MMA (UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Invicta, etc.) Discussion Thread -- Version II

Machida looked very good at 185 this weekend. With him staying at 185 I wonder if that means Anderson is going to move up or if he's simply just going to retire; regardless of the outcome of his fight with Weidman. I know Machida and Silva said they would never fight each other but it was something I always wanted to see. This should be interesting!

 
main event was good, well at least what i saw, set a 30 minute extension on the dvr, they fight didnt even start until after the scheduled runtime.

Chandler and alvarez are both too good for that promotion, theyre WAY better than everybody else in bellator.

 
Pretty good card tonight. Always good to see Koscheck get KTFO, lol.

Not sure if Lawler is actually living up to his potential finally, or if McDonald just needs work. Wasn't too impressed either way.

Chael is done. I mean...I guess he's still fighting for a paycheck, but he's on his way to becoming Ken Shamrock. Just hang it up and keep the job with Fox Sports 1, Chael.

Nervous about this title fight. I'm pulling for GSP, but I don't think he's going to be able to just leisurely stroll through this one like some of his recent fights. He needs to be sharp and show what got him to this level to begin with. I want to see GSP at his best...and then if Hendricks beats him, it will mean we just saw one of the greatest fights ever.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok...yeeeeah...so that was really awkward. That felt like almost everybody knew how this night was going to end except the judges. I hate to say that GSP "figured" he'd lose the fight...but he had already hinted at retirement anyway. It's like the judges fucked up the storyline, lol. That almost gave me an icky pro boxing feeling. I need to see the Compustrike numbers...because that's almost the only thing I can figure in giving GSP anything other than the 3rd and 5th round (and even those were razor thin).

I will say though, I hate the "look how busted up he is" means of declaring a winner. Their striking styles are just so different, it's a stupid comparison. GSP is so technical, he might as well be fencing out there (though not hurting his opponents is really becoming to his detriment, and he's extremely lucky it didn't cost him here). Meanwhile, Hendricks throws everything like he's swinging a baseball bat at your head. That's why I need to see the stats. On feeling alone, of course it seemed like Hendricks won, but if GSP landed more...then it starts to get interesting.

Overall though, that entire ending and interviews were so uncomfortable. So GSP "has to do some stuff...for a bit". So, do we get an immediate interim belt? At what point is he forced to vacate it? Or does Uncle Dana do what he did to Anderson Silva and give GSP a good talking to? So many questions, lol. But damn these PPV main events have felt very odd lately.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had Hendricks taking 1,2, and 4 for sure.  I personally also gave him 3, so as long as Hendricks survived the 5th I had him winning no problem.  I think Joe Rogan also thought Hendricks was firmly ahead.

GSP's post fight interview was just stupid.  I don't think Dana wants another Dominick Cruz and if GSP voluntarily says he's taking time off I hope they strip him of the title completely.  The welterweight division is definitely looking a lot stronger.  Rory picked the worst possible time to lose, though I'm extremely glad he did.  Glad Koscheck lost too.  I was surprised Chael lost so badly.

 
GSP's brain was so fucked he couldn't think of a legit reason to say HE DOESN'T WANT A REMATCH so he makes up some bullshit retirement speech. ''EYE UH GOTTA GAO GAIS''. Hendricks won 1,2,4 easily. 5 was meh could have gone either way. MMA judging is shit.

My favorite fight of the night was Ali vs Elliot.

I'm not watching the conference but supposedly Dana said this? "he knows he lost thats why he quit and now no chance for a rematch"

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dana is pissed on the press conference.  Like I already said I thought Hendricks clearly won, but Dana doesn't usually go off quite like this, especially on main events.  His line is usually "finish the fight if you don't want to leave it in the judges hands".

 
I actually thought GSP won the match with round 1, 3, and 5. There was rumor going around before the Hendricks fight that GSP wanted to retire after the fight. Reporters were asking him about it all week. Also did it look like Hendricks tapped in the first round when GSP had him in the choke? Thought it was odd that he let it go for no apparent reason.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
tylerh1701 said:
I had Hendricks taking 1,2, and 4 for sure. I personally also gave him 3, so as long as Hendricks survived the 5th I had him winning no problem. I think Joe Rogan also thought Hendricks was firmly ahead.

