UFC 135 could be the last time Matt Hughes fights if he loses, but if he defeats Koshcheck he could ask for a few more fights. UFC 135 will be the first fight he's had since he last December when he lost to GSP by unanimous decision. Koscheck has been asking for Hughes, and now gets him cause of Diego Sanchez pulling out with a hand injury.
Fighting Matt Hughes gives Koscheck a opportunity to probably retire one of the great welterweights that's already in the UFC hall of fame. However going into this fight will rust, and timing be a factor for Koscheck. If so, than how long in the fight will it take Koscheck getting adjusted. Koscheck has all of the tools in MMA to be capable of beating a legend like Hughes. Koscheck could finish Hughes standing with a knockout, because he's got great boxing hands that's put some welterweights away like Yoshida and UFC legend Frank Trigg. He's beaten down, and submitted Anthony Johnson that's an enormous fighter. So, Koscheck is just as dangerous on the ground as he is standing. It will be interesting to see where Koscheck wants to take this fight against Hughes, but I think he needs to spend more time on the offensive end to avoid giving Hughes control of the fight.
One of the things that make fighters with wrestling backgrounds great for mix martial arts is their ability to control fight, and Hughes has been great at that. Koscheck as well got a wrestling background, but its him standing that gives him an advantage against Hughes. Wrestling is where both fighters could be equal, so wrestling Koscheck is where Hughes may take it. If so, than I think Hughes needs to put the pressure on Koscheck early in the fight to keep him on the offensive end. This is a good idea, since timing could be an issue for Koscheck. I think Hughes would need to put the pressure on early, and take this fight to the ground to where this fight could swing into the favor of Hughes.
For Hughes, or Koscheck to win this fight one of them must keep the other person on the offensive. Kosheck may want to keep this standing, because this is where he has a big advantage over Hughes. Hughes definitely wants this fight to get to the ground, and he wants to take it their early to avoid standing with Koscheck. So whoever controls this fight early could be the one being victorious at UFC 135.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
"Questions of UFC 135:Jackson vs Jones"
Man am I pumped for this fight, because it has potential elements in it to make it an exciting fight between number 1 contender Quinton "Rampage"Jackson versus lightweight heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones. The winner of this fight will be taking on Rashad Evans, and there's a 3 way beef among these three fighters that makes the light heavy weight division exciting.
Those elements that make this fight between Jackson versus Jones are first their style, because both fighters have a different style with a same background in wrestling. Jackson style is more of a street brawl type that's looking to use his hands for the knockout, where as Jones style is more flashy to where it incorporates a complete mix martial arts game. Another element that makes this fight exciting is the stages of where both fighters are in their careers. Jackson is in the prime of his career to where he's won 3 of his last 5 fights that's given him a record of 32-8. His wins has come from defeating Dan Henderson by decision, Chuck Liddell by knockout, Wanderlei Silva by knockout, and Lyoto Machida by decision. Yet with his impressive record he is the underdog coming in at this fight at -500, and Jon"Bones"Jones is the future of mix martial arts. Obviously Jones is the current light heavyweight champion, and became the youngest when he defeated Mauricio "Shogun"Rua back in March. He was able to win the belt with only three years of experience in mix martial arts, and there are two things that gives him the edge against opponents. First it is his athleticism of speed, size, strength, and agility. He's able transcend that in his MMA game, and 2nd thing he has over opponents is his insane reach advantage. He has 84.5 reach over his opponents, and these two things are why most people favor him over Jackson. However Jones is getting another test fight against Jackson, because it is his first title defense against another top light heavyweight.
Questions of this fight for Jones are can he defend his title, can he finish Jackson, and will we see him in danger to see how will he respond? Question of this fight for Jackson are will his strength be enough for him to keep this fight standing, can he get through Jones' reach to test his chin with his hands, and we will find the answers to these questions this Saturday at UFC 135. I cannot wait for this fight, because it will be exciting.
