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Following the news of Georges St-Pierre’s knee injury, Josh Koscheck said he would be willing to step up on 11 days notice to fight Carlos Condit. Although this sounded good in theory, Dana White quickly shot down the rumors by saying Condit…
Following the news of Georges St-Pierre’s knee injury, Josh Koscheck said he would be willing to step up on 11 days notice to fight Carlos Condit. Although this sounded good in theory, Dana White quickly shot down the rumors by saying Condit must wait for St. Pierre to return from injury. Waiting on the sidelines like […]
UFC 137: Josh Koscheck and 3 Other Fighters Who Could Replace GSP vs. Condit
There is a lot to talk with the recent unfortunate news that Georges St-Pierre has pulled out from his UFC 137 bout with Carlos Condit due to a knee injury. Dana White has announced that the co-main event between B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz will now move i…
There is a lot to talk with the recent unfortunate news that Georges St-Pierre has pulled out from his UFC 137 bout with Carlos Condit due to a knee injury. Dana White has announced that the co-main event between B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz will now move into the headlining position, but frankly, that alone isn’t enough to salvage the card.
B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz Should Be Five Rounds
When the UFC made the move to change non-title main events from three rounds to five rounds, the announcement was met with almost universal approval from hardcore MMA fans.
Great fights deserve five rounds, and sometimes when two great fighters meet, it takes five rounds to really turn a decent fight into a truly great one.
The Edgar vs. Maynard trilogy wouldn’t have been great without those two extra rounds, and fights like Jackson vs. Machida, Penn vs. Fitch and Jackson vs. Evans might have actually had a chance at greatness had they been contested over five rounds instead of three.
Penn vs. Diaz is one of those great fights that deserves the dignity of five rounds, and really, those extra two rounds really add far more intrigue.
In this writer’s opinion, Penn is a superior boxer, wrestler and BJJ player, and Nick Diaz’s only really big advantage over Penn is his renowned conditioning.
I greatly favor Penn in a three round fight and think that he’ll easily win the first two rounds before conditioning becomes a big issue. But because Diaz is a highly durable fighter, contesting the fight over five rounds makes the fight far more interesting, and a Diaz victory far more possible.
The only real negative is for bettors who have put money on Penn, counting on Penn to be the better fighter over three rounds.
UFC 137 Needs a New Co-Main Event
While B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz is a serviceable main event, the loss of GSP and Condit seriously damages the overall value of the pay-per-view card to the point where simply moving up a fight from the undercard isn’t satisfactory.
If the UFC wants to salvage the card and make it worthy of hard-earned fan dollars, they should seriously consider adding a new co-main event.
Josh Koscheck has stepped up by offering to fight Condit, but that fight can’t really happen.
The UFC needs St-Pierre to fight as frequently as possible, and while putting a potential title challenger on the sidelines might seem wasteful, it’s better than waiting another two months for a new challenger to emerge if St-Pierre can return to action in that time line.
Still, White should consider inserting Koscheck or another high-level fighter in there somewhere, because UFC 137 needs help.
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Following the news of Georges St-Pierre’s knee injury, Josh Koscheck said he would be willing to step up on 11 days notice to fight Carlos Condit.Although this sounded good in theory, Dana White quickly shot down the rumors by saying Condit must w…
Following the news of Georges St-Pierre’s knee injury, Josh Koscheck said he would be willing to step up on 11 days notice to fight Carlos Condit.
Although this sounded good in theory, Dana White quickly shot down the rumors by saying Condit must wait for St. Pierre to return from injury.
Waiting on the sidelines like Rashad Evans is a terrible move for any fighter, especially when there are a handful of options available for Condit and the UFC.
Georges St-Pierre’s misfortune is a gain for Dustin Jacoby Brad Tavares.
The middleweights, who had been relegated to the Facebook-streamed preliminary card for next week’s UFC 137 event, have been promoted the pay-per-view main card, UFC officials to…
Georges St-Pierre’s misfortune is a gain for Dustin Jacoby Brad Tavares.
The middleweights, who had been relegated to the Facebook-streamed preliminary card for next week’s UFC 137 event, have been promoted the pay-per-view main card, UFC officials today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com.
A PPV slot opened when an injured St-Pierre was forced out of UFC 137’s championship headliner with Carlos Condit.
There have been a plethora of fighters in the UFC, but some fighters have had fighting styles so unique that they will be remembered forever.Many of these bizarre styles came from the early days of the UFC in which the competitors represented only o…
There have been a plethora of fighters in the UFC, but some fighters have had fighting styles so unique that they will be remembered forever.
Many of these bizarre styles came from the early days of the UFC in which the competitors represented only one discipline. Such strange styles as Pencak Silat, Trap fighting and hand-to-hand in all their oddity were covered in a previous article on the subject.
However, what about after MMA fighters started to become well rounded, and singular, one-dimensional martial arts techniques began to disappear? Which fighters had the strangest styles, then?
Reports of George St-Pierre’s knee injury has rocked the MMA world today. Only 11 days out from his scheduled title defense against Carlos Condit at UFC 137, GSP has been forced to pull out of the fight due to a knee injury. Always up for a chance to m…
Reports of George St-Pierre’s knee injury has rocked the MMA world today. Only 11 days out from his scheduled title defense against Carlos Condit at UFC 137, GSP has been forced to pull out of the fight due to a knee injury.
Always up for a chance to make money, Josh Koscheck offered to step up and replace GSP against Condit. This was quickly shot down by Dana White, who said, “Condit will wait for GSP.”
Does anyone learn from other’s mistakes?
Condit waiting for GSP could be very damaging to his career. I call it “The Rashad Evans effect.”
Evans earned his title shot but chose to sit on the sidelines while Mauricio “Shogun” Rua healed from surgery. Citing a need to “protect his brand”, Evans would eventually be injured himself, and teammate Jon Jones stepped up to take the title shot.
Condit could see this story play out for his career as well. There’s no guarantee when GSP will be back, but even if everything falls into place and the fight is back on soon, a number of variables could prevent Condit from getting his title shot.
While Condit sits idly by, other welterweights will be solidifying their own claims to a title shot.
He doesn’t have a “brand” to protect, and many fight fans feel he hasn’t even earned his title shot.
Condit has strung together four straight victories, but wins over Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Rory McDonald and a split decision over Jake Ellenberger aren’t exactly the quality wins you look for on a title-challenger’s resume.
Many casual UFC fans couldn’t pick Condit out of a line up, something “The Natural Born Killer” could work on.
Taking a fight before GSP comes back would allow Condit not only to make some money, but also solidify himself as a legit title challenger. There’s a number of fights available to him such as Josh Koscheck or a rematch with Jake Ellenberger, which would cement Condit’s place among the UFC welterweight elite.
If Condit does wait this out, there’s no guarantee the fight will take place quickly. St-Pierre has spread his fights across long spans of time and there’s no guarantee he will rush (no pun intended) back from injury to take the fight.
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