UFC 154: 'St Pierre vs Condit'

[Snake Plissken]

I think that Hendricks has a decent shout to face GSP next over Diaz if this stupid mismatch with Silva doesn't come off. Hendricks is like Clubber Lang in Rocky III to GSPs Rocky.

[wandshogun09]

People are talking as if it's either Anderson vs GSP or Anderson vs Jones. In that case I'd rather Anderson vs Jones as well. But we don't have to settle for one, why can't we have both?

 

Personally I think Anderson would beat GSP as well but to call it a stupid mismatch or totally count GSP's chances out is way off in my opinion. Anderson showed improved takedown defence in the Chael rematch but that doesn't mean GSP couldn't take him down. Chael's bigger but GSP's faster and has better timing. And GSP has much better submission defence than Chael. It would be a big ask for him to do that for 25 minutes without getting caught but it's not impossible. I'd certainly give him a better shot than Bisping would have. I'd pick Silva by KO but it's still a fight that really interests me.

 

And anyway, it's nothing to do with who would win for me. I just want to see the 2 guys who have been killing everyone at their weight class for years fight each other. Just because people think one guy will win doesn't mean they should never make the fight. If that's the case then Jon Jones might as well take a couple of years off because no-one at 205 right now looks like beating him.

[jimufctna24]

Personally I think Anderson would beat GSP as well but to call it a stupid mismatch or totally count GSP's chances out is way off in my opinion. Anderson showed improved takedown defence in the Chael rematch but that doesn't mean GSP couldn't take him down. Chael's bigger but GSP's faster and has better timing. And GSP has much better submission defence than Chael. It would be a big ask for him to do that for 25 minutes without getting caught but it's not impossible. I'd certainly give him a better shot than Bisping would have. I'd pick Silva by KO but it's still a fight that really interests me.

I think Anderson would find it easier to scramble with GSP than he did with Chael, as GSP is much smaller and would not overpower Anderson as much. No way do I see Anderson subbing GSP of his back.

 

GSP does have a chance, but its a very big ask for him to control Anderson for 25 mins.

[David]

It's obvious listening to St-Pierre that he isn't all that motivated for the fight. He's mentioned the time off he'd need to take in order to put on the size required to face someone like Anderson, and after his knee injury and his long layoff I simply don't believe he wants to go through with that.

 

There's plenty of challengers at 170lbs for him, so he doesn't need the fight.

[jimufctna24]

If he does not take it his legacy will be tarnished slightly though.

 

It would be seen as a blatant case of ducking, the UFC are really pushing this one very openly. His reputation could take a serious knock if he says no.

[Heatseeker]

I found myself rooting for GSP after seeing how fired up he was. The leg kick in the 3rd was scary. Condit is a beast and looked like he was going to kill someone. I kinda felt GSP was going in the underdog when Buffer was doing the introductions. I was gutted for Kampman, I'm not sure why but there is something I dislike about Hendricks, maybe it was the fact he lays claim to being the only man to finish Fitch. The rest of the card wasn't great but the opening round of the Hominick fight was outstanding.

[Egg Shen]

If he does not take it his legacy will be tarnished slightly though.

 

It would be a blatant case of ducking, the UFC are really pushing this one very openly. His reputation could take a serious knock if he says no.

i dont agree with that. It seems like GSP is the one being asked to go out of hos comfort zone to fight, you cant blame him for being apprehensive. I know you can call GSP a hypocrite because he took on a smaller BJ Penn when he stepped up but thats on BJs head not GSP's.

[David]

If he does not take it his legacy will be tarnished slightly though.

 

It would be a blatant case of ducking, the UFC are really pushing this one very openly. His reputation could take a serious knock if he says no.

It's not a blatant case of ducking, it's simply not willing to give up a considerable size difference against the best fighter in the world. This is a quote from St-Pierre at the press conference;

 

"The thing is 177, OK. I show up 177. Then, the night of the fight I'm 185. Then him, he's maybe 205-210. I don't know how big he is. He's maybe 225-230. He's a big guy! He's a very big guy!"