Those elements that make this fight between Jackson versus Jones are first their style, because both fighters have a different style with a same background in wrestling. Jackson style is more of a street brawl type that's looking to use his hands for the knockout, where as Jones style is more flashy to where it incorporates a complete mix martial arts game. Another element that makes this fight exciting is the stages of where both fighters are in their careers. Jackson is in the prime of his career to where he's won 3 of his last 5 fights that's given him a record of 32-8. His wins has come from defeating Dan Henderson by decision, Chuck Liddell by knockout, Wanderlei Silva by knockout, and Lyoto Machida by decision. Yet with his impressive record he is the underdog coming in at this fight at -500, and Jon"Bones"Jones is the future of mix martial arts. Obviously Jones is the current light heavyweight champion, and became the youngest when he defeated Mauricio "Shogun"Rua back in March. He was able to win the belt with only three years of experience in mix martial arts, and there are two things that gives him the edge against opponents. First it is his athleticism of speed, size, strength, and agility. He's able transcend that in his MMA game, and 2nd thing he has over opponents is his insane reach advantage. He has 84.5 reach over his opponents, and these two things are why most people favor him over Jackson. However Jones is getting another test fight against Jackson, because it is his first title defense against another top light heavyweight.
Questions of this fight for Jones are can he defend his title, can he finish Jackson, and will we see him in danger to see how will he respond? Question of this fight for Jackson are will his strength be enough for him to keep this fight standing, can he get through Jones' reach to test his chin with his hands, and we will find the answers to these questions this Saturday at UFC 135. I cannot wait for this fight, because it will be exciting.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
"UFC 137 Went From Exciting To Interesting To Exciting."
UFC 137 main event card went from exciting in can't wait for it to interesting can't wait for it, and now it is exciting, and interesting in can't wait for it.
The original main event for UFC 137 was GSP vs Nick Diaz for the welterweight title, and co-main event was B.J.Penn vs Carlos Condit. Cause of Nick Diaz no show at press conference that changed the main event card, and looking at it now it looks like someone flip flop it. You now have GSP vs Carlos Condit for welterweight title that does not build up as exciting, but interesting. Cause of Nick Diaz not showing at the press conference it cost him his shot against GSP for welterweight title, and now will be facing B.J. Penn. That fight has build up to excitement, and could be fight of the night.
GSP vs Condit will be interesting for two reasons, and first one is that this is the first opponent GSP will be facing that's from the same camp of Greg Jackson. Another reason for this to be interesting is that this is the first time during GSP's title reign that an opponent was changed him. Those are the two reasons that makes this fight interesting, and will those reasons be factors in the fight. Them facing each other has changed a lot of things for them as well. Both of them are coached by Greg Jackson, and he's already told them he will not be coaching them. So not only both fighters have coaches change, but also strategy changes for them as well. With all these changes happening which fighter will be affected by it the most, and those reason and factors make this fight interesting.
B.J. Penn vs Strikeforce Welterweight Nick Diaz could be exciting, and has potential to be fight of the night. Both fighters are scrappers, and will both not be afraid in pressing the action. Both of these fighters have great boxing hands, and excellent jiu jitsu. They both like to fight, and those things are what gives this fight potential to be fight of the night. To me Nick Diaz's best strategy to win this fight is take it to the distance, because he's got great cardio. Penn's cardio is one area of his game that people question, but Penn putting Strikeforce Welterweight champion early could propel Penn in the top 3 welterweight if not getting the next title shot. Out of all this UFC 134 shakeup Penn could be the potential winner, and that's what makes UFC 137 still excited to see on Saturday October 29th.
The original main event for UFC 137 was GSP vs Nick Diaz for the welterweight title, and co-main event was B.J.Penn vs Carlos Condit. Cause of Nick Diaz no show at press conference that changed the main event card, and looking at it now it looks like someone flip flop it. You now have GSP vs Carlos Condit for welterweight title that does not build up as exciting, but interesting. Cause of Nick Diaz not showing at the press conference it cost him his shot against GSP for welterweight title, and now will be facing B.J. Penn. That fight has build up to excitement, and could be fight of the night.
GSP vs Condit will be interesting for two reasons, and first one is that this is the first opponent GSP will be facing that's from the same camp of Greg Jackson. Another reason for this to be interesting is that this is the first time during GSP's title reign that an opponent was changed him. Those are the two reasons that makes this fight interesting, and will those reasons be factors in the fight. Them facing each other has changed a lot of things for them as well. Both of them are coached by Greg Jackson, and he's already told them he will not be coaching them. So not only both fighters have coaches change, but also strategy changes for them as well. With all these changes happening which fighter will be affected by it the most, and those reason and factors make this fight interesting.
