UFC 167: St Pierre vs Hendricks

[wandshogun09]

 

PPV MAIN CARD

Georges St Pierre vs Johny Hendricks - UFC Welterweight Title

Rashad Evans vs Chael Sonnen

Rory MacDonald vs Robbie Lawler

Josh Koscheck vs Tyron Woodley

Tim Elliott vs Ali Bagautinov

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Donald Cerrone vs Evan Dunham

Thales Leites vs Ed Herman

Brian Ebersole vs Rick Story

Erik Perez vs Edwin Figueroa

 

FACEBOOK PRELIMS

Jason High vs Anthony Lapsley

Sergio Pettis vs Will Campuzano

Cody Donovan vs Gian Villante

 

OK, the blockbuster UFC PPVs keep coming. This is a big one. The 20th anniversary show for the UFC.

 

 

There's a new documentary coming soon (airs Nov 5th in the US), covering the first 20 years of the company. Dana White was talking about this to the media this weekend and said they screened it for the Zuffa employees and people were crying and all sorts watching it. Hopefully we'll get it on BT Sport over here.

 

So it's 20 years since a skinny little Jiu-Jitsu guy called Royce Gracie showed everyone what rear naked chokes are, and what you can do to blokes with one boxing glove who don't know an armbar from a Mars bar.

 

 

While we're on the subject, this is as good an excuse as any to post this;

 

Ultimate Royce Gracie documentary;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&a...p;v=a6HCOXxB3fA

 

If you haven't seen it, give it a look. It's really good and gives you a nice little history lesson on the Gracies, and the birth of BJJ, MMA and the UFC. Well worth a watch.

 

According to Dana, a lot of familiar faces are set to attend UFC 167. He hasn't said who will be there but I'd assume Royce is a given. I'd imagine Mark Coleman and Dan Severn will be there as well. Those three have remained on good terms with the UFC over the years. And I'm guessing most of the prominent figures in MMA over the years like Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn and Matt Hughes will show up as well. Sadly though, some of the names who really should be there like Ken and Frank Shamrock, Randy Couture, Don Frye, Tito Ortiz and Pat Miletich probably won't be in attendance. Or if they are, they almost certainly won't be acknowledged due to them all being mainstays of Dana's shitlist. Still, it'll be interesting to see who will turn up. Would be pretty cool if Rorion Gracie and Art Davie are there and get some recognition. Considering they came up with the original concept for UFC 1.

 

Anyway, fast forward 20 years and here we are. This looks like another very strong card on paper. It's got a tough act to follow but this lot should be good.

 

 

Main event is UFC PPV king GSP vs Johny Hendricks for the Welterweight title. GSP hasn't lost since 2007. He's racked up dominant wins over the best of the 170 division for 6 years and only recently has he started to look human. He's still winning shutouts though. Hendricks is seen by many as the biggest threat to GSP's reign. I've thought since the fight was made that GSP will be too good technically for Hendricks. But what Hendricks brings that makes it interesting, is a combination of top level wrestling and absolutely brutal knockout power. If he can use his wrestling to fend off GSP's takedowns then this will get very interesting. But GSP has outwrestled many a wrestler and outstruck many a striker. He always finds a way to win. There have been hints recently that GSP is starting to think about retirement though. His coach Firas Zahabi has since said it was overblown but you do wonder, when a fighter starts making those noises, where his focus is.

 

Another thing about this fight has been this whole drug testing malarky. Johny Hendricks was very vocal about it when the fight was first announced. GSP then offered to carry out VADA testing, which is a more in-depth testing procedure than the regular tests carried out by the athletic commissions. GSP even offered to pay for both him and Hendricks to go through the VADA testing. And oddly enough, Hendricks hasn't bothered to go through with it, despite him seeming to be all for it originally. GSP is apparently still going ahead and doing the extra tests himself though.

 

Co-main event;

 

 

The battle of the UFC on FOX pundits. These two seem to get on well so don't expect the usual torrent of trash talk to spew forth from Chael's motor mouth. It's an intriguing fight though. They both have the same main strength in wrestling and both are usually dominant in that area. So it's a tough one to call. Could end up being one of those wrestler vs wrestler fights where they cancel each other out and end up kickboxing. Hopefully it will be a fun fight. Win or lose here, Chael vs Wanderlei Silva seems inevitable as next in line.

