Author: Ryan Davenport

UFC 167 Results: How GSP’s Absence Will Affect MMA

On Saturday night, we saw one of the most entertaining bouts in recent memory, as Georges St-Pierre somehow managed to fend off Johny Hendricks to retain his title in Las Vegas via split decision. 
It wasn’t easy for the 32-year-old, as GSP strugg…

On Saturday night, we saw one of the most entertaining bouts in recent memory, as Georges St-Pierre somehow managed to fend off Johny Hendricks to retain his title in Las Vegas via split decision. 

It wasn’t easy for the 32-year-old, as GSP struggled to take control of the fight. In fact, many believed that Hendricks earned the nod over the reigning champion. 

Regardless of the scoring controversy, GSP still looked impressive, but soon after the bout ended, the Quebec native announced that he would be taking a leave of absence from the sport, at least for the time being. 

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto captured the champ’s surprising words:

“There was a lot of talk about what was going to happen [after this fight],” St-Pierre said. “I have a bunch of stuff in my life happening. I need to hang up my gloves for a little bit.

“I will make a point on that a little later, but for right now, I’ve got to go away for a little bit.”

This will be a blow to the sport as a whole.

It is difficult to replace a man who has dominated the UFC landscape for more than six years, and for the time being, it’s unclear whether we’ll ever see him fight again.

Like boxing or virtually any individual sport, mixed martial arts thrives on having consistently successful athletes. It’s hard to think of many who have done as much in a relatively short period of time as GSP has. He holds the welterweight record for most consecutive title defenses with nine. 

Sure, there are some lesser lights who appear to be capable of at least partially filling GSP‘s shoes, such as Hendricks, who gave the legend arguably his toughest challenge to date. 

At age 30, Hendricks isn’t young enough to take a run at GSP‘s run of dominance. But that’s OK, because no one ever will. 

As of now, GSP sits one victory ahead of Matt Hughes for most all-time wins in UFC history with 19, and though that record may fall one day, it will take a one-in-a-generation talent to do so, because that’s exactly what St-Pierre has proved to be.

He was pushed to the brink by Hendricks like no one else in recent memory, but perhaps St-Pierre knew he wanted to take a break from the sport prior to the bout. He’s had the pressure of defeating every challenger who has come his way for the last six years, so maybe this is his way of going out on top.

It’s impossible to replace GSP, but if his career is ultimately over, hopefully another fighter will come along who can represent the sport with the class and dignity that he has for nearly a decade.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 166: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Rematch Shouldn’t Take Place

On Saturday night, UFC 166 presented us with the much-anticipated third showdown between reigning heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and the only man who has beaten him, Junior dos Santos. 
In the final chapter of the trilogy, Velasquez quic…

On Saturday night, UFC 166 presented us with the much-anticipated third showdown between reigning heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and the only man who has beaten him, Junior dos Santos. 

In the final chapter of the trilogy, Velasquez quickly put to rest any doubts as to whether the Brazilian was capable of taking his title again, as the 31-year-old thoroughly dominated JDS in Houston. 

Now with consecutive victories over his closest challenger, Velasquez has cemented his status as the undisputed best heavyweight in the world, and we don’t need to see a fourth bout between these two to be sure of that. 

Had this fight been a closely contested affair, I would have been on board with the scheduling of a fourth tilt between arguably the sport’s two best heavyweights. 

But it wasn’t, and as MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle said prior to the fight, a lopsided bout would all but erase any need for a fourth clash. 

A close decision Saturday night, or a back-and-forth slugfest that goes into the late rounds before one guy finishes it, would do nothing to dissuade the notion that these guys are Nos. 1 and 2. If you care about UFC titles meaning something from a true sporting perspective, and the two clearly demonstrate they’re still heads and tails above the rest of the pack, then I don’t say how you can deny an eventual fourth fight.

That’s not even necessarily implying a title rematch should be immediate. The route the UFC took to get back to the Cain-JDS trilogy fight, in which both took bouts in the interim, was sensible. While Fabricio Werdum has a case for the next title shot, I personally think the Josh Barnett-Travis Browne winner has a better case. Either way, other than a second straight blowout win for Cain, I don’t think there are any good reasons why the series shouldn’t eventually continue.

Unless someone really believes that Dos Santos stands a reasonable chance at knocking off the champion, why should they face each other again? There’s no sense in getting Velasquez to beat up on the 29-year-old again, especially after we saw him pummel him more decisively in their most recent meeting. 

In addition, while it’s true that JDS’ 2011 victory over Velasquez will always cause us to wonder whether history might repeat itself, it now seems evident that the champ’s shoulder injury had a lot to do with him being knocked out in Round 1. That fight looked nothing like the two that followed. 

Since the loss, Velasquez has reeled off two masterful performances against Dos Santos, so much so that the outcome of Saturday night’s fight was never in doubt once it began. 

At this point, Fabricio Werdum is a much better choice for Velasquez’s next opponent, and not just because it’ll be a breath of fresh air for UFC enthusiasts. After seeing how easily Velasquez dismantled Dos Santos, one has to wonder whether Werdum would provide him with more of a challenge. 