If GSP listens to his coaches, you can be sure the fight won't happen. There's no way Greg Jackson or Firas Zahabi advise him to take that fight, especially when he could push for the Diaz fight and get that next if he wanted it.

[jimufctna24]

If GSP fights anyone next at 170lbs it will be Johnny Hendricks.

 

I get your point and it makes sense, but some fans are going to look at GSP saying no and treat it as ducking, no matter what the circumstances are behind it.

 

MMA fans will not see it from GSP's point of view, now the UFC and Anderson have entertained the fight so openly to the public. I do not really blame him for balking away, its not like he has been openly screaming to fight Anderson, but the UFC have cornered him.

[David]

All of the comments I've read in the comments sections of various online articles on the subject pretty much claim that seeing Anderson fight a smaller man isn't getting them fired up. The fight everyone wants to see is Jones/Silva.

[jimufctna24]

If that is true and a genuine reflection of the fanbase as a whole, then the UFC promotion has backfired and I stand corrected.

 

I am not condoning the UFC tactics or justifying them, it would be quite counter productive if they smear GSP if he turns it down. Yesterday, Dana was positive that the fight would happen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pamZXpr5Zc...feature=g-all-f

 

We all know how Dana reacts when people turn down fights regardless of the circumstances.

 

And a large portion of fans agree with him.

[Supremo]

If that is true and a genuine reflection of the fanbase as a whole, then the UFC promotion has backfired and I stand corrected.

It won't be a reflection of the fanbase as a whole. If they book GSP vs. Silva it'll be a huge success for the company.

[David]

I'm not wanting to talk shit about Dana again, but this is another example of him being slightly retarded. Why the fuck would you have Anderson Silva at cageside & make noises about a "superfight" unless you had at the very least a handshake agreement from both fighters that they were willing to sign up for it?

 

Surely he should have had a long talk with St-Pierre before he started talking about dates and venues? Now what we have is another instance of White jumping in and being a numpty, only for it to backfire on him. If things go as they usually do he'll be quick to paint everyone from St-Pierre to Mike Winkeljohn, to Greg Jackson as the people to blame.

 

Everyone except him, of course.

[jimufctna24]

I'm not wanting to talk shit about Dana again, but this is another example of him being slightly retarded. Why the fuck would you have Anderson Silva at cageside & make noises about a "superfight" unless you had at the very least a handshake agreement from both fighters that they were willing to sign up for it?

He was under the assumption that GSP would take the fight if you believe the interview. I hate conspiracy theories, but I stongly think he flew Anderson over to strong arm GSP to take the fight, I think he was quietly aware GSP was not exactly keen and tried to pressure him before asking his straight.

 

The bit I bolded made me almost spit my brew out with laughter.

 

I agree Supremo, and I think that GSP vs Anderson would do bigger money than Anderson vs Jones, as GSP is a bigger draw than Jones.

[David]

If that is true and a genuine reflection of the fanbase as a whole, then the UFC promotion has backfired and I stand corrected.

It won't be a reflection of the fanbase as a whole. If they book GSP vs. Silva it'll be a huge success for the company.

Of course it will. It'll make Dana and the Fertittas shitloads of cash, which is all that matters, right? As long as those PPV numbers are attractive then who gives a shit? Sure, St-Pierre will make some good money from it too, but enough to warrant him getting a complete fucking pasting? Will he still be as viable a commodity after that?

 

Anyone who is even half-smart to how an actual MMA bout works will know that St-Pierre has virtually no chance of winning. He'd be fighting a guy who can stand toe to toe with 205lbs fighters and not look out of place. St-Pierre was dwarfed by Carlos Condit on Saturday night, and that was a 170lbs fight.

 

Why do you think Anderson doesn't want to fight Jon Jones? Because he knows that it's pretty much a given that he won't be able to win the fight. He knows this, and he's smart enough to not take the fight.

 

The odds against St-Pierre beating Silva are much, much greater. As I said before, I don't see Greg Jackson or Firas Zahabi advising him that the fight is in his best interests. There's a fight with Hendricks, and more importantly, a fight against Nick Diaz that would be huge.