Official UFC Thread - Part 5

[CrypticOne]

Hendricks was getting tired in the 2nd round. Started throwing one shot at a time. Now I agree, Hendricks did more damage when he got his takedowns and when he landed on the feet. But GSP looked to be the busier fighter. Throwing combos, kicks. He outstruck Hendricks. Plain and simple. He outlanded him in the takedowns too. Did no damage with them, but he outworked him.

Now, I'm not a GSP fan, I'm not a Hendricks fan. I actually dislike both, but that's just my opinion.

 

[badgrammar]

Clearly you weren't.

Hendricks won rounds 1, 2, and 4.

GSP won rounds 3 and 5.

Bam! Hendricks should be your new champ.

I wonder how many Bane fans are into Mixed martial arts compared to Joker fans...

 

[E-Man]

I love me some GSP. I will always be a fan, but Hendricks should have got that decision. The only way I could see them giving it to GSP is by that first round that wasn't as dominating as the other Hendricks rounds, but even then Hendricks showed to be the stronger fighter with better offense. Hopefully GSP takes care of his personal life though. I would hate to see a young guy like that lose control of things, so he should take all the time he needs while Hendricks fights someone like Lawler for the new title.

 

[CrypticOne]

Man.... Dana White speaking the TRUTH at the post fight presser.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

That post fight presser got so awkward when GSP showed up.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Hendricks was getting tired in the 2nd round. Started throwing one shot at a time. Now I agree, Hendricks did more damage when he got his takedowns and when he landed on the feet. But GSP looked to be the busier fighter. Throwing combos, kicks. He outstruck Hendricks. Plain and simple. He outlanded him in the takedowns too. Did no damage with them, but he outworked him.

Now, I'm not a GSP fan, I'm not a Hendricks fan. I actually dislike both, but that's just my opinion.

While Hendricks slowed down after round two, that hardly explains how GSP won the fourth round. George might have slipped but it lead to Johny scoring and landing significant ground-and-pound strikes. The rest of the round was composed of GSP and Hendricks fighting for favorable positioning (which ended up being even). St. Pierre had no advantage in that round whatsoever in terms of scoring. Therefore, bull****. No way in hell did GSP win that fight.

 

[TheVileOne]

I thought Hendricks won, but I figured it would get a weird split decision by how slow it was getting in the second half.

Anyway, I'm glad Lawler won. He really gave it his all and left it all out there against MacDonald.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

God, I hate that Rory. His psycho act isn't impressing me. It's bad enough he thinks he can follow GSP's recipe for success. Whatever. I'm happy Lawler won. This just makes the title picture for the welterweight division more interesting. If Condit beats Brown, I wanna see a Condit/Hendricks rematch for the title with Lawler being the number one contender.

 

[Marvin]

^No matter how many times Condit loses he always seems to be in title contention. Too bad it doesn't work the same way in other div. When jones beats someone, or they loose in lhw or you're frank mir, you lose you fall.

Good fight tonight, at the end of the day I'm glad Johnny is finally getting the respect he deserves. To do that to this gsp character of all people. He's the stud of the ufc right now imo.

Based on the point rule system, there could be an argument for gsp winning the 1st/3rd/last. Not that I at all agree but that's what the points on the judges cards say. I however would argue that they need to figure out just what is worthy of points in this versatile sport. Any one and their mother could watch this fight and decide who won the "fight".

 

[Mace Bloodstone]

Hendricks did more damage when he got his takedowns and when he landed on the feet.

But GSP looked to be the busier fighter. Throwing combos, kicks. He outstruck Hendricks.

True.

This is really what the problem is when it comes to scoring a fight like this, the judges are gonna score it for the busier fighter. Unless it's total domination the damage you inflict on your opponent is almost meaningless when it comes to the scoring system the judges use.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

^No matter how many times Condit loses he always seems to be in title contention. Too bad it doesn't work the same way in other div. When jones beats someone, or they loose in lhw or you're frank mir, you lose you fall.

Condit is a fan favorite because of his fighting style. He gives it his all on virtually every fight (other than the Diaz fight). His bouts with GSP and Hendricks were easily FOTY contenders. Eventually, his body won't be able to cash those checks anymore but it's damn exciting to watch Carlos fight. He recently put on a clinic against Kampmann and picked him apart. Without a doubt, with GSP 'retiring', Condit is the second best welterweight in the world.

Good fight tonight, at the end of the day I'm glad Johnny is finally getting the respect he deserves. To do that to this gsp character of all people. He's the stud of the ufc right now imo.

Based on the point rule system, there could be an argument for gsp winning the 1st/3rd/last. Not that I at all agree but that's what the points on the judges cards say. I however would argue that they need to figure out just what is worthy of points in this versatile sport. Any one and their mother could watch this fight and decide who won the "fight".

I don't see how GSP won the first round at all.

 

[Marvin]

All I'm saying is I rarely see someone loose as much as condit and still be in this position. Especially with back to back losses(I think).
Without moving into a new div.

I don't think gsp won the first round either. I just think if hendricks knew the judges had the fight scored in a way he and his corner didn't, he would have done things differently in the last round. Unfortunate, but you are dealing with the master of winning fight by points lol. Of course gsp wins by the judges.

