I think we need to start discussing this card. Mir vs Carwin could/should be the main event, but we have the Meanest Canuck GSP ready to pounce on England's Dan Hardy. GSP is arguably the best p4p MMA fighter on the Planet. Check out the card & let's discuss: * Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy * Interim Heavyweight Championship bout: Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin * Welterweight bout: Ben Saunders vs. Jake Ellenberger * Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves * Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek * Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham * Welterweight bout: Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown * Lightweight bout: Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio Camoes * Light Heavyweight bout: Rodney Wallace vs. Jared Hamman * Middleweight bout: Rousimar Palhares vs.Tomasz Drwal * Welterweight bout: Matthew Riddle vs. Ricardo Funch
GSP's going to step on Hardy. I can't see anyone at 170 giving him a fight anytime soon. Mir/Carwin is very interesting. Gotta wonder if Carwin's going to have an extra fire lit under his ass, as he had a title shot all lined up in November.
GSP to me is like Floyd Mayweather. His record is impressive, but he won't challenge himself, instead being content to just beat up the same guys with the same boring wrestling strategy. I am, however, biased.
While he may use the same strategy in every fight, I don't know how you can say he just fights teh same guys. He's beaten everyone thrown in his way. It's not his fault he's miles ahead of anyone at his weightclass.
That's a contempt of the welterweight division, not GSP. Remember that when he faced Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves, Fitch was supposed to be more than enough for GSP and Alves was seen as a strong opponent. Both of them never won a round. I think GSP wins in a stoppage after hitting Hardy with his groin.
Here is a lil tidbit to get you boys excited for March 27th. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE9RIKdBmHI]UFC Primtime: GSP vs Hardy[/ame] Enjoy
Dude , how can you say he isn't challenging himself when he's destroyed fighters like BJ Penn , Matt Hughes , Thiago Alves , Fitch , Koscheck ? All of those were said to be tests for GSP ... As for your comment about his strategy , I bet you're one of those people who just likes to see a stand-up war . Well this is MMA , you really should appreciate all aspects , and GSP just doesn't wrestle his opponents anyway , he pretty much beats up everyone in everything . There's a reason why he's the most well rounded fighter in MMA .
Like I said. I am biased. I won't pretend to not be. I give credit where it is due, GSP is the best at 170 and one of the best in MMA. GSP wins because he is far and away more well rounded than his opponents at 170. Better striker than the wrestlers, and a better wrestler than the strikers, on top of fantastic athleticism. But, considering how much better he is than his opponents, you'd think he would either A) test the waters of 185 or B) try to entertain his fans. He used to throw more kicks, go for more finishes but after Matt Serra he is afraid to lose and anyone who denies that is fooling themselves.
Well, he's cleared out the Welterweight division. Not much more he can do than take on the top-ranked contenders. If he beats Hardy, then he'll really have no competition at 170. Not sure how moving up in weight would work for him - would it affect his conditioning or speed?
The only way to know is to actually do it I suppose. Which other fighters, bigger and smaller, have managed to do with reasonable success. GSP wins fights with his wrestling, strength, and athleticism. He and his camp know without better finishing ability chances are he can't keep bigger men down for long enough to get a decision.
Had something to deal with the brain. I guess Alves and his camp don't buy the original CAT scan since they're getting a 2nd opinion. http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Update-Alves-Out-of-UFC-111-Fitch-Bout-Could-Be-Moved-23445
I was coming in here to post this as well. Hopefully it's nothing serious and the fight gets rescheduled soon.
UFC.tv is now reporting that Ben Saunders will face Fitch instead of his previously scheduled opponent, Jake Ellenberger. Dana put the following out on Twitter a little while ago: It's always a good thing to do favors for UFC. Dana tends to remember favors.
What is up w/ Saunders. Didn't he just fight Mike "Quick" Swick??? I guess he wants to take on all of American Kickboxing Academy 170 lbs fighers
Carwin with a dominating win on Mir. Knocking him out in 3:48. I think he has a better chance at beating Lesnar than Mir (thank God I don't have to see the Most Lopsided Fighting Trilogy of All-Time) but I still think Brock would take it. GSP didn't let Dan Hardy get in a lick of offense in a unanimous decision. Hardy could do nothing to counter his takedowns. You can tell GSP really wanted to end the fight by a submission though and had two good arm submissions in on Hardy but Hardy to his credit didn't tap. Rest of the card a bit blah. Jon Fitch won in Jon Fitch style and then asked for a title shot at GSP. This is from Dave Meltzer in the post-fight press conference. He said that Fitch in marketing for a title shot after the fight said he's 12-1 in the UFC, he's won his last 4 in a row. Dana White told Fitch if he fought Josh Koscheck and beat him, he'd give him a title shot. Fitch and Koscheck both fight out of the same gym and teammates don't fight each other, so Fitch said absolutely not. He then said that the only way he'd fight Koscheck is behind closed doors with no attendance. Dana responded, "well that'll make you a lot of money". No idea who GSP fights next if he stays a welter.
I only saw a few fights: Jim Miller vs. Mark Bocek Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy I am sure I will get to see more I was entertained w/ Ricardo Almeida. He was relentless in his attack on Matt Brown & was able to get him on the ground & choke him out. I give Brown hella props for not being able to get choked out earlier. His ground defense was strong, but I think he took a shot to the head & that was the beginning to the end. Carwin is a freak!!! The guy only needs a lil' room to drop a bomb on you, then you are done. Mir thought he was able to get him into later rounds, but Carwin has yet to finish a first round. GSP needs to fight Anderson "da spyda" Silva for the title of the best p4p mma fighter.
-- Props to Hardy for hanging in there, but it was all one-way traffic. -- So yeah, Carwin's the real deal and deserves a shot. And that shot will be on 7/3. -- Looks like Alves will only need minor surgery and should be training next month. Very good news. -- Brock looks freaking huge. His cut to 265 has to really suck.