B.J. Penn vs Strikeforce Welterweight Nick Diaz could be exciting, and has potential to be fight of the night. Both fighters are scrappers, and will both not be afraid in pressing the action. Both of these fighters have great boxing hands, and excellent jiu jitsu. They both like to fight, and those things are what gives this fight potential to be fight of the night. To me Nick Diaz's best strategy to win this fight is take it to the distance, because he's got great cardio. Penn's cardio is one area of his game that people question, but Penn putting Strikeforce Welterweight champion early could propel Penn in the top 3 welterweight if not getting the next title shot. Out of all this UFC 134 shakeup Penn could be the potential winner, and that's what makes UFC 137 still excited to see on Saturday October 29th.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
"Anderson Silva: The Most Dominant Sports Figure Today"
Wow!!!!! That is one of many words that I think of after watching Anderson Silva fight, and him beating Yushin Okami the way he did was no surprise. Prior that fight Anderson was a heavy favorite, but at the same time he had lot to lose. Yushin's small chance of beating Anderson Silva would have made him the first UFC champion from Japan, and it would have taken Anderson's mystique away from him in front of his home crowd. Anderson losing his title in front of his home country was pressure that he faced, and he handled it like "Cool Hand Luke."
His victory against Okami continues to add to his legacy in many ways. This victory adds to his undefeated streak in the UFC that's the longest in UFC history, it also adds to his UFC title defense record of 9, and it allowed Anderson Silva to avenge his last lost that took place in 2006. His overall record is 31-4, and it is the same as Fedor Emelianenko. At one point in Fedor's was argue by MMA fans to be the best fighter in the world with a record at the time was 30-1, but that's not the case anymore. The world's best fighter is Anderson Silva, and those that deny it do it cause they hate the man. His record not only makes him a dominant figure in the fight world, but it makes him the sports world as well.
The last athlete I can think of that dominated sports world the way Anderson Silva is doing it now was Michael Jordan, and that was over a decade ago. Anderson Silva is the Michael Jordan of the fighting world, and punching someone in the face means more than scoring points, hit home runs, and putting golf balls in holes. Knocking someone out, or making them tap out not only puts a win for a fighter, but it also takes someone else's psyche away from them. That person that loses is hoping that he does not lose his job, and if not he has began again at training camp. It is not like he can redeem himself the next day, next weekend by winning. The last time Anderson Silva lost was in 2006, and since than he has a 14-0 record in the UFC. UFC is where all the best fighters come to fight, and Anderson's 14 victories have gone against many different fighters that had different styles. His second fight in the UFC was against Rich Franklin for the UFC middleweight title, and Rich at the time was consider the man to beat. Anderson walks in the cage against Franklin, and dominates him to become UFC middleweight champion in the 1st round. Anderson's first two UFC victories made him the best striker at that division, so UFC makes his next opponent to be Travis Luetter that had great grappling skills. Luetter was expected to get Silva on the ground to submit him, but it was Anderson Silva that submitted him in the second round. That's been the tune that Silva's opponents been singing before their fight that they think their fighting skills was the formula to beat him, and that includes Dan Henderson. Prior to fighting Anderson Silva Dan Henderson was consider the world's best fighter by holding the Pride welterweight and, middleweight title at the same time. Henderson felt his wrestling, and boxing hands thats knocked out people was the right formula beat Silva. Well Anderson defeated Henderson in the second round via submission, and within Anderson's 14 victories are two from defeating two fighters in the light heavy weight division. They are James Irvin, and Forrest Griffin. Forrest Griffin, a former light heavy weight champ, was suppose to put pressure on Silva, but it was Silva that put the pressure on him to knock him out in the first round with a backwards jab. Again Anderson's Silva 31-4 record makes him the most dominant sports figure today.
The first thing that makes it dominant is that it's in a one on one competition, and no one in one on one sports like golf, or tennis has a player that is dominating it. Anderson's victories come from a sport that does not have time outs, halftime, so he is in a competition that goes 25 minutes. Throughout those 25 minutes he only gets up to 5 minute rest, and that comes when the 5 minute rounds end. Throughout those five minutes he uses his cardio, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, speed, explosion, timing, and accuracy. Now throughout his 14 victories in the UFC he's only had 3 fights that went five rounds, so most of his wins have come in dominant fashion in form of knockouts, or submissions. That's another thing that makes Anderson Silva the most dominant figure in sports, because that's like the New England Patriots winning all their games including the Superbowl by at least 4 or more touchdowns each game they played. Anderson's UFC winning streak is impressive as the 72 Dolphins undefeated streak, and his 9 title defense is as impressive as the New York Yankees 27 world series pennant.
