UFC 158: 'St Pierre vs Diaz'

[pryko]

I'm in a caravan in Wales for the weekend. Hooked up some on site wifi on my iPad and downloaded SkyGo. As long as I can stay awake and not stop anyone else in the caravan from sleeping, I'm all over this tonight. Lets go Diaz

[wandshogun09]

Ha that's some dedication.

 

It still doesn't seem like this fight is happening tonight for me. It's weird. After the years of talking, people debating online, all the times the fight was meant to happen but got ballsed up - it just doesn't feel like the fight is actually happening in a few hours. It's one of them fights, like Chuck vs Wandy, which won't seem real until it's actually happening.

[firstnameunknown]

ESPN have this starting at 2am rather than 3am. Is that right..?

[hbk4life]

ESPN have this starting at 2am rather than 3am. Is that right..?

Yeah the main show starts at 2am tonight.

 

My picks are:

 

GSP - Decision

Condit - Decision

Marquardt - Decision

Ring - Decision

Ricci - TKO/KO R2

 

I changed my mind on what I think will happen in the Condit/Hendriks fight so many times. I still can't see past a complete GSP domination, it would be great if we get a couple competitive rounds though.

[444 4444]

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

After watching the pre fight press conference and weigh in I'm now a bit excited. I still think, despite all the hype and trash talk, it'll be the usual GSP 5 round grinder, but St Pierre's level of agitation at both the presser and the weigh ins does raise some questions.

 

My main card picks:

 

GSP UD

Condit SD

Marquardt R2 TKO

Ring UD

Freakshow R1 Sub

 

And here we go!

[wandshogun09]

Love this picture;

 

 

And I didn't know this but Condit sparred Austin Trout as part of his training for this fight;

 

 

Quote from Trout;

 

It was good. I got to taste that right hand and it makes me feel real tough that I'm still standing here to talk to you today... Carlos is good people - New Mexico strong... I just sparred with a UFC world champion. It was an honor to be in the cage with Carlos Condit.

 

Nice to see these crossovers now and then.

 

EDIT - Also, in the opening post I put Yves Jabouin vs Johnny Eduardo as a Facebook prelim. I must've got that from MMAJunkie's listings. When did that fight get binned? It's not listed anymore for the card.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Great prelims, but the main card mostly blew. Thank God for Hendricks and Condit.

 

Freakshow vs. Ricci was really bad. A lot of TUF competitors rapidly improve between the show and actually fighting in the UFC, but those two seem to have done the opposite. Exciting and dangerous on the show, dull and somewhat tentative in both their first two UFC fights. Both guys need to find confidence and fight like they first did.

 

Marquardt's days as a fringe elite fighter may be done. He got absolutely decimated.

 

Hendricks/Condit is right behind Wandy/Stann for me as FOTY. I felt like Condit did a lot more damage while Hendricks' main thing was the takedown, Condit avoided most of the strikes and landed a lot from what I could tell. Either way, great intense action that not only stole the show, but saved it.

 

GSP/Diaz was frustrating. Diaz seemed to overestimate what he could do off his back so didn't even try to stop the takedown for about 3 rounds. Then he seemed way too wrapped up in taunting to bother attacking. And GSP is getting super frustrating for his insistence on scoring points without looking for a finish. He constantly had dominant position, but seemed content to just ride Diaz. When you're outclassing your opponent to that degree, you should be putting the stamp on it by trying to finish. Georges had excuses in the past-he tore his groin vs. Alves, he was actively trying subs with Hardy, he hurt his eye against Shields, and was working through ring rust with Condit, but he's got nothing to fall back on here. Diaz said something post fight about his face being busted, yet he was barely marked in comparison to the damage GSP had.

 

Stuff like that is why Anderson and Jones are ranked ahead of GSP on the P4P list.

[wandshogun09]

Good show. Couple of disappointing fights but a few great ones and a bunch of finishes. Fun show all in all.

 

GSP vs Diaz

Went how everyone expected pretty much. GSP's wrestling was just too much and made the difference in the end. He won every round and I gave him the first 10-8 because Diaz did nothing that round. One thing that impressed me though was Diaz's ability to keep getting up. It didn't do him a lot of good because he wasn't able to capitalize on the feet and usually got taken down again, but I fully expected that once GSP took him down he would be stuck there. He did a great job avoiding damage and getting back up. Shame he wasn't able to make it more competitive.

 

I did start to think during that spell in the 3rd, that he might just pull it off. GSP looked tired and Diaz was starting to land a lot. After that he did a good job stuffing some takedowns as well. Diaz's cardio really is nuts, I've never seen GSP looked as winded as he did in the 3rd. I thought that might be the turning point but GSP kept his head and did what he had to do to take the last 2 rounds.

