The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
(The pre-fight UFC 167 press conference. The belt didn’t change places. / Photo via Getty)
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
At the post-fight press conference, an infuriated White claimed that he wouldn’t let GSP take a furlough from the sport.
“I want what’s fair and that wasn’t fair,” White said about the decision. “You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to this company, and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re gonna retire…There’s no ‘Hey listen I’m gonna go on a cruise and be gone for two years,’”
During the post-presser media scrum, Dana White, though much calmer, no-sold St.Pierre’s problems.
“His problems aren’t as bad as he thinks they are. They’re personal problems…it might seem like the end of the world, but it’s not.” “He’s a strong kid. He’ll get through this…he wants to fight…I’m very confident he’s going to work it out.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden seems to think that the rematch is more or less decided upon, which is likely but nothing is official yet, so don’t bank on it.
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
(The pre-fight UFC 167 press conference. The belt didn’t change places. / Photo via Getty)
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
At the post-fight press conference, an infuriated White claimed that he wouldn’t let GSP take a furlough from the sport.
“I want what’s fair and that wasn’t fair,” White said about the decision. “You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to this company, and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re gonna retire…There’s no ‘Hey listen I’m gonna go on a cruise and be gone for two years,’”
During the post-presser media scrum, Dana White, though much calmer, no-sold St.Pierre’s problems.
“His problems aren’t as bad as he thinks they are. They’re personal problems…it might seem like the end of the world, but it’s not.” “He’s a strong kid. He’ll get through this…he wants to fight…I’m very confident he’s going to work it out.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden seems to think that the rematch is more or less decided upon, which is likely but nothing is official yet, so don’t bank on it.
UFC 167 left the welterweight division in a violent tailspin from which it might not recover.
Heading into the PPV, the UFC trotted out the tired “If you were to build a fighter that could beat [insert champion], it’d be [insert challenger]” marketing formula. True, challenger Johny Hendricks‘ great wrestling and powerful hands were a great stylistic matchup against champion Georges St.Pierre‘s takedowns and iffy chin. But the MMA world said the same things about Josh Koscheck. His wrestling was too good for GSP to take him down, and since GSP couldn’t take him down, Koscheck would make use of his advantage in striking power. This, of course, didn’t happen. GSP jabbed Koscheck’s orbital bone into splinters for 25 minutes.
So why should we have expected anything else from GSP-Hendricks? GSP was the dominant champ. Hendricks was the Guy to Beat GSP™ of the month; a challenger who was, in reality, no challenge at all.
Do you think it was a coincidence that Rory MacDonald and GSP were fighting on the same card? The UFC was likely hoping for both MacDonald and St.Pierre to be victorious. Dana White could fulfill his sick fantasy of watching teammates fight, and the UFC would have a highly bankable future title fight: Georges St.Pierre vs. Rory MacDonald, the fight that sells itself. The biggest star (according to Dana) in the UFC’s history would fight his protegee over the holy grail of MMA: A UFC title. Dana White insisted before UFC 167 that the fight was going to happen.
UFC 167 left the welterweight division in a violent tailspin from which it might not recover.
Heading into the PPV, the UFC trotted out the tired “If you were to build a fighter that could beat [insert champion], it’d be [insert challenger]” marketing formula. True, challenger Johny Hendricks‘ great wrestling and powerful hands were a great stylistic matchup against champion Georges St.Pierre‘s takedowns and iffy chin. But the MMA world said the same things about Josh Koscheck. His wrestling was too good for GSP to take him down, and since GSP couldn’t take him down, Koscheck would make use of his advantage in striking power. This, of course, didn’t happen. GSP jabbed Koscheck’s orbital bone into splinters for 25 minutes.
So why should we have expected anything else from GSP-Hendricks? GSP was the dominant champ. Hendricks was the Guy to Beat GSP™ of the month; a challenger who was, in reality, no challenge at all.
Do you think it was a coincidence that Rory MacDonald and GSP were fighting on the same card? The UFC was likely hoping for both MacDonald and St.Pierre to be victorious. Dana White could fulfill his sick fantasy of watching teammates fight, and the UFC would have a highly bankable future title fight: Georges St.Pierre vs. Rory MacDonald, the fight that sells itself. The biggest star (according to Dana) in the UFC’s history would fight his protegee over the holy grail of MMA: A UFC title. Dana White insisted before UFC 167 that the fight was going to happen.
