Tag: Georges St. Pierre

Why the UFC Buys Will Suffer Without Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre

Recently, the sport of mixed martial arts has been suffering the losses of arguably two of its biggest and most notable combatants. At UFC 141 just a few weeks ago, former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was deftly defeated by Strikeforce transp…

Recently, the sport of mixed martial arts has been suffering the losses of arguably two of its biggest and most notable combatants. 

At UFC 141 just a few weeks ago, former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was deftly defeated by Strikeforce transplant Alistair Overeem, who TKO’d the big man inside of the first round. With his second consecutive defeat, Lesnar subsequently announced his retirement from the sport.

Preceding Lesnar, Georges St-Pierre, the reigning welterweight champ, suffered a knee injury in training which would require invasive surgery, sidelining him for the better part of a year.

Both St-Pierre and Lesnar have proven to be two of the organization’s strongest pay-per-view draws.

Since his inception in the UFC, the ex-WWE star has garnered a lot of buzz come fight time, however it was his title tilt in November 2008 against then-champion Randy Couture that put Lesnar over the top.

After claiming the heavyweight belt with a decisive second-round TKO victory, it was later estimated that the PPV event cultivated over 1 million buys.

This was later replicated in Lesnar’s subsequent battles with Frank Mir, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez—all PPV tilts that earned over 1 million buys, making Lesnar a strong commodity for the organization. 

Close behind the behemoth heavyweight has been St-Pierre, who has trailed behind the 1 million buy mark on several occasions, only breaking the stride when the Canadian served as the co-main event under Lesnar at UFC 100. 

In his last outing at UFC 129, St-Pierre defeated former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields by unanimous decision. Though the fight ended up being a lackluster affair, the PPV totals proved strong, with the welterweight tilt bringing in 800,000 buys, which is consistent to the last few performances that the Tristar fighter has turned in.

No other men, save for the grudge match pitting Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson at UFC 114, has been able to generate those same kind of numbers.

A close second has been Anderson Silva‘s highlight-reel knockout victory over former teammate Vitor Belfort. The middleweight affair took home 725,000 buys, though Silva’s next outing against Okami produced 400,000 less.

Needless to say, both Lesnar and St-Pierre are the organization’s front runners and no one has been able to hold a candle to the star power that both men were able to cultivate.

Until then, the promotion will likely seek to push rising star Jon Jones to the same mantle that Lesnar and GSP have held onto for so long. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Defending Dana White: Why so Much Hate for the UFC President?

Dana White is a polarizing figure.  Some love him, some hate him, and those in the MMA blogosphere that have never even met him, take every opportunity they have to crucify his every move.I read the blogs daily and always read the comments section…

Dana White is a polarizing figure.  Some love him, some hate him, and those in the MMA blogosphere that have never even met him, take every opportunity they have to crucify his every move.

I read the blogs daily and always read the comments sections where keyboard warriors can tell you an event sucks before it takes place, why B.J. Penn has no motivation, or how Cain Velasquez could have beaten Junior Dos Santos.  The scenarios are endless and the accountability is non-existent. 

When a UFC story breaks about a separation or contract talk breakdown, the answer is always the same.  “It is Dana White’s fault,” they say, not caring that they know nothing of the details or facts (see: Fedor contract negotiations, Brittany Palmer leaving UFC, and Golden Glory fighters released).

As a lifelong New York Yankees fan, Dana’s “character” reminds me very much of George Steinbrenner (though others might say WWE star Vince McMahon). He takes care of business and makes no apologies for his style, his opinion, or his success. 

I am convinced that even if he were to find a cure for cancer, the comments sections would still be overflowing with reasons to hate him.

Although I realize this opinion will not win me any fans, I feel it is time to defend Dana White on a few topics.

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Nick Diaz on His Training Vs. GSP’s: “We Hurt Less and We Fight More” (VIDEO)

Despite the evasive eye contact, the Diaz boys are getting pretty good with media interviews. Nick Diaz spoke to Vic Mysterio of the Hammerfisting podcast, following his brother, Nate’s impressive victory at UFC 141. Mysterio.

Despite the evasive eye contact, the Diaz boys are getting pretty good with media interviews. Nick Diaz spoke to Vic Mysterio of the Hammerfisting podcast, following his brother, Nate’s impressive victory at UFC 141. Mysterio asks Diaz if he thinks Georges St. Pierre was ducking him by pulling out of their February 4th scheduled battle due to knee injury and subsequent surgery. Diaz concedes that GSP is actually injured, but adds that St. Pierre’s method of training causes him to be “injury prone” which is not so much a problem for the Diaz brothers. Diaz explained:

I think he might’ve hurt himself. He shouldn’t have done that. If it hurts, don’t do it. I had to go through a lot of fights like that. You know, there were things I couldn’t do, and I couldn’t come in at 100 percent… But, no, you know, he hurt himself, and you know, the type of exercises he does too, your injury prone. You’re higher likely to hurt yourself doing explosive workout exercises. I have different type of workouts. I’m a different type of athlete, and I think that we get hurt less and we fight more. That’s why I have more fights. I have twice as many fights as most of these guys out here.”