 

Not a great fight but as one sided fights go, it wasn't that bad. Diaz was active enough on bottom to keep it alive. It had it's moments. I liked the duelling spinning back kicks bit especially, even though they both missed.

 

Hendricks vs Condit

This was fantastic. Easily FOTN. Not much more to say, it was non-stop never a boring moment. Hendricks left hand is fucking lethal and Condit showed how stupidly tough his chin is a few times. A chin so tough Hendricks hurt his hand punching it. Loved this fight.

 

I had it for Hendricks 29-28 with Condit winning the 3rd. But I'll rewatch it because the 2nd round is hazy. I might have had Condit nicking that as well. Close fight either way, but it's one of them fights where if the fight was scored as a whole as oppose to round by round I'd definitely have Condit winning. He was winning the striking for large parts of the fight and when it went to the ground he was doing more damage off his back. Hendricks scored takedowns but wasn't able to do anything to Condit on the ground really the whole fight.

 

Wasn't a bad decision either way and how can you complain after a fight like that?

 

 

 

Ellenberger vs Marquardt

I thought Marquardt would be able to outlast Ellenberger, tire him out and finish him late. I still think had it gone longer that might have happened but we'll never know...

 

 

 

That's the problem, to gas Ellenberger out you have to get through the first round when his power is ridiculous. This was a huge win for Ellenberger, in almost 50 fights Marquardt had only been stopped by strikes once and that was at the hands of Anderson Silva. So this is a massive statement. If Hendricks wasn't so overdue as #1 contender Ellenberger would probably be getting the title shot after that.

 

Ricci vs Freakshow

Sad to see Freakshow lose. Wasn't keen on this fight to be honest. Wasn't that bad but I had higher expectations I think. I hope you lot were right and Freakshow gets another shot. It wasn't like he was dominated and he's marketable and would be a good addition to a UK card.

 

Cote vs Voelker

I had Voelker winning this. I thought the standup was quite even but I felt like Voelker rocked Cote more than Cote hurt Voelker and the takedowns and ground and pound from Voelker edged it for him for me. Bit of a hometown decision for me. But it was a cracking fight all the same, really enjoyed it. Cote looked good for his first time at 170.

 

Makdessi vs Cruickshank

I really liked this fight, I can't believe the fans were booing at times. Great technical striking match, it was like something out of a Bruce Lee film at points. It just seemed like Makdessi was the better boxer and was able to counter the kicks well with his punches and he shut Cruickshank down late on.

 

*TJ Dillashaw's headkick/knee KO was great. Dillashaw's striking looks much improved. The way he set up the finish was brilliant as well.

 

*Jordan Mein adds to the list of Strikeforce fighters coming in with a bang. Dan Miller's a good fighter and known for his toughness, Mein couldn't have asked for a better debut. Escaped the armbar and put away a tough fighter like Miller in a round.

 

*Rick Story looked good. I don't know enough about Mulhern to read too much into it but it's a good step in the right direction. Story's kind of been forgotten after some of his losses, especially the Maia fight. But he's a darkhorse, he has wins over Hendricks and Alves. He can give a lot of guys a rough night.

 

*The Elkins/Carvalho stoppage looked early to me. But he did look fucked before the last knockdown, it's one of them where it's easy to say sitting at home but when you're the ref in there and you're making split second decisions I can see why he thought Carvalho was done. In hindsight it looked early for sure to me, which is a shame for all involved.

 

EDIT -

 

Watching the press conference, GSP answered the steroid question very well. Didn't come across defensive at all this time and he said he's against steroids and TRT and would be willing to do Olympic level drug testing.

 

He also seemed more up for fighting Anderson than he has before. Well kind of. He hinted that now he's got 2 fights under his belt since the injury he might be more up for it. That's the impression I got anyway but it sounded like he's hoping Weidman beats Anderson so everyone will shut the fuck up about it. He seemed up for the Hendricks fight as well.

 

Diaz said he's retiring because he feels like he's fought everyone he wanted to. But in the next breath he was saying he'd like a rematch, and even mentioned again about fighting Anderson. I think he'll fight again. If he's already mentioning rematches I'm pretty sure he'll be back.

 

EDIT 2 -

 

Ariel Helwani ‏@arielhelwani

 

Highlight of the night? Nick sees my shoes, gives me a hug and says with a smile: "what's wrong with you, bro?"

 

The shoes...

 

 

Jesus, what is wrong with him?

[kev2050]

GSP vs Diaz was disappointingly predictable. I think everyone should have known that is what would happen, but got caught up in the hype to think it would be more of a fight than that. GSP is really frustrating to watch sometimes. He is clearly one of the best in the world, but always plays it safe, which is very smart, but I just don't find myself getting excited when he is fighting.

 

I'm a lot more sold on Hendricks now, I thought Condit would beat him, but credit to him. I still think GSP cruises through him in a boring 5 round decision via takedowns and control.