Robbie Lawler, a resurgent holdover from the earlier days of the sport, consistently beat Rory MacDonald to the punch and even floored the Canadian a few times en route to a decision victory. The next big thing’s hype train was officially derailed. Lawler’s nickname might as well have been “Kratos” since he battered “Ares.”
The main event didn’t go the UFC’s way either.
Georges St.Pierre did win, but in utterly undecisive fashion. GSP won via split decision, but even Dana White himself refused to believe that he won the fight. Hendricks neutralized GSP for most of the fight. Everything the various sales pitches said about Hendricks having the skills to match and even exceed GSP were true.
Yet we’re not getting the (highly profitable) rematch that follows many controversial title fight decisions. GSP announced a vague, pseudo-retirement after he fought, throwing away the welterweight division’s paddles as well as sending it up the creek.
St.Pierre was supposed to beat his “biggest threat ever” and look like an unstoppable superman who could only be bested by Rory MacDonald, a young gun and the one man who knew him best—a storyline so formulaic that it could’ve spewed from the power book of the laziest Hollywood hack.
If Dana White can’t force GSP into an immediate rematch (that happens within the foreseeable future), then the welterweight division will be rudderless. Should they book Hendricks vs. Lawler? Maybe Woodley vs. Lawler? What about Lawler vs. the winner of Brown vs. Condit? And does the UFC strip GSP of the belt? Or do they just create an interim title so they can market a “champion vs. champion” fight when he comes back?
But even if the UFC makes any of these matches, the division is now starless in the wake of GSP’s departure. The company’s biggest draw is gone, fleeing the sport after “winning” in name only. And judging from his skiddish, emotionally exhausted demeanor at the post-fight presser, he might not be coming back for a long time.
Considering the UFC’s suspect ability to create new stars, the future of the welterweight division as one of the UFC’s main attractions seems doubtful. The casual fans are going to leave with GSP, and the current welterweight cast of characters might not be able to get them back.
Welterweight Championship Fight Predictions Georges St-Pierre (c) vs Johny Hendricks I saw the weigh ins and Georges is very pumped up for this fight. It will be interesting to see if Hendricks can connect with GSP’s chin since its been clocked before and the switch has been flipped by Serra and Condit before. Hendricks is [&hellip
Welterweight Championship Fight Predictions
Georges St-Pierre (c) vs Johny Hendricks
I saw the weigh ins and Georges is very pumped up for this fight. It will be interesting to see if Hendricks can connect with GSP’s chin since its been clocked before and the switch has been flipped by Serra and Condit before. Hendricks is more powerful than both of those guys (based on in the cage performace).
Pick: GSP has shown an ability to endure, I want to think that GSP will do enough NOT to get knocked out and win a decision in the end as well.
Rashad Evans vs. Chael Sonnen
I just bumped into Evans at WSOF 6 last month and he was in good spirits and looked ready to go. Evans should be too fast for Sonnen and will land more overall strikes. I don’t think Sonnen will be able to keep Evans down long enough to win rounds vs Evans ability to do the same plus better striking.
Pick: Evans.
Rory MacDonald vs. Robbie Lawler
MacDonald is the Wizard. He looks stoic and ready to fight efficiently every time. Lawler looks nasty at this weight now and his added size from fighting at middleweight might be a problem for Rory. We will see.
Cetainly the conditioning edge will go to MacDonald.
Pick: With Rory a huge favorite here, I think there is value in picking Lawler.
Josh Koscheck vs. Tyron Woodley
Woodley really hasn’t faced that many great guys, but he is great himself. He has steamrolled many fighters and is ability to not get taken down is one of the best.
Pick: Odds are about even here. Koscheck’s jaw has been clicked before and Woodley looks like he is getting stronger every fight. I’m torn here, but I will give edge to Koscheck with the experience.
Tim Elliott vs. Ali Bagautinov
Pass
Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1)
Donald Cerrone vs. Evan Dunham
Such a good fight. I can see Dunham winning by submission, but this fight is probably best bet via going the distance.
Pick: Dunham
Ed Herman vs. Thales Leites
Pick: I like Leites here with his return to the UFC. He is a little bigger and I don’t think Herman brings anything that Leites isn’t capable of handling except conditioning, but I think Leites will be prepared since he’s been out of the UFC and will want the taste of the spotlight again. Remember he contended for the title against Silva?
Pick: Leites
Brian Ebersole vs. Rick Story
Also an amazing fight. If this goes the distance Story is the busier fighter. However, I always ride with Ebersole. His experience and ability to fight smart is uncanny.