GSP's post fight interview was just stupid. I don't think Dana wants another Dominick Cruz and if GSP voluntarily says he's taking time off I hope they strip him of the title completely. The welterweight division is definitely looking a lot stronger. Rory picked the worst possible time to lose, though I'm extremely glad he did. Glad Koscheck lost too. I was surprised Chael lost so badly.
Click to expand...
The thing about giving Hendricks the 3rd round is he basically tried to steal it by being a douche. He was getting outboxed and then just shot for a takedown in the last 30 seconds and tried to hold GSP there the rest of the round. I was a little worried the judges were going to overvalue that takedown. Had GSP not gotten back up, they probably would have.

The 1st round (which apparently decided the fight), I'd really need to see again. It felt like Hendricks was throwing bombs in that round, but I think that's where actual statistics would help. The thing I didn't like about the fight is that it was almost overdramatized how much "trouble" GSP was in. Sure, he was getting hit...but I don't think he was near as "wobbly" as they were making him out to be. Definitely a fight you need to watch with the sound off.

 
gunnm said:
GSP's brain was so fucked he couldn't think of a legit reason to say HE DOESN'T WANT A REMATCH so he makes up some bullshit retirement speech. ''EYE UH GOTTA GAO GAIS''. Hendricks won 1,2,4 easily. 5 was meh could have gone either way. MMA judging is shit.

My favorite fight of the night was Ali vs Elliot.

I'm not watching the conference but supposedly Dana said this? "he knows he lost thats why he quit and now no chance for a rematch"
Click to expand...
It's a points system. It's not "how fucked up did you make the other guy". You could say GSP barely "survived" this fight...but that has nothing to do with whether he won or not. I was talking about this with a friend tonight, but I do think the judges should be accountable. I think they should have to explain why they scored each round the way they did.

GSP had a takedown in round 1...he had a submission attempt...but he also ate some nasty shots. Let's see the statistics, and let's hear the reasoning for why two judges gave that round to GSP and one judge gave it to Hendricks (all other rounds were scored the same). Instead of popping off at the mouth and throwing accusations around, how about using a little brainpower and reasoning?

I'm not saying GSP won or didn't win. I'm saying we need to hear the rationale behind the decision.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
GSP doesn't sound extremely stable at the post fight press conference.  He didn't share much about what is going on but he was definitely acting a little odd.

 
Gender change operation, aliens probing his butthole (which is actually the most probable explanation if you've listened to him on Rogan's podcast), his brain dying, his disappointment that Google Glass is pretty difficult to obtain right now: He is probably my favorite fighter of all-time, but I don't care what is wrong with GSP. He either defends the title in an immediate rematch, which is the fairest solution to that split decision, or he retires. He is paid to be a professional fighter.

And I could not be happier that Robbie Lawler has momentarily halted the Rory MacDonald hype train. I had been waiting for this type of style matchup against Rory Mac (brutal striker with solid TDD), and it did not disappoint.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Haha...first thing I thought of was the alien abduction. That interview on JRE had me laughing my ass off.

"Are you afraid of aliens coming to get you?"

"Ehhh...If an alien come into my house, you know...I just put him in a triangle choke."

I do think GSP has some OCD tendencies though. I think part of it is what makes him such a great fighter. It makes him a creature of habit, and I don't think he's really comfortable unless he's following a specific routine. That said, apparently it's almost all resolved now though. For anybody who didn't see the media scrum after the press conference, Dana pretty much explained everything (though not what GSP was worried about).

He also talked about Jon Jones pulling out of the Teixeira fight and it's exactly what I figured...he's banged up because of how much he's fought the past few years. Jones has easily been the most active champion, and even the Gustafsson fight, I didn't feel good about him taking so soon after his gruesome foot injury. Like him or not, I think he deserves a bit of a layoff like everybody else gets.

Here's the scrum for anyone who wants to watch it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZmlZ4Vlwcg[/youtube]

 
Last edited by a moderator:
And finally...here we go. A great article showing that on paper and statistically, the fight was much closer than a hyped up announcer fueled viewing of it would lead you to believe.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1853770-georges-st-pierre-vs-johny-hendricks-breaking-down-the-fightmetric-numbers

Some interesting numbers:

Total Strikes: Hendricks - 142, GSP - 125

Significant Strikes - Hendricks - 85, GSP - 101

Takedowns: Hendricks - 2/4, GSP - 3/6

Submission Attempts: Hendricks - 0, GSP - 1

And here are the stats from what ended up being the decisive 1st round.

