Author: McKinley Noble

Cesar Gracie: Silva ‘Way Too Big’ for GSP; Carlos Condit ‘Afraid’ of Nick Diaz

Nick Diaz’s head trainer doesn’t think that many fans will enjoy watching a UFC 143 main-event rematch between his star pupil and a timid, point-fighting Carlos Condit.At least, that’s the way Cesar Gracie sees things, speculating that a second fight b…

Nick Diaz‘s head trainer doesn’t think that many fans will enjoy watching a UFC 143 main-event rematch between his star pupil and a timid, point-fighting Carlos Condit.

At least, that’s the way Cesar Gracie sees things, speculating that a second fight between Diaz and Condit would play out exactly like the first. Although a potential rematch “made sense” right after the fallout, it never came to fruition after Diaz tested positive for marijuana and found himself benched from the title picture for the rest of the year.

In a chat with MiddleEasy, Gracie laid out his case against Diaz vs. Condit II:

You know, [Condit] really doesn’t interest me at all. Right after the fight, they were trying to set something up like that, which made a lot of sense. I don’t think it’s going to change. I think you’re going to see Nick stalking Condit down and it’s going to be another disinteresting fight.

I think Condit is really afraid to engage with Nick, to stand with him. I think he’s just going to back up and do his little baby leg kicks and hope the judges see it his way again. It’s just not an interesting fight. It would be hard to get motivated for it, I think, for the fans.

However, Gracie isn’t completely opposed to the idea of Diaz having to get through another title eliminator. Diaz‘s coach noted that fighters like Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck and Demian Maia are doing the smart thing by calling out his student since “they realize fans want to see Nick” and “it would be a big fight for them” in the long run.

Diaz is definitely a fighter who’s unlikely to be seen in anything but a main-event fight, having headlined two UFC pay-per-view events, four Strikeforce cards and DREAM 14—all since January 2010.

Gracie also threw in his two cents about the rumored Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre superfight, saying that he would certainly watch it. But the famed trainer agrees that the lanky Silva is still “way too big” for GSP, who’s been getting “kind of beat-up” in his last few fights.

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UFC Allowed to Promote Overeem vs. Bigfoot, No Luck for Nick Diaz

After all the injuries, suspensions and other issues this year, the UFC has a bit of good news.Despite the fact that heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem is currently on suspension, the Nevada State Athletic Commission is allowing the UFC to promote …

After all the injuries, suspensions and other issues this year, the UFC has a bit of good news.

Despite the fact that heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem is currently on suspension, the Nevada State Athletic Commission is allowing the UFC to promote a February 2013 fight between “The Demolition Man” and Antonio Silva.

Of course, the match ultimately depends on whether Overeem is licensed again in time for the fight. Dana White seems optimistic, though, as he told the press at the UFC 154 post-fight press conference:

We asked the commission, “Can we start setting up a fight for him?” But [Overeem’s] still got to go before the commission.

I think Alistair has been doing the right thing as far as the commission is concerned and doing all the things that he needs to do to get back in their good graces. It’s looking positive and optimistic because he’s been doing what he’s supposed to do.

However, Dana White confirmed that Nick Diaz would not be promoted while on suspension for fighting with traces of marijuana metabolites in his system.

Diaz will be able to reapply for a fighter’s license in February, but is currently in the midst of a lawsuit against the NSAC.

Unlike Overeem’s last intended appearance on a UFC card, the main event doesn’t rest on the Dutchman’s massive shoulders. Barring injuries, UFC 156 will supposedly be headlined with a featherweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo, with Overeem vs. “Bigfoot” Silva likely serving as the co-main event.

Overeem was initially set to face reigning UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos for his UFC title last May, but was removed from the card after testing positive for high levels of testosterone.

After attending a hearing with the NSAC, Overeem was able to reduce his suspension to nine months instead of a standard year, dating back from his March 27 drug test.

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Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit: What We Learned About GSP

Now that the champ has spent more than 18 months on the bench, everything we knew about Georges St-Pierre no longer applies anymore.He’s vulnerable. He’s changed.Most importantly, he’s a different fighter than before, the effects of his ACL tear still …

Now that the champ has spent more than 18 months on the bench, everything we knew about Georges St-Pierre no longer applies anymore.

He’s vulnerable. He’s changed.

Most importantly, he’s a different fighter than before, the effects of his ACL tear still lingering and not quite resolved just yet.

It’s not certain we’ve seen the new “best” St-Pierre, but here’s what we do know.

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UFC 154 Results: Did Ring Rust Factor into Georges St-Pierre’s Victory?

How do you rebuild the perfect fighting machine?Now that Georges St-Pierre has decisively defeated Carlos Condit at UFC 154, we’ve got the answer to the question that’s followed “Rush” throughout the last year.Due to the aid of slow, steady rehab mixed…

How do you rebuild the perfect fighting machine?

Now that Georges St-Pierre has decisively defeated Carlos Condit at UFC 154, we’ve got the answer to the question that’s followed “Rush” throughout the last year.