Pick: Ebersole
Erik Perez vs. Edwin Figueroa
Pass
Preliminary card (Facebook/YouTube)
Jason High vs. Anthony Lapsley
Will Campuzano vs. Sergio Pettis
The odds are way too high here to take Pettis. With Campuzano fighting on short notice I understand why against the undefeated Pettis.
I know what a lot of you were thinking (and by “a lot” I mean nobody): Where is The12ozCurls with his obligatory fluffy, ball-washing post on Georges St. Pierre pertaining to his upcoming fight? Well, I hate to disappoint my dozens of CagePotato fans and Twitter followers (seriously, *bottom lip quivers* I got like 50) so I will give you what you want. What most of you want is more ammo to fire in my direction if/when GSP loses. And judging from the current CP Fight Picking Contest stats, a majority of you think Johny Hendricks is going to put my beloved Canadian to sleep on Saturday night. You are all entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it might be.
Let me explain: GSP has dominated the welterweight division for the better part of a decade. He has systematically vanquished each foe with a combination of athleticism, technique, cardio and sound game-planning. There is no debating that. Yet most of the flat-billed hat-wearing mouth-breathing meatheads that scream “KNEEEEES!” whenever there is a clinch, constantly talk shit on GSP because he is a boring fighter that doesn’t finish (and because he is handsome . . . . really really handsome).
That is the knock on one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time—that he’s ambien personified—but upon further review, GSP has done far more long-term damage to his last 8 opponents than ending a fight via TKO or submission. He effectively sent their careers into the toilet, which is far worse than just knocking them out cold. All of the following fighters were the #1 contender for the UFC WW Championship but each one was sent packing like my ex-wife (What? Too soon?). I’ll start with all the fights after GSP kneed Matt Serra’s kidneys into oblivion and became the undisputed champ back at UFC 83.
Take a look at the first guy who’s career GSP derailed after the jump.
(Five-pound dumbbells are the secret to dominance. / Image courtesy of GSP RUSHFIT)
I know what a lot of you were thinking (and by “a lot” I mean nobody): Where is The12ozCurls with his obligatory fluffy, ball-washing post on Georges St. Pierre pertaining to his upcoming fight? Well, I hate to disappoint my dozens of CagePotato fans and Twitter followers (seriously, *bottom lip quivers* I got like 50) so I will give you what you want. What most of you want is more ammo to fire in my direction if/when GSP loses. And judging from the current CP Fight Picking Contest stats, a majority of you think Johny Hendricks is going to put my beloved Canadian to sleep on Saturday night. You are all entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it might be.
Let me explain: GSP has dominated the welterweight division for the better part of a decade. He has systematically vanquished each foe with a combination of athleticism, technique, cardio and sound game-planning. There is no debating that. Yet most of the flat-billed hat-wearing mouth-breathing meatheads that scream “KNEEEEES!” whenever there is a clinch, constantly talk shit on GSP because he is a boring fighter that doesn’t finish (and because he is handsome . . . . really really handsome).
That is the knock on one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time—that he’s ambien personified—but upon further review, GSP has done far more long-term damage to his last 8 opponents than ending a fight via TKO or submission. He effectively sent their careers into the toilet, which is far worse than just knocking them out cold. All of the following fighters were the #1 contender for the UFC WW Championship but each one was sent packing like my ex-wife (What? Too soon?). I’ll start with all the fights after GSP kneed Matt Serra’s kidneys into oblivion and became the undisputed champ back at UFC 83.
Jon Fitch
Lost via UD at UFC 87
Record since = 7-3-1
(Image courtesty of MMAWeekly)
GSP’s victory over Fitch is the third most lopsided 5-round decision in UFC history. However, Fitch is one of the few that can boast a winning record since facing GSP, but those numbers are inflated. Much like the SEC football teams’ out-of-conference schedule, Fitch padded his stats. He has a positive record by essentially fighting B- to C+ fighters like Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago and Ben Saunders. That is not to say defeating a very game Erick Silva is not impressive, but then again, that was Fitch’s last fight in the UFC before getting choked unconscious in World Series of Fighting and then moving across the country for a training job at a start-up gym.
B.J. Penn Lost via TKO (corner stoppage) at UFC 94
Record since = 3-4-1
During the Countdown special prior to his fight with GSP, Penn looked straight into the camera and said, “To the death Georges. To the death.” Well, thankfully for The Prodigy, his corner stopped the fight at the end of the 4th round or else he might very well be six feet under because he got his ass handed to him. Afterwards, Penn dropped back to lightweight and got a couple wins before running into Frankie Edgar. He then moved back to welterweight where he most recently got annihilated by Nick Diaz and Rory MacDonald. For his next trick (and probably his last), B.J. will try and make the featherweight limit as a coach on the next exciting installment of The Ultimate Fighter *yawn*.