 

Rory vs Lawler is one of those heart vs head fights for me. In my head I just see Rory being too much for Lawler and ending his current run of good form since returning to the UFC. But my heart is hoping for another Lawler KO win.

 

Lawler fought on the 10th anniversary UFC PPV back in 2003 as well. Beating Chris Lytle in a great fight. So it's amazing to see him still going at a high level, and having a kind of rebirth 10 years later at the 20th anniversary show.

 

Rory is coming off one of the most disappointing fights of 2013 against Jake Ellenberger, so you'd think he'll be out to redeem himself here.

 

Koscheck vs Woodley is a clash of two elite wrestlers with big KO power. Got a feeling Woodley will catch Koscheck early for some reason. Just a gut feeling. Just feels like Koscheck isn't quite the force he was and Woodley in a way is kind of like a younger version of him.

 

Elliott vs Bagautinov should be action packed. Bagautinov looked fantastic in his debut, knocking out Marcos Vinicius. Elliott just took Louis Gaudinot out of contention at flyweight. Should be a good one.

 

Cerrone vs Dunham could steal the show. Two guys who at one point were on real hot streaks at 155 but they've fallen by the wayside recently, such is the depth at lightweight. But these two rarely have dull fights and together they should match up well for some excitement.

 

This sod's on the card as well...

 

 

Brian Ebersole, always entertaining in his own weird as fuck way. He's been out a while and he's got a tough test in Rick Story who I'd say is a real darkhorse at 170. He's the only man to beat Johny Hendricks to date and also beat Thiago Alves as well.

 

Erik Perez vs Edwin Figueroa has the makings of another Mexican all out war. These two have been having some tremendous fights on the prelims for a while now. Both super aggressive and tough. I can't wait for this. Big fan of both but I'm hoping Perez can get back in the win column here. He's a likable guy and I still think he could go onto be a contender.

 

Sergio Pettis, younger brother of UFC lightweight champ Anthony, finally arrives in UFC land.

 

 

Just 20 years old, 9-0 with 6 finishes. He's looking like a serious prospect. He's fighting Vaughan Lee out of Birmingham, England. Lee is a good fighter, excellent BJJ, good Muay Thai. He should be a good gauge of where Sergio stands at this point. If he rises to the challenge anything like his brother has we're in for a treat.

 

Hopefully the Sergio Pettis fight makes the air. So yeah, plenty to look forward to on this one.

[David]

You see that one solitary vote for Hendricks via KO/TKO?

 

Yup, that was me

[Egg Shen]

I went for it as well, fuck it!

 

Another loaded card, we are spoiled. Even the facebook fights are must see for me, two very exciting debuts.

 

UFC have released a very cool promo video for the card...

 

check it.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

First time GSP's fought outside Canada in years, I'm interested to see how the Vegas fan receive him. He gets treated like a demigod in the Great White North, but there's a lot of criticism of him in more recent times due to the changes in his style. It'd be fascinating to see the face of the UFC get booed, ala' John Cena. I think GSP is a good enough wrestler to put Hendricks on his back and keep him to avoid the killshot. We've seen how Bearded Johny responds to facing elite wrestlers in Story and Koscheck, and he looked considerably less like a juggernaut in those outings. St Pierre by a comfortable decision, outside chance he gets cracked in the first and survives to make it slightly more interesting.

 

Sonnen vs Rashad is interesting, because in the last few months the pendulum has swung in momentum for these fighters. Rashad has looked mostly lackluster against Nog and Hendo, while Sonnen picked up arguably his biggest career win by choking out Shogun in the first. It'd be nice to see Sonnen regain a top tier spot through fighting merit more than his ability to talk. I'm actually rooting for Sonnen.

 

Lawler was on the first UFC I ever watched, UFC 40, his run now is a great thing to for nostalgia purposes, and it's crazy to talk about a guy in his early 30s in that way. Hope he knocks Rory out.