Total Strikes: Hendricks - 27, GSP - 26

Significant Strikes - Hendricks - 18, GSP - 19

Takedowns: Hendricks - 1, GSP - 1

Submission Attempts: Hendricks - 0, GSP - 1

Seriously...looking at this fight on paper, you'd be crazy to think there was a clear cut winner. Yes, GSP was hurt badly...but that's basically because Hendricks is the first guy in forever to do anything to him (no disrespect to Carlos Condit). This definitely doesn't bode well for GSP in the future...and we most definitely could be seeing a changing of the guard. It happened with BJ Penn. It happened with Anderson Silva. There's no reason to believe it won't happen with GSP.

He survived this fight. No question about it. Honestly, looking at the fight metric alone, I'd hate to see a guy have his belt taken away in a fight that close. To me, what would have been more appropriate would be to call the fight a draw. Maybe Hendricks didn't do enough to take the belt away...but I don't feel great saying "GSP won" either. But sadly, a 10 point must system is never going to work like that until judges start actually scoring 10-10 rounds.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Very close fight, I had GSP winning 3, 4, 5 but no matter who you thought won, only fools are saying anything but 3-2 either way. Thus, the term "robbery" is idiotic and inapplicable. A robbery is not a 3-2 fight either way. GSP thinks he won 3, Hendricks thought he won 3. Not a robbery, just an excellent, competitive title fight.

 
Thekrakrabbit said:
Very close fight, I had GSP winning 3, 4, 5 but no matter who you thought won, only fools are saying anything but 3-2 either way. Thus, the term "robbery" is idiotic and inapplicable. A robbery is not a 3-2 fight either way. GSP thinks he won 3, Hendricks thought he won 3. Not a robbery, just an excellent, competitive title fight.
Click to expand...
Yup, absolutely. And I'm sorry, but Dana White and the UFC is doing it to themselves by really pressuring for KO's and big finishes. You've got Hendricks basically swinging for the fences (although, apparently, it was only 70%, lol), GSP's face bloodied up, and Goldberg and Rogan going crazy on the microphone. Of course it makes the fight look lopsided.

Dana himself got caught up in that nonsense (though I do think GSP's in cage "announcement" made it even worse...he really didn't need to throw fuel on that fire, lol). Even in the moment, I had GSP winning 3 and 5 for sure. I was surprised by the decision, but instead of flipping out about it, I started questioning if I had been manipulated into thinking that way.

And sure enough...Hendricks being ahead on strikes, but not significant strikes showcases the point. He was landing, but he wasn't as technical and GSP was blocking almost half of the strikes. Just to do the math, 81% of GSP's strikes were significant (to the head or body), while only 60% of Hendricks's were. The people in an uproar are caught up in media garbage just like any other hotbutton Twitterverse issue.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hendricks got robbed not once did GSP ever rock hendricks. The damage was done on GSP you can tell who the real winner is i'm not reading paragraphs of nonsense to persuade me otherwise.

Anyways Rogan was on opie and anthony today talking about how GSP is having memory lapses he says GSP will sometimes drive home and forget how he got there. He forgot most of the fight after it just happened maybe he should retire his brain is fucked

 
gunnm said:
Hendricks got robbed not once did GSP ever rock hendricks. The damage was done on GSP you can tell who the real winner is i'm not reading paragraphs of nonsense to persuade me otherwise.

Anyways Rogan was on opie and anthony today talking about how GSP is having memory lapses he says GSP will sometimes drive home and forget how he got there. He forgot most of the fight after it just happened maybe he should retire his brain is fucked
Click to expand...
Dude...you continuing to say he got "robbed" just shows that you don't understand MMA judging. Your logic is also hilarious. "I'm not doing actual reading to become informed on the subject. Reading bad. Hendricks hit hard...equal win...ooga booga"

As for GSP's memory lapses, that was part of what he talked about on JRE...and why he possibly feels like he might have been abducted. But even when he was explaining it to Joe, it sounded off. He mentioned the driving home thing (which is fairly common as far as I know), and he also mentioned sitting in a chair and looking at the clock and noticing a few hours have gone by.