[David]

My prediction for the main event hasn't changed since we first discussed the possibility of this fight. St-Pierre outwrestles and outgrapples Diaz en route to a decision victory, which will leave Diaz in a rage, moaning about how St-Pierre didn't fight "like a real man" and other such nonsense, before he retires again and goes away in the huff.

 

Oh, and we'll also have to listen to Rogan desperately try to keep the casual fan interested during the bout by repeatedly banging on about how Diaz is a Gracie-trained BJJ player who could reverse the masterclass in grappling at any point with a "sick" submission.

 

He won't though.

Anyone want the lottery numbers for next week?

 

Also, I saw this on Twitter which made me chuckle;

 

Nick Diaz seems to be peaking beautifully at 5:01 of each round

[jimufctna24]

Interesting show.

 

GSP was dominant for the first two rounds, pretty much doing as he pleased with Diaz. The last 3 he clearly won also, but GSP like with Condit did show some vulnerability which he did not show in years present. Diaz had a few decent flurries and took very little damage on the ground, plus in the cardio stakes both looked as fresh as each other when the final bell rang. A commanding performance from GSP and one that underlined his legacy further with the high status of the fight, but I do think he is capable of been beat at 170lbs which was not the case 4 years back.

 

Hendricks and Condit was a war. I was impressed with Hendricks striking and how he mixed it up with takedowns. This is the type of fight Hendricks needed to showcase himself to the public. The stage was perfect and the opponent was perfect. I will admit I was not sold on Hendricks beforehand, and whilst overpowering and outgrappling Condit is not something that has not been done before, we learnt he had a chin and can control guys with wrestling very well.

 

Will the build and hype to GSP vs Hendricks be as fun and draw the same business as GSP vs Diaz? No, but Hendricks was showcased in enough areas that made me buy him as a threat to GSP. If this was GSP of 2009, I would confidently pick GSP to prevail and he still might. But there is a chance that Hendricks can come forward like he did against Condit and clip GSP. He also has the wrestling chops to potentially stop some of GSP's takedowns.

 

I hope Diaz retires, it is clear is heart is not in it and he had a hell of a run. Was he the best in the world? no but he was a genuine and expressive character that created interest. People cared about him one way or another, the same cannot be said for a lot of guys. For example, Nate Marquart and Jake Shields are hardly going to evoke much interest from a casual fan. Barao maybe the best 135er in the world, but people do not care about him other than hardcores and it is unlikely he has the box office appeal to change that.

 

The night belonged to GSP, another notch on a incredible legacy. He is a bit like Mayweather and Pac-Man in Boxing, possibly drifting past his best, but still by far the best in world.

[wandshogun09]

Whether he retires or not, Diaz could be in deep shit after just casually telling everyone at the press conference that he's never paid taxes. I'm a fan of Diaz and I was always of the opinion he wasn't stupid but just wasn't good at getting himself across when speaking publicly. But fuck me, how painfully thick do you have to be to a) not pay your taxes, and b) tell the world about it? Jesus wept.

 

The fact is whether he fights again or not might be out of his control once this is all looked into. He could do time for this.

 

I wouldn't say Hendricks outgrappled Condit. He scored takedowns and was on top but it was Condit doing damage from underneath, Condit working constantly for submissions and sweeps. Condit neutralised Hendricks' top game, took little-no damage and managed to get back up almost every time. Condit won the grappling in my book.

 

I'll have to watch the fight again though. For me Hendricks won round 1 and Condit won round 3. Round 2 is hazy, I think I scored it for Hendricks live.

[jimufctna24]

I should have said controlled Condit.

 

The grappling mainly involved Hendricks on top, which in MMA usually means you win the round unless your opponent does something special on the bottom. Hendrciks octagon control was fantastic, he would have known that being on the top was smart for scoring points, that fight I.Q which some fighters do not have.

 

I scored it 30-28 Hendricks with last round even. It was quite close and Condit's stock did not go down from a loss at all, if anything his last 2 fights have made me a fan of his.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, it was one of them fights where even though I thought Condit did the better work in the grappling, I suspected the judges would sway to Hendricks in those exchanges because he was on top.

 

To be honest, I disagree with that logic. Just because a guy is on top doesn't mean he's winning. It's supposed to be MMA and guys like Condit with an active guard can fuck you up from that position. Hendricks scored takedowns then wasn't able to do anything because Condit never stopped working and had him on the defence constantly. If you take a guy down then spend the whole time eating elbows and fighting off submissions and sweeps then you shouldn't win the round in my opinion.

 

Thats more a point on the sport as a whole than this fight specifically because I don't think this was a bad call at all. But for all the crap Diaz says I do think he has a bit of a point that the judging is too geared towards wrestling and top position.