No athlete of any other sport is having a dominant era like Anderson Silva is in the UFC. I mean there are sure great athletes of different sports like Tom Brady of football, Kobe Bryant of basketball, and Jimmie Johnson of NASCAR. They are great athletes of their sport, but they do not have the dominance aura like Silva. Tom Brady last championship game he was in was 2005, and his success depended upon someone else. All three of his Superbowl rings came in close games, and his first two rings came from Adam Vinatieri kicking game winning field goals. The same argument could be made for Kobe Bryant, because his success depended on how good his team was. Now Jimmie Johnson has won 5 NASCAR titles in a row, but he only had to win less than 20% of his races to do that. So there are no athletes that can measure their success against Silva's, and that's another reason why Anderson Silva is the most dominant sports figure in sports today.
His victory against Okami continues to add to his legacy in many ways. This victory adds to his undefeated streak in the UFC that's the longest in UFC history, it also adds to his UFC title defense record of 9, and it allowed Anderson Silva to avenge his last lost that took place in 2006. His overall record is 31-4, and it is the same as Fedor Emelianenko. At one point in Fedor's was argue by MMA fans to be the best fighter in the world with a record at the time was 30-1, but that's not the case anymore. The world's best fighter is Anderson Silva, and those that deny it do it cause they hate the man. His record not only makes him a dominant figure in the fight world, but it makes him the sports world as well.
The last athlete I can think of that dominated sports world the way Anderson Silva is doing it now was Michael Jordan, and that was over a decade ago. Anderson Silva is the Michael Jordan of the fighting world, and punching someone in the face means more than scoring points, hit home runs, and putting golf balls in holes. Knocking someone out, or making them tap out not only puts a win for a fighter, but it also takes someone else's psyche away from them. That person that loses is hoping that he does not lose his job, and if not he has began again at training camp. It is not like he can redeem himself the next day, next weekend by winning. The last time Anderson Silva lost was in 2006, and since than he has a 14-0 record in the UFC. UFC is where all the best fighters come to fight, and Anderson's 14 victories have gone against many different fighters that had different styles. His second fight in the UFC was against Rich Franklin for the UFC middleweight title, and Rich at the time was consider the man to beat. Anderson walks in the cage against Franklin, and dominates him to become UFC middleweight champion in the 1st round. Anderson's first two UFC victories made him the best striker at that division, so UFC makes his next opponent to be Travis Luetter that had great grappling skills. Luetter was expected to get Silva on the ground to submit him, but it was Anderson Silva that submitted him in the second round. That's been the tune that Silva's opponents been singing before their fight that they think their fighting skills was the formula to beat him, and that includes Dan Henderson. Prior to fighting Anderson Silva Dan Henderson was consider the world's best fighter by holding the Pride welterweight and, middleweight title at the same time. Henderson felt his wrestling, and boxing hands thats knocked out people was the right formula beat Silva. Well Anderson defeated Henderson in the second round via submission, and within Anderson's 14 victories are two from defeating two fighters in the light heavy weight division. They are James Irvin, and Forrest Griffin. Forrest Griffin, a former light heavy weight champ, was suppose to put pressure on Silva, but it was Silva that put the pressure on him to knock him out in the first round with a backwards jab. Again Anderson's Silva 31-4 record makes him the most dominant sports figure today.
The first thing that makes it dominant is that it's in a one on one competition, and no one in one on one sports like golf, or tennis has a player that is dominating it. Anderson's victories come from a sport that does not have time outs, halftime, so he is in a competition that goes 25 minutes. Throughout those 25 minutes he only gets up to 5 minute rest, and that comes when the 5 minute rounds end. Throughout those five minutes he uses his cardio, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, speed, explosion, timing, and accuracy. Now throughout his 14 victories in the UFC he's only had 3 fights that went five rounds, so most of his wins have come in dominant fashion in form of knockouts, or submissions. That's another thing that makes Anderson Silva the most dominant figure in sports, because that's like the New England Patriots winning all their games including the Superbowl by at least 4 or more touchdowns each game they played. Anderson's UFC winning streak is impressive as the 72 Dolphins undefeated streak, and his 9 title defense is as impressive as the New York Yankees 27 world series pennant.