Joe was like "Yeah, that's called falling asleep." to which GSP's response was "I hope so." He just seems to have legitimate concern about things that are pretty out there. He might even be a little crazy (or more likely, OCD, like I mentioned before)...especially when he starts trying to attribute it to aliens or brain cancer or whatever other thing he thinks is "out to get him". I think the guy just needs a vacation.

 
He's a mental midget. He has issues with being hit and he seems like, personality wise, the last guy who would ever be into fighting, especially because he was awful when he first started. Not one of those "specialized in something and bad at everything else", just horrible all around.

But, I don't think he's brain damaged but he would probably know better than anyone. If he wants to retire, which he wants to do but was scared to fully commit to, I think he should go out as the best WW in MMA history and a champion who left the sport on top. Not many can say that they accomplished all of that in any sport. Best ever, top of the sport, retired rich without big damage.

 
Everyone keeps acting like he wants to retire out of no where. It was only brought up because Rogan was pressing him. There were tons of rumors the last two or three weeks before the fight that GSP wants to retire. Many thought he was going to retire after the fight, and that is why Rogan pushed it. So all the talk about GSP just saying that because he is scared is pure nonsense. This has been rumored for a few years now and the last two weeks there was tons of talk about it and people close to the camp saying he was thinking about it.

Fight was very close. I had it 48-47 for Hendricks like most, but I can definitely see how the 1st round could've gone to GSP. That mounted guillotine looked pretty tight there for a second.

I will also say that GSP seems to have lost a step the last two years. Said it against Diaz and Condit too. GSP looked pretty rough on Saturday and I kind of hope he goes out on top and just steps away soon. I don't want to see him become a punching bag like Penn has been his last few fights.

Go out on top if always best. That is why Tito should've retired the second he choked out Bader.

 
I think Maynard is done.  His chin is made of glass.  I actually thought he was done after the TJ Grant lost, but this pretty much confirms it. Always love listening to Diaz's insane blabber, tonight about Gil and him being the #1 and #2 LHW.  Gil's great, but if Diaz thinks he's #2 he's smoked himself silly.  Wonderful to watch his precision punching though.  

I always wonder if Gil just constantly gets embarrassed being around those guys.  I can just see him at the bar, shaking his head while Nick and Nate are unceremoniously escorted out by security for the thousandth time.

I didn't watch TUF this season, so I didn't really care about any of the other fights.  I can't decide who I dislike more though, Ronda or Miesha.  I'm gonna have to figure that one out so I know who to cheer for at the end of December.

 
the niinimaki yahya fight was great, particularly the first round and a half, loved it.

i like how nate is the #2 lw after getting soundly beat by benson and ko'd by the punk, dude is bananas.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
blueweltall said:
GSP is vacating his belt.
Click to expand...
Wow...he must really be messed up mentally. I at least give him credit for doing this the right way...and it sets a good precedent for the sport moving forward. If you don't want to defend the belt at least once every 6 months, vacate the belt. If you want to take a year off, fine. Go on vacation. Spend time with your family. Have a great time. But you're not the champion anymore. Being injured is different...but just choosing to not defend, you're screwing with other guys' opportunities.

Maybe GSP just doesn't want to see what happened to Anderson Silva happen to him...to reach such a level of apathy that you basically just allow yourself to get knocked out. Not to discredit Chris Weidman, but I think everyone can agree that wasn't the best Anderson Silva out there.

Seems like a great freaking documentary opportunity here. Call it "Weight of the Crown" or something like that. I can't be the only one seeing a lot of parallels between Silva and GSP...which is especially ironic considering everybody wanted the two of them to fight. Pretty sure that will never happen now.

 
Agreed that he did it the right way (assuming it was him deciding to vacate the belt and not the UFC forcing him to).  I think any voluntary leave of absence of 6 months or more should definitely be an automatic vacate.  I'd like to see 12 months be the time limit on injuries before an interim title is established and after 18 months of injuries belt be completely vacated.

 
tylerh1701 said:
Agreed that he did it the right way (assuming it was him deciding to vacate the belt and not the UFC forcing him to). I think any voluntary leave of absence of 6 months or more should definitely be an automatic vacate. I'd like to see 12 months be the time limit on injuries before an interim title is established and after 18 months of injuries belt be completely vacated.
Click to expand...
That timetable is exactly what I think too. There should be an expecation of the belt being defended once every 6 months. If you get hurt, you get another 6 months to recover. If you're still not ready, then an interim belt is established. And if 18 months after your last defense, you're still not ready...then I'm sorry, the show must go on. Dominick Cruz is wasting the last good years of Urijah Faber's prime right now...and it's not fair.

