, I thought he'd be way more active and dangerous off of his back and he was neither. Then even more surprising was Nick actually stuffing some takedowns! And the fight stays standign for almost half the fight, and STILL Nick has nothing to offer him in the standup, it was all GSP, Nick Diaz didn't land that much, and he wasn't really all that aggressive, there was a time in the fight where he was keeping the fight standing and really needed to start with his volume striking game and he seemed to just stay back. That is, which again was very surprising, were the few moments when Georges almost seemed to tire in their exchanges, in a pretty medium active fight, where Georges was never really in a bad spot.
I'm thinking either the pressure of the big fight, or the media leading up to the game, and the long layoff really weren't very good for Nick, on paper he gets beaten easily regardless but he just didn't seem anywhere near as effective as he should have been in the areas that he shines in, he didn;t really bring the fight to Georges in any way, even his smack talking game was off. The only times he looked good in that fight, were times when Georges actually looked a little off.
Also was anyone else worried there was going to be a sort of Paul Daley moment there?
Hendricks - Condit fight was freaking awesome, good to see Hendricks using more of his wrestling, and up until he hurt his hand he was winning the stirking exchanges. Surprised that he didn't ever seem to really hurt Condit though (something Jake Ellenberger did esily and repeatedly), and I'm not sre if it was the hand or even his cardio but he started to fade towards the end of the fight, if it was 5 rounds Condit would have won. It'll be crazy if he doesn't get the next shot at Georges.
Jake looked amazing, he finished Nate Marquardt with strikes with ease, and I think he is absolutely the hardest hitter at WW, and he's also much more skilled a striker than Hendricks too imo. But if anything I'm glad that I think people are starting to realise that Jake Ellenberger is the biggest threat to Georges out of everyone, Hendricks deserves the enxt shot but hopefully Jake gets the next one after that, and between both Ellenberger and Hendricks, two very dangerous strikers and great wrestlers, if those are Georges next two fights, he will lose at least one of them imo, these will be the most dangerous people he would have ever faced.
Out of everyone that Georges could conceivably fight, how do you people rank his biggest threats? He has none lower down the weightclasses, at WW I think the only threats are Jake Ellenberger, Johnny hendrciks, and Demian Maia, and at MW, Roger Gracie, Jacare, Anderson Silva, and Hector Lombard.
In order I think it is:
1. Jake Ellenberger.
2. Johnny Hendricks.
3. Ronaldo Souza.
4. Roger Gracie.
5. Demian Maia.
6. Anderson Silva.
7. Hector Lombard.