Due to the aid of slow, steady rehab mixed with the most advanced training that money can buy, GSP‘s determination rebuilt his broken body. It’s not just the science, either, as the French-Canadian also benefited from extremely advantageous genetics.

But even with all that training and medical effort, did ring rust hinder St-Pierre at UFC 154?

Are you kidding? Undoubtedly.

It’s true that St-Pierre hasn’t looked this aggressive against an opponent in years. To be honest, he hasn’t bloodied up anyone that ruthlessly since Jon Fitch at UFC 87 and BJ Penn at UFC 83.

But at the same time, St-Pierre arguably hasn’t looked that badly beaten up in his entire career.

Heck, even relatively massive former middleweight Jake Shields didn’t do that much damage against GSP, and the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter practically stabbed out the champion’s eyes with intentionally stretched fingers.

UFC president Dana White‘s belief in ring rust was well founded tonight.

Honestly, it’s a weird dichotomy for GSP to look so dominant in a title defense like that, yet look so fragile and vulnerable at the same time.

Make no mistake, Condit had St-Pierre in danger every second of that fight. On the feet, he fired huge kicks at every opportunity; on the ground, the “Killer” did his best Anderson Silva impression and landed crippling elbows from his back.

We’ll never know if a 100 percent GSP could’ve avoided all that damage. At best, the champion was at 80 percent of his normal strength, fading in the last round and never launching his patented double-leg takedown technique.

Thankfully, St-Pierre has proven that he’s a “Charles Atlas” among humans.

But make no mistake, more than 18 months on the shelf hurt him badly. All that remains to be seen is whether or not last night’s performance represents the new peak for GSP—or if he can push himself to a new level despite his injuries.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

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UFC 154 Results: 12 Memorable Moments from Montreal

Even though UFC 154 didn’t have its usual sell-out reception from Canada, the Bell Centre still played host to plenty of highlights from the 12-fight card.Of course, the spotlight saw returning champion George St. Pierre return to action by defeating t…

Even though UFC 154 didn’t have its usual sell-out reception from Canada, the Bell Centre still played host to plenty of highlights from the 12-fight card.

Of course, the spotlight saw returning champion George St. Pierre return to action by defeating the always-dangerous Carlos Condit and unifying the UFC welterweight title in a gritty war that left both men covered in blood.

GSP vs. Condit was easily the night’s best fight, but the entire fight was punctuated by interesting moments throughout the entire card.

With the champion’s return in the books, let’s take a took back at the 12 most interesting, exciting, and memorable spots that took place this past Saturday night.

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UFC 154: GSP vs. Condit Thriller Caps Off 2012’s Most Disappointing Card

For a fight card to be disappointing, you have to expect a lot from it in the first place.UFC 149 and UFC 147 were definitely poor cards, but they weren’t disappointing ones. From the main event to the prelims, both of those events were riddl…

For a fight card to be disappointing, you have to expect a lot from it in the first place.

UFC 149 and UFC 147 were definitely poor cards, but they weren’t disappointing ones. From the main event to the prelims, both of those events were riddled with unexpected injuries, last-minute replacements and various schedule changes—they were expected to be duds.

But the same can’t be said for UFC 154 on Saturday night. It wasn’t stacked with big-name fighters, yet it still had several matches that looked compelling on paper.

Unfortunately, several bouts turned out to be tedious chess matches, as several fighters picked and pecked their way to the judge’s scorecards.

Normally exciting Matthew Riddle played a cautious game against John Maguire, fearful of getting submitted by the solid grappler.

Mark Hominick froze up after nearly knocking out Pablo Garza, then spent the rest of his decision-loss effort flailing for armbars and omoplata submissions.

Antonio Carvalho and Rodrigo Damm calmly threw leg kicks their whole fight, accidentally causing an exciting scramble for three seconds in Round 2.

Francis Carmont won a split decision against Tom Lawlor, mostly playing defense and actually getting booed by the feverishly loyal Canadian home crowd.

Over six hours of fighting, and roughly four hours of it was a bore.

Moreover, only four out of 12 fights at Montreal’s Bell Centre ended in a finish—and one of those was a disqualification where Alessio Sakara seemingly pretended to forget that punches to the back of the head were illegal.

Once again, you can blame Dana White and Joe Silva for the boredom.

In an era where the UFC is stretched thin between Fox, FX, Fuel TV and PPV, the bulk of the card fell on two fights to save the entire night—a trend synonymous with boxing that we’ll only see more and more as the years go on.

Canadian weren’t so hot on ticket sales due to the top-heavy card, and it showed.

For most of the prelims, the Bell Centre was half-empty.

And for the people who were watching the prelim fights, the action was largely punctuated by heavy rounds of boos for inactivity or patient one-sided shutouts.

Don’t get me wrong—GSP’s win over Condit was thrilling, and Johny Hendricks amazed everyone by turning off Martin Kampmann’s lights. But that’s a lot of gruel to digest before getting to the actual meat of that long, starchy meal.

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com