 
It's none of my (or anyone else's) business, but I can't help but wonder what is going on in GSP's life that has frazzled him so much.

 
GSP vacating the belt definitely opens up a lot more interesting matches. Not taking anything away from GSP because he is a great tactical fighter but there's a bunch of guys out there that make really good match ups. Those fighters automatically don't look so great when put up against GSP because of his great talent and neutralizing them (takedowns/wrestling) It's crazy to see Lawler in the title mix after his previous run in the UFC not being so exciting as this past one has been. I can definitely see Condit capturing the belt despite his previous run with Hendricks. It's something I look forward to happening, actually.

 
bigpimpin24 said:
GSP vacating the belt definitely opens up a lot more interesting matches. Not taking anything away from GSP because he is a great tactical fighter but there's a bunch of guys out there that make really good match ups. Those fighters automatically don't look so great when put up against GSP because of his great talent and neutralizing them (takedowns/wrestling) It's crazy to see Lawler in the title mix after his previous run in the UFC not being so exciting as this past one has been. I can definitely see Condit capturing the belt despite his previous run with Hendricks. It's something I look forward to happening, actually.
Click to expand...
I'm a huge GSP fan...but I've always said, I hate when belts never change hands. I can appreciate and enjoy when a guy holds a belt long enough to create a legacy (Jon Jones is getting into this territory now)...but after that, it just loses its luster and makes the division boring. When BJ Penn, GSP, and Anderson Silva were dominating at the same time, it was one of the most boring times for the UFC (especially considering they only had 5 weight classes then). It was so boring, people actually convinced themselves that Brock Lesnar was a good fighter, lol. Man, different times.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Annnnd...that's why Dominick Cruz should have been stripped of his belt a year ago. That could have been a title fight. Urijah looked amazing. Love the way he was all over McDonald at the end. He wasn't going to let that opportunity get away. So great to see a fighter fight to the most of his ability.

 
Mendes looked real bad.  Guess he was pretty sick but man he didn't look like himself at all.

Faber's one of the all time greats.  I love watching him.

Was shocked to see DJ knock out Benavidez.  Mighty Mouse continues to grow on me.

Barbosa/Castillo was the most interesting fight of the night.  I thought Barboza was done for sure.  I also definitely thought it should have been a draw.  First round was an easy 10-8 in my book.

 
Dana White sure is quick to go to work. He offered Diaz to fight Condit for a rematch after FOX 9 tonight and Diaz ended up declining. I don't know if that's something I would like to see again. I was seriously looking forward to Brown v Condit seeing as Brown's striking has been looking top notch. That fight for Brown was also gonna be a definite step up in competition and I wanted to see how he would do against a top tier guy.

Crazy to think Silva v Weidman II is just two weeks away! I'm pretty pumped for that fight. Also interested in seeing Browne v Barnett. Rousey v Tate II is ehh. I ended up missing the TUF Finale interview between the two but apparently it made Rousey come off as even more as a bitch/bully than the season (which I also did not watch) Should definitely be a good card to close out the year, though.

 
The Rousey/Tate thing...it just wasn't a good situation for Ronda. She's an emotional person...and she genuinely doesn't like Miesha. So, in the realm of reality TV, whoever can act more like a robot is going to come out cleaner. It's also a little misleading because Miesha and her team were doing things to instigate drama pretty much all season. They were pulling pranks and antagonizing a lunatic (Ronda's striking coach).

Ronda definitely didn't handle it the utmost amount of class, but it's not like it was completely one sided. She would honestly be best served to come out, apologize, and tell everyone that she's too competitive to be that close to her competition and it brought out a catty side of her. She's the champion and is supposed to be the face of Women's MMA. I know she gave some explanation of being obsessed with her team...but she did it while also taking another shot at Miesha (only caring about how her hair looked). Seems like Ronda's been spending too much time with the Diaz brothers and it's rubbing off, lol.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top