No athlete of any other sport is having a dominant era like Anderson Silva is in the UFC. I mean there are sure great athletes of different sports like Tom Brady of football, Kobe Bryant of basketball, and Jimmie Johnson of NASCAR. They are great athletes of their sport, but they do not have the dominance aura like Silva. Tom Brady last championship game he was in was 2005, and his success depended upon someone else. All three of his Superbowl rings came in close games, and his first two rings came from Adam Vinatieri kicking game winning field goals. The same argument could be made for Kobe Bryant, because his success depended on how good his team was. Now Jimmie Johnson has won 5 NASCAR titles in a row, but he only had to win less than 20% of his races to do that. So there are no athletes that can measure their success against Silva's, and that's another reason why Anderson Silva is the most dominant sports figure in sports today.
Monday, August 22, 2011
"Innovation of Martial Arts Part 1"
Fighting has been around 6000 years, and I believe it maybe the first form of competition that humans engaged in. In Genesis 4 it has Lamech's lamentation to his wives, and he states that he slain two men. One man he murdered for wounding him, and the other man he murdered him for hurting him. These fights ended in death, but not knowing what started these fights makes it hard to see what initiated it. Obviously Lamech murder these two for attempting to murder him, but nearly in the next 3000 years fighting along the way became a competition. In Genesis 32:24 Moses states that Jacob wrestled with an angel until daybreak, but wrestling with an angel at least 6 hours is a good indication that Jacob knew how to wrestle. Because there is no way a beginner that has never wrestle before to go as long as Jacob did, so Jacob wrestling an angel is a pretty good indication that fighting could be one of the oldest competition.
Fighting being one of the oldest competition finally gets a major network deal to be televised along with the other professional sports like the MLB, NFL, and NASCAR. Last Thursday the UFC( Ultimate Fighting Championship) announced its a major network deal with FOX, and that's the sports milestone that it has been trying to get to in the last nearly 3 decades. There was a lot of innovation that took place along the way that the sport needed to do in order to reach that milestone.
The idea of the UFC belongs to the Gracie family, and they are the Rockefellers in the fighting world. In the fighting world the Gracies' are known for their jiu jitsu, and it was introduce to the world at the first UFC in 93. The reason why the Gracies wanted to do UFC was to promote its Jiu Jitsu to the rest of the world, so people outside of Brazil can see why it was more better than the other forms of fighting. In a way UFC was an informercial for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but it was promoted on PPV to be a no hold bars event open to any fighter regardless of their fight background. This event also did not have a weight class, nor did it have a time limit. Royce Gracie represented the Gracie family, and he was the smallest competitor there weighing around 170 to 180 lbs. He ended winning the first UFC defeating a boxer, shoot fighter that weighed 40 lbs more, and a Savate fighter. Savate is like kickboxing. People watching the event, and fighters participating in the first UFC were exposed to Gracie Jiu Jitsu. After Royce Gracie won 3 out of the first 4 UFCs fighters of different styles began to cross train in different areas of fighting like striking, grappling, and submission. Fighters cross training in different styles is where the term mix martial arts came from, and Gracies caused that innovation of martial arts.
Between now, and 93 the UFC had a lot of uphill battles to overcome for it to be accepted to the mainstream market like the other professional sport leagues. The way the earlier UFCs were being promoted as the most barbaric thing on TV almost killed the organization, because they did not have a lot of ways getting it into mainstream. Most states would not legalize it, so UFC did not have whole lot of venues to display it in front of the public. It was barely on PPV, and to the public eye the UFC was a form of human cockfighting. UFC was a company in the late 90s that was at negative $40 million dollars in profit, so how did it get through to mainstream? Again innovation played a role.
Innovation of Martial Arts continue through a vision of Dana White, and the Fertitta's casino money. Dana White was a former amateur boxer, and boxing manager prior to purchasing UFC. He stated that he was not a fan of the UFC when it started, and what got his interest of it was him trying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from a person he knew that was a cage fighter. He tried Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and it got him curious enough to go to a live event. Going to the alive event along with a friend is where he began to envision on how he can make the sport better. His experience through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu made him realize what kind of athleticism is needed to be a UFC fighter, and his vision of the sport became the driving force that would get UFC into the mainstream market. He convinced his friend's the Fertitta's to invest in it, but White knew that there would be major obstacles that the sport would need to overcome.