While GSP recovers and rehabs his knee, Diaz will face Carlos Condit at UFC 143 for the Interim Welterweight Champion belt. Does he look scared? Nope. Watch Diaz’s interview below:

*Source: MMA Mania

Vitor Belfort Trains With Georges St-Pierre Prior to UFC 142

Upon learning that Vitor Belfort would face Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 142, many fans were surprised that the Brazilian would bring in UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre to assist him during his training camp.In his recent installment chr…

Upon learning that Vitor Belfort would face Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 142, many fans were surprised that the Brazilian would bring in UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre to assist him during his training camp.

In his recent installment chronicling his preparation for Johnson, Belfort is seen sparring with the French-Canadian and working on his grappling.

St-Pierre is widely considered to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts today and is also the most well-rounded fighter in the sport. With St-Pierre possessing the best wrestling at 170 pounds, it was wise for Belfort to acquire the champion in order for him to prepare for his opponent’s striking and wrestling pedigree.

It is also worth pointing out this video was filmed while St-Pierre was training for his bout against Nick Diaz, tentatively scheduled for UFC 143, before suffering a knee injury which would ultimately force him out of action.

Belfort will meet Johnson in the co-main event at UFC 142, scheduled for this weekend live from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Luke Rockhold: Did He Jump the Gun Last Saturday Night?

Last Saturday, Strikeforce had their first event of the year headlined by a Middleweight Title match between newly-crowned champion Luke Rockhold and “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine, who was making his debut at Middleweight. The match ende…

Last Saturday, Strikeforce had their first event of the year headlined by a Middleweight Title match between newly-crowned champion Luke Rockhold and “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine, who was making his debut at Middleweight. The match ended up lasting longer than most expected, going 4:26 into the first round when Rockhold won by TKO due to punches.

After the match, Rockhold was asked about who he wanted to fight next, original opponent Tim Kennedy or a rematch with Ronaldo Souza. Rockhold immediately dismissed both ideas saying that he should be fighting the best of the best and that the UFC should send someone to Strikeforce to prove how good he is.

Now while that is all fine and well in a sense of promoting yourself in fighting better quality opponents to showcase your talents, Rockhold has to be careful of getting what he wishes for.

In the past few years, fighters have made a name for themselves off of a big win or two, talked themselves up as the next big thing and ultimately got outclassed by the opponents that they felt they could handle. Some of those fighters include Chris Leben before his fights with both Brian Stann and Anderson Silva, where he ended up knocked out in both fights, Dan Hardy who got dominated by Georges St. Pierre which led to his current four fight losing streak, and Jardine, who talked himself up as the next big thing only to get knocked out in 48 seconds by Houston Alexander.

Granted, Rockhold has a lot more skill and better technique than those fighters, but he needs to pace himself. Yes, he had a dominant title defense, but his challenger wasn’t expected to win by anyone’s estimates. Jardine only found himself in title contention because original participant Tim Kennedy got injured in training. Ronaldo Souza is in the same boat as well, and Robby Lawler was currently on a losing streak (including a recent loss to Kennedy).

Before getting the title shot, Jardine was 3-6-1 in his previous ten fights with five of those losses coming in one long streak. He was lucky to get the draw against Gegard Moussasi as Moussasi would have won if not for his illegal upkick. With that, Jardine was not the best fighter to take on the champion, but a win is a win, and Rockhold should feel good about defending his title.

For Rockhold to dismiss the rest of the competition in the Strikeforce Middleweight division is jumping the gun a bit. While he may definitely be in the top 10 Middleweights in the world, he still has a bit that he can prove in Strikeforce. Before he gets too ahead of himself, Rockhold should really face off against high-caliber Strikeforce fighters like Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo Souza again before taking a step up with the higher-ranking UFC Middleweights.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans Headlines 5 Big UFC Fights to Make in 2012

2011 was an interesting year for the UFC.The biggest fights available to the promotion were often destroyed by injuries. Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz and Junior dos Santos vs. Brock Lesnar were three of the UFC’s biggest …

2011 was an interesting year for the UFC.

The biggest fights available to the promotion were often destroyed by injuries. Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz and Junior dos Santos vs. Brock Lesnar were three of the UFC’s biggest potential money-making fights. All three were canceled or changed due to injury, hurting the UFC at the box office and disappointing fans around the world.

There’s no guarantee that 2012 will be any different. But it’s January and we’re starting off fresh, so let’s take a few moments and look at five big fights the UFC could potentially make over the course of the next twelve months.

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