Yes, Werdum fell to Dos Santos in 2008, but since then, he’s come out on top over a number of impressive opponents, including Antonio Silva, Roy Nelson and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, so there’s at least a possibility of an upset. 

Dos Santos will go down as one of the best of this era, and he’s the only man to have defeated the champion to date, but UFC 166 highlighted the gap between the two in terms of ability.

Velasquez attacked him all night long, and his stingy defense more than made up for Dos Santos’ advantage as far as power goes, as it did during their second meeting. 

We now know who the better fighter is between them, so there’s no need for them to meet in the Octagon again. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 166: Keys to Victory for Both Fighters

Tonight, Houston will play host to one of the most anticipated UFC events in the sport’s history, as Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez will face off at UFC 166. 
For dos Santos, the fight represents an opportunity to redeem himself after losing…

Tonight, Houston will play host to one of the most anticipated UFC events in the sport’s history, as Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez will face off at UFC 166. 

For dos Santos, the fight represents an opportunity to redeem himself after losing the heavyweight title to Velasquez last year, just 13 months after defeating the American in Anaheim. 

But Velasquez’s win over JDS suggested that the Brazilian’s win could have been a fluke, as dos Santos appeared unable to come up with a sufficient defense for Velasquez’s relentless attack at UFC 155. 

Heading into tonight’s title fight, here’s a look at the keys to victory for both dos Santos and Velasquez. 

 

Junior dos Santos

Landing an early knockout

For the 29-year-old dos Santos, whether or not he’s able to land heavy shots on Velasquez, particularly during the early stages of the match, may be the deciding factor in who leaves Houston with the title. 

Obviously, dos Santos needs to maintain his composure defensively, because as we saw during the pair’s second fight, weathering Velasquez’s combinations, takedowns and accuracy is of the utmost importance for JDS. 

During their first meeting, dos Santos managed to come away with a victory by getting after the champion early, and though he may have been helped in part by Velasquez’s shoulder injury, his furious early attack got him the victory. 

His overhand right was the decisive blow just over a minute into the fight, and for dos Santos to take the third installment of the trilogy, it may take a similar effort this time around. 

The knockout punch wasn’t there during their second fight, and we saw what happened. So for JDS to win, he’s got to be opportunistic when his chances to land big shots arise.

If this one goes the distance, Velasquez has to be the favorite, but JDS‘ advantage in power could allow him to land a knockout during the early stages of the tilt. 

 

Cain Velasquez

Wear dos Santos down with tireless offense

Last year, Velasquez earned his title back by furiously attacking dos Santos from start to finish, and he’ll aim to do the same in Houston tonight. 

During their last clash, Velasquez’s effort offensively was masterful, as the champion became the first UFC fighter to reach triple-digits in significant strikes landed (111) and double-digits in takedowns (11), which obliterated the previous record of 81 and 11, respectively. 

In order to defend his title against the younger Brazilian, Velasquez will have to break his opponent’s defense down in similar fashion, while also being aware of dos Santos’ power, which is what proved to be the difference in their first meeting. 

These two fighters know one another very well now, so dos Santos will undoubtedly be more aware of Velasquez’s desire to get things done on the ground. He’ll likely have to land a sufficient number of strikes in order to win. 

He’s very solid defensively against takedowns, and given how things turned out last time, look for Velasquez to try and establish control over dos Santos with early takedowns. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Georges St Pierre vs. Carlos Condit: Breaking Down How GSP Kept His Title

On Saturday night, Georges St-Pierre took on Carlos Condit, with the Welterweight Title on the line. In a fight that featured two of the most celebrated mixed martial arts fighters in the world, it was always going to be a close bout, but in the e…

On Saturday night, Georges St-Pierre took on Carlos Condit, with the Welterweight Title on the line. 

In a fight that featured two of the most celebrated mixed martial arts fighters in the world, it was always going to be a close bout, but in the end, St. Pierre outlasted Condit and retained his title. 

But it wasn’t easy. 

That’s because Condit, ranked as the No. 2 welterweight in the world, kept up with GSP through all five rounds, and none of the scorecards had the reigning title-holder winning by more than four points, which is indicative of how close Condit was to unseating the champ. 

In fact, at one point, it looked like Condit might be able to come away with a victory, especially after he landed a crushing blow to GSP‘s face, leaving the champion looking battered and bruise following the bout. 

The two were neck-and-neck throughout the match, but GSP managed to land a solid right, followed by a takedown in the final round, and that seemed to be the sequence that ultimately put him over the top. 

As ESPN’s Franklin McNeil pointed out, the Quebec native wasn’t at his best early on, though that was to be expected after taking a long break from UFC. 

“People talk about ring rust,” St. Pierre said. “I definitely know what it is. Carlos Condit definitely gave me my toughest fight.”

St-Pierre dominated much of the fight with his grappling skills. He consistently took Condit to the ground and landed several elbows and punches.

A left elbow opened a nasty cut above Condit‘s right eye in the first round. St-Pierre used an elbow in the second round to widen the same cut.

The third round was Condit‘s best, as he made GSP look vulnerable for the first time in recent memory, but St-Pierre roared back during the fourth and fifth rounds, and that’s what made the difference in the end. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com