Fighting being one of the oldest competition finally gets a major network deal to be televised along with the other professional sports like the MLB, NFL, and NASCAR. Last Thursday the UFC( Ultimate Fighting Championship) announced its a major network deal with FOX, and that's the sports milestone that it has been trying to get to in the last nearly 3 decades. There was a lot of innovation that took place along the way that the sport needed to do in order to reach that milestone.
The idea of the UFC belongs to the Gracie family, and they are the Rockefellers in the fighting world. In the fighting world the Gracies' are known for their jiu jitsu, and it was introduce to the world at the first UFC in 93. The reason why the Gracies wanted to do UFC was to promote its Jiu Jitsu to the rest of the world, so people outside of Brazil can see why it was more better than the other forms of fighting. In a way UFC was an informercial for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but it was promoted on PPV to be a no hold bars event open to any fighter regardless of their fight background. This event also did not have a weight class, nor did it have a time limit. Royce Gracie represented the Gracie family, and he was the smallest competitor there weighing around 170 to 180 lbs. He ended winning the first UFC defeating a boxer, shoot fighter that weighed 40 lbs more, and a Savate fighter. Savate is like kickboxing. People watching the event, and fighters participating in the first UFC were exposed to Gracie Jiu Jitsu. After Royce Gracie won 3 out of the first 4 UFCs fighters of different styles began to cross train in different areas of fighting like striking, grappling, and submission. Fighters cross training in different styles is where the term mix martial arts came from, and Gracies caused that innovation of martial arts.
Between now, and 93 the UFC had a lot of uphill battles to overcome for it to be accepted to the mainstream market like the other professional sport leagues. The way the earlier UFCs were being promoted as the most barbaric thing on TV almost killed the organization, because they did not have a lot of ways getting it into mainstream. Most states would not legalize it, so UFC did not have whole lot of venues to display it in front of the public. It was barely on PPV, and to the public eye the UFC was a form of human cockfighting. UFC was a company in the late 90s that was at negative $40 million dollars in profit, so how did it get through to mainstream? Again innovation played a role.
Innovation of Martial Arts continue through a vision of Dana White, and the Fertitta's casino money. Dana White was a former amateur boxer, and boxing manager prior to purchasing UFC. He stated that he was not a fan of the UFC when it started, and what got his interest of it was him trying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from a person he knew that was a cage fighter. He tried Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and it got him curious enough to go to a live event. Going to the alive event along with a friend is where he began to envision on how he can make the sport better. His experience through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu made him realize what kind of athleticism is needed to be a UFC fighter, and his vision of the sport became the driving force that would get UFC into the mainstream market. He convinced his friend's the Fertitta's to invest in it, but White knew that there would be major obstacles that the sport would need to overcome.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
"Ultimate Mind Games and GSPs Dominance."
This past Thursday UFC, and FOX Sports announces its agreement that will take mix martial arts to another level in the next 7 years. For this major milestone the UFC had its top fighters at the press conference, and one of them was defending welterweight champion George St Pierre. He will defend that title against current "Strikeforce Welterweight champ Nick Diaz that will take place in Oct at UFC 137. Being at the press conference gave media reporters opportunity ask GSP questions about his opponent Nick Diaz, and on that same day "Full Contact Fighter" interviewed Nick Diaz's manager Cesar Gracie. He believes that GSP stalls fights, and as a fight fan he is not a fan of that.
As a fan of mix martial art reading Gracie's statement of GSP having a boring style could have a lot of meaning into it, and one way it comes across to me is it could be playing mind games. We see so much of the physical battles of the sport that we forget about mind games that play just as much of a factor, if not more.Why I see Gracie's statement as away of playing mind games with GSP is that it is a huge fight for his fighter Nick Diaz, and He is looking for whatever potential advantage He can get against GSP.
I think Gracie thinks that playing mind games with GSP will be advantage for Diaz, because he try set up GSP to over commit an attack on Nick Diaz to be in the position for him to be knocked out. Some fighters feel that GSP's weakness is not having a great chin, because of his knockout from Matt Sierra that was his last loss. That is why I think Gracie is playing mind games with GSP, and question is will it pay off?