What happened last night was similar to the jones situation. Coaches need to look at just what it is that is making a champion dominate and figure out how to negate that. With jones, it was pretty obvious he uses his reach on everyone. With gsp, there was always an element of him fighting his(often smaller) opponents where they don't want to fight. When hendricks there was simply nowhere George was stronger. I knew that would happen.
I love this hendricks guy.

 

[B]

You would think hearing some of the reactions that Hendricks obliterated GSP & it was a robbery. Dana White made it seem like it was a blow out.

Only watched the fight once & my initial reaction was that Hendricks had won 3 rounds to 2, however it was a close 3 rounds to 2, which is why I don't think the decision was overly controversial or even coming close to some of the many bad decisions in MMA/UFC.

 

[Batmannerism]

Dudes,

I'm a huge GSP fan, but even I can admit it's been ages since he finished anyone.
He's still great, but even the great have their time. (and we all know what happens when
they try to hold on too long).

Even though he beat Condit and Shields reasonably convincingly, I would hate to see
him win fights just for turning up....he's too classy a guy.

I reckon if he really did lose 3:2, as everyone seems to think, he should get a rematch with Hendricks, and then retire, win or lose.

Everyone will still respect him, we respect the man, not the number of victories.

Besides, GSP has shown himself capable of comebacks from defeat.


What's the story on the retirement dudes ? I can't seem to find a reasonably definitive answer, who's the information coming from.

I got no prob with GSP retiring, on a win or a loss, if he goes out with honour. He's been a class act since day one, and should finish that way.

(BTW, he must have beat the record for title defences by now, Is that right ? )

Go GSP, but it's always better to go when they want you to stay, rather than stay when they want you to go.

Cheers.

 

[TheVileOne]

Honestly, I don't see why UFC doesn't just talk to GSP and if he really needs time off, strip him of the title, make a new title fight with Hendricks and Lawler and call it a day.

Even if GSP doesn't retire, why can't they strip him of the belt? He's saying he needs time off and is talking like he wants to retire. So just bite the bullet and say, we need to strip him of the title because he needs to figure things out and we need a champion.

It's not ideal but its better than all this current chaos.

 

[Mace Bloodstone]

Having GSP with the belt might be a big selling point for ufc when it comes to endorsements and selling tickets in GSP's home country. Dana can pretend to be outraged that Hendricks didn't get the decision, but I think he's just BS-ing... he's just trying to sell a rematch because $$ is all that matters.

 

[TheVileOne]

We'll see. I think GSP literally needs to get his head checked because I think some of this is concussion damage, but that's just a theory.

 

[genesisDoes1t]

GSP should finish his fight next time or just retire. Seems like his last few fights, he just cruise and just do enough to win the fight. Bring back the old GSP.

 

[E-Man]

Rogan was saying something about GSP getting blurry vision when hit or something like that. I don't know how true that is, but if it is I would rather see him retire than be punch drunk. He's an elegant and articulate guy, and it would suck to see him with slurred speech in the future if he is having issues like Rogan may have been speculating.

 

[TheVileOne]

It could've just been because of the fight.

But I mean, these guys get hit in the face for a living. Hard to believe there won't be long-term damage.

GSP says he's already going back to training in Montreal just for himself. So I dunno. I would advocate he get a full workup just to check and make sure.

I think UFC should just strip him of the title and make a new title fight.

 

[Perfect Cell]

I believe there's a statistic out there that says around 40% of the total significant strikes GSP has absorbed in his entire career occurred over his last three fights. Which is crazy. He's still a top-level fighter, but he's clearly on the down slope. If he truly wants to retire, he should be able to. If he wants to take time away to heal up mentally and physically, he should be able to do that too. But he should be stripped, like TheVileOne says. But since there's so much money in a GSP/Hendricks rematch (or any GSP fight, really), I'm sure the UFC will push for the rematch regardless.

 

[TheVileOne]

I just don't get all the hysteria.

But just say, "OK GSP needs time off away from the sport but we have to continue our business. We are stripping him of the title an Johny Hendricks will face such and such contender for the belt."

Again, this is not the ideal situation. But GSP is being wishy washy about whatever. If he needs time away, that sounds like he needs a year or more.

Honestly I don't take retirement seriously in this sport because look at Randy Couture.

He lost at light heavyweight twice. Retired. One year later he wins the UFC heavyweight title. So he didn't even stay "retired" for a full calendar year.

Tito Ortiz's own retirement didn't last long either but then he got injured again .

 

[Perfect Cell]

It's true that most fighters seem to have a hard time pulling away and staying retired, but GSP has always seemed to be wired different than most fighters. He admits when he's hurt, he admits to feeling fear before fights, he admits to a lot of weaknesses that most fighters never dare to show. I think if he retires, he stays retired, particularly since money won't be an issue (depending on whatever "personal issues" he truly has). But if he only wants a hiatus, he would be stripped of the title in an ideal world to keep the division moving. But I just don't think that'll happen. I think the UFC will hold out hopes that they can convince him to return sooner than he wants, which is what I expect will happen.

 

[Donnie Darko]

So who takes it this weekend, Hunt or Big Foot?

 

[Mace Bloodstone]

Both coming off a loss. Hunt can take more of a beating, I'd give the edge to him... But he's 39 though, the last fight might have taken a lot out of him.