Thiago Alves Lost via UD at UFC 100
Record since = 2-3
(Image courtesy of SHERDOG)
Alves got taken down a total of 10 times during his contest with GSP. The feared striker didn’t come close to winning a round. He has beaten John Howard and Papy Abedi since November 2008. That is 2 wins in the last five fucking years. Sure, the injury bug has bitten him on more than a few occasions, but that is two wins in FIVE YEARS—a Tito Ortiz or Ken Shamrock level statistic! CagePotato was just an infant (with UFC credentials) five years ago and my liver did NOT look like a baked potato.
Yep, another clean sweep on the scorecards for GSP in this one but there were two times during the fight where Hardy was in severe danger of getting his arm snapped. To Hardy’s credit, he preserved through 25 minutes…but then he lost three consecutive fights afterwards. At least he had the honor of tapping to Chris Lytle during his Lights Out’s retirement fight. Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome has sidelined Hardy for over a year and his career as a fighter is hazy at best.
Josh Koscheck
Lost via UD at 124
Record since = 2-2 (Image courtesy of MMAPro)
GSP jabbed Fraggle Rock’s face into a pulp en route to another 50-45 victory. Koscheck has always been a perennial contender but unless he catches lightning in a bottle, his best days are behind him. In his last fight Robbie Lawler sent him to dream land with a barrage of punches. I wonder what it is like for a notorious shit-talking virtuoso like Kos to walk around backstage at UFC 167 and have to see GSP, Johny Hendricks, AND Lawler—the last three men to beat him. Humbling, I suppose but I bet he still bumps his gums nonetheless.
Jake Shields
Lost via UD at UFC 129
Record since = 3-1-1
Shields conjured his inner Koscheck during his bout with GSP and went into unintentional eye-poke mode, which limited the champion’s vision for a majority of the fight. Even fighting with one peeper, GSP was able to easily outpoint Shields for 25 minutes. Though Shields is 3-1-1, he could just as easily be 1-3-1 because his last two fights were decided via split decision in his favor. He is a very good fighter who probably has a few years left in his career (provided California continues to approve medicinal marijuana) but he will never be champion.
Let’s be honest about two things right now. First, Condit had GSP really hurt for about 90 seconds and that was the only time that “The Natural Born Killer” held any advantage during the 25 minute affair. Secondly, Condit is the only name on this list that still has the potential to be the welterweight champion in the future. Though he is only batting .500 in his last two contests, Carlos Condit is a stud who could be the champ one day if/when GSP retires (or does something else). Until then, he is waiting in line.
Diaz finally got a shot at GSP and was thwarted by footwork, speed and wrestling. The destructor of all things bullshit then (as expected) acted like a petulant child, took his ball, went home, and retired. I can’t wait for 2014 to see if Nick decides to stop promoting his own fighting organization and start promoting his comeback fight (CAGEPOTATO BAN BE DAMNED).
There you have it. With the exception of Carlos Condit, there is not one guy on this list that is a “player” in the welterweight mix. Fitch is out of the UFC, while Penn is grasping at straws as he plays musical weight classes and prepares for a swan song. Thiago Alves needs a new mattress because his bed bugs have been cross-bred with injury bugs and Dan Hardy may never fight again due to his medical condition. Josh Koscheck is still a dickhead but now more of a gatekeeper than contender and the world awaits a global coma for the Jake Shields vs Ben Askren fight to get announced (although now that seems unlikely). That leaves us with Nick Diaz who is, well, Nick Diaz and there isn’t a thing anybody can do about it. Minus Condit, all of these men have seen their once prolific and ascending careers’ tailspin in recent years and there is only one thing that they ALL have in common: They were all dominated by GSP. Georges St. Pierre doesn’t end the fight inside the cage, he ends the fighter.
Johny Hendricks will be out for blood when he steps into the cage with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167 on Saturday night. The top welterweight contender has been living in the shadows for far too long. While St-Pierre has maintained a perpetual stranglehold over the welterweight division, Hendricks has participated in an unending dog fight […]
Johny Hendricks will be out for blood when he steps into the cage with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167 on Saturday night. The top welterweight contender has been living in the shadows for far too long. While St-Pierre has maintained a perpetual stranglehold over the welterweight division, Hendricks has participated in an unending dog fight […]