That's a hard question to answer, because of GSP being so dominate in the last 4 years. 2007 was the last lost GSP had, and since than he was won 9 fights. In those nine fights he has been into 7 title fights, and 6 of those have been title defense. He is with out of doubt the greatest welterweight of all time, because he has pretty much defeated the who's who of the welterweights. Each of his 22 wins have come against fighters with different strengths to put him at a disadvantage, but GSP being one of the most complete fighters has execute game plans to take away their strengths to put him in positions to win the fights. His down point throughout his dominance is that he does not finish fights, but neither did Randy Couture that is in the UFC hall of fame. Him not finishing fights is another way to see his dominance. Since 2007 GSP has fought 36 rounds, and has only lost about 3 rounds. In his last fight against Shields he lost two of the three, but before that it was four years since he lost his last round. From that people can argue that GSP does not finish fights, but what does that say for his opponents that claim to be the ones to finish GSP? After they fought GSP they all combined have an average finish.
From UFC 74 to UFC 129 there are only three fighters to be consider finishers. They are Koscheck, Penn, and Hughes. Some of his the other opponents like Fitch who's last finish via submission was in 2007, Thiago Silva, and Hardy have not had finishes since fighting GSP. These are all welterweights, and their division being one of the toughest could also be a reason why GSP has not finish his fights.
In October at UFC 137 Diaz will have an opportunity to slow down GSP's dominance, and does he have that ability? He's got good stand up, great jiujitsu, and insane cardio. But will that be enough to force pressure on GSP to make him fight, and also create bad spots for GSP? One area Diaz does have questions in is his takedown defense, and will it be enough to limit amount of times GSP taking him down? These questions will be answer at UFC 137 when the talking will end, and the fight will answer these questions
As a fan of mix martial art reading Gracie's statement of GSP having a boring style could have a lot of meaning into it, and one way it comes across to me is it could be playing mind games. We see so much of the physical battles of the sport that we forget about mind games that play just as much of a factor, if not more.Why I see Gracie's statement as away of playing mind games with GSP is that it is a huge fight for his fighter Nick Diaz, and He is looking for whatever potential advantage He can get against GSP.
I think Gracie thinks that playing mind games with GSP will be advantage for Diaz, because he try set up GSP to over commit an attack on Nick Diaz to be in the position for him to be knocked out. Some fighters feel that GSP's weakness is not having a great chin, because of his knockout from Matt Sierra that was his last loss. That is why I think Gracie is playing mind games with GSP, and question is will it pay off?
That's a hard question to answer, because of GSP being so dominate in the last 4 years. 2007 was the last lost GSP had, and since than he was won 9 fights. In those nine fights he has been into 7 title fights, and 6 of those have been title defense. He is with out of doubt the greatest welterweight of all time, because he has pretty much defeated the who's who of the welterweights. Each of his 22 wins have come against fighters with different strengths to put him at a disadvantage, but GSP being one of the most complete fighters has execute game plans to take away their strengths to put him in positions to win the fights. His down point throughout his dominance is that he does not finish fights, but neither did Randy Couture that is in the UFC hall of fame. Him not finishing fights is another way to see his dominance. Since 2007 GSP has fought 36 rounds, and has only lost about 3 rounds. In his last fight against Shields he lost two of the three, but before that it was four years since he lost his last round. From that people can argue that GSP does not finish fights, but what does that say for his opponents that claim to be the ones to finish GSP? After they fought GSP they all combined have an average finish.
From UFC 74 to UFC 129 there are only three fighters to be consider finishers. They are Koscheck, Penn, and Hughes. Some of his the other opponents like Fitch who's last finish via submission was in 2007, Thiago Silva, and Hardy have not had finishes since fighting GSP. These are all welterweights, and their division being one of the toughest could also be a reason why GSP has not finish his fights.
In October at UFC 137 Diaz will have an opportunity to slow down GSP's dominance, and does he have that ability? He's got good stand up, great jiujitsu, and insane cardio. But will that be enough to force pressure on GSP to make him fight, and also create bad spots for GSP? One area Diaz does have questions in is his takedown defense, and will it be enough to limit amount of times GSP taking him down? These questions will be answer at UFC 137 when the talking will end, and the fight will answer these questions
Saturday, January 1, 2011
"What Brock Lesnar can learn from GSP."