 

Have to echo the prelim love, Cerrone and Dunham are two of my favourites, and although I think contendership is a lost cause for both, they can still scrap with the best of them. Glad to see that crazy fucker Ebersole again. As far as I knew he wasn't injured, he hasn't fought since a short notice loss at UFC 149, I wonder what gives with the layoff?

 

Should be a really good show. I'm not as invested in this show as I was the last one, less of the fighters I love, but the great thing about this stretch of UFC programming is that there's something for everyone over these months.

[jimufctna24]

To anyone who does not like watching on Facebook, you can also watch on Youtube. I do have a Facebook account, but I much prefer the Youtube, it seems to run a lot smoother.

 

I got

 

GSP UD

 

Rashad UD

 

Rory TKO

[Dead Mike]

First time GSP's fought outside Canada in years, I'm interested to see how the Vegas fan receive him. He gets treated like a demigod in the Great White North, but there's a lot of criticism of him in more recent times due to the changes in his style. It'd be fascinating to see the face of the UFC get booed, ala' John Cena.

 

Not gonna happen. The buyrates he produces are down to more than just some loyal Canadian fans. The only people who are moaning about GSP are a vocal minority of 'just bleed', 'stand & bang' morons. He wouldn't be in the (financial) position he is now if the fans in general had turned on him.

[Egg Shen]

yeh it's a pretty nice touch to have Robbie Lawler in there considering he was on the last anniversary card...not that Lawler gives a fuck, that dude is cold.

[Magnum Milano]

You see that one solitary vote for Hendricks via KO/TKO?

 

Yup, that was me

I went that way too!

 

Gone for

 

Hendricks - KO/TKO

 

Evans - DEC

 

Lawler - KO/TKO

[KingOfMetal]

Hadn't heard about the UFC documentry that is on in November. Will have to keep an eye out for that one.

 

For some reason, I just envision Hendricks landed one of his brutal shots and GSP going out like a light. After Weidman beating Anderson Silva earlier this year, I'm a firm believer that anything can happen.

 

First time since 2008/2009 that GSP has fought three times in a 12 month span

[Egg Shen]

I have a feeling Hendricks is going to come out wrestling heavy. Hendrick's is going to know GSP is gonna shoot that double and if Hendricks is ready for that he should really be able to stop it, it's a real intersting fight on paper cause on paper you have the better striker probably looking to wrestle and the better wrestler probably looking to strike.

[lambyUK]

I've gone for Hendricks by KO, Chael by UD, and Lawler by KO. The only problem is I've voted with my heart and not my head. My head says GSP UD, Rashad UD/KO, and Rory UD.

[Egg Shen]

Hadn't heard about the UFC documentry that is on in November. Will have to keep an eye out for that one.

yeh, November 5th it airs.

[David]

The one thing that Hendricks has that a lot of St-Pierre's previous opponents didn't is one punch KO power.

 

Even if the fight is in the 5th frame, with GSP ahead on all cards all it takes is one big shot to change the fight, especially as I don't really consider St-Pierre as a fighter with a granite jaw. He's been hit and stunned before, and knocked out before.

[jimufctna24]

I think people are seriously overrating Hendricks overall game, and underrating GSP's defensive boxing.

 

Yes it only takes one meaty shot for Hendricks to win, but to land a flush shot will be very hard. GSP will not stand square on like Kampmann did, nor will he trade with Hendricks for long periods.

 

Yes, Condit did catch GSP, but it took 2 rounds of baiting, and one of the most refined strikers in the sport to do so. The technique Condit used to catch GSP was far more advanced than anything Hendricks throws.

 

GSP is too much of a general to keep the fight standing for long as well, and Hendricks has had problems with wrestlers in the past, like Story and Koscheck. GSP should be able to shut down Hendricks, and although Hendricks is meant to be good on the ground, GSP just shut down Nick Diaz for 5 rounds and Diaz has one of the best bottom games in the Welterweight class.

 

Give me GSP on by a wide points margin.

[Heatseeker]

I've gone for GSP by TKO. I've just got a feeling that Hendricks will get a little cocky and get caught. GSP hasn't finished someone since around 2007? I think it's gonna happen.