Brock Lesnar and George St Pierre are two fighters that makes an interesting comparison to see what they have in common, and what makes them different. There three things that I think about when I compare these two fighters to see where their similarities are, and the first similarity that comes to mind when comparing them is athleticism. Both of their athleticism come from years of hard work, and the desire to be a champion at whatever they did. The next similarity that comes to mind is they are both move with explosive speed with their takedowns, and the other similarity is they both are great PPV draws for the UFC. Those are the three similarities that comes to mind when comparing them, and their differences are very interesting as well.
One of their differences is their attitude towards their opponents with GSP having respect for his opponents, while Brock Lesnar does not talk about respecting his opponents. Personality wise they are also different with GSP being extrovert, while Lesnar is more of an introvert when not being in a UFC fight. One of the biggest differences between GSP and Lesnar is the way they win the fight. GSP utilizes a game plan against opponents that allows him to use his athleticism in favorable position, while Lesnar is still just using his athleticism to defeat opponents. While GSP is overall a better mix martial artist than Lesnar, he used to use his athleticism to beat opponents until he lost to Matt Serra. That lost to Serra completely change GSP's approach, and one of the big changes he made was going to Greg Jackson's camp to help him utilize his skills more efficiently in game plans that have led him to a 8 fight winning streak that includes 5 title defenses. GSP is now talked about as maybe the greatest welterweight in the history of the sport, and is also talked about as one of the best pound for pound fighter in the world. GSP was on a fast track for success until he lost to Serra, and Brock Lesnar is now in a similar situation. He came into UFC winning 4 of his first five fights that have included 2 title defenses, and one of his title defenses was against a person that gave him his first lost in his UFC debut. Lesnar was winning his fights through his athleticism, but Lesnar's last fight was against someone who was overall a better fighter that was able to execute a game plan to neutralize his athleticism to give him his second lost.
One of the things Lesnar could learn from GSP to get back his UFC title is becoming a better strategist, and also improving his stand up game so setup his explosive takedowns to get his opponents on the ground to be on top of them to where odds of winning the fight will favor him. I do not think Lesnar needs to do alot of traveling like GSP does for different disciplines, but geting a strategist like a Greg Jackson can make a difference like comparing day to night. One of the persons that I think would make a great strategist for Lesnar would be Randy Couture. I think Lesnar working with Couture for a fight would be great not only for strategy, but also Randy could help him with standup to have better timing with his strikes. Being a better strategists is one of the things Lesnar can learn from GSP.
One of their differences is their attitude towards their opponents with GSP having respect for his opponents, while Brock Lesnar does not talk about respecting his opponents. Personality wise they are also different with GSP being extrovert, while Lesnar is more of an introvert when not being in a UFC fight. One of the biggest differences between GSP and Lesnar is the way they win the fight. GSP utilizes a game plan against opponents that allows him to use his athleticism in favorable position, while Lesnar is still just using his athleticism to defeat opponents. While GSP is overall a better mix martial artist than Lesnar, he used to use his athleticism to beat opponents until he lost to Matt Serra. That lost to Serra completely change GSP's approach, and one of the big changes he made was going to Greg Jackson's camp to help him utilize his skills more efficiently in game plans that have led him to a 8 fight winning streak that includes 5 title defenses. GSP is now talked about as maybe the greatest welterweight in the history of the sport, and is also talked about as one of the best pound for pound fighter in the world. GSP was on a fast track for success until he lost to Serra, and Brock Lesnar is now in a similar situation. He came into UFC winning 4 of his first five fights that have included 2 title defenses, and one of his title defenses was against a person that gave him his first lost in his UFC debut. Lesnar was winning his fights through his athleticism, but Lesnar's last fight was against someone who was overall a better fighter that was able to execute a game plan to neutralize his athleticism to give him his second lost.
One of the things Lesnar could learn from GSP to get back his UFC title is becoming a better strategist, and also improving his stand up game so setup his explosive takedowns to get his opponents on the ground to be on top of them to where odds of winning the fight will favor him. I do not think Lesnar needs to do alot of traveling like GSP does for different disciplines, but geting a strategist like a Greg Jackson can make a difference like comparing day to night. One of the persons that I think would make a great strategist for Lesnar would be Randy Couture. I think Lesnar working with Couture for a fight would be great not only for strategy, but also Randy could help him with standup to have better timing with his strikes. Being a better strategists is one of the things Lesnar can learn from GSP.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)