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Chuck Liddell is Picking Jake Shields Over GSP

Yesterday we discussed the fact that not only is the name Jake Shields still relatively new to a lot of ‘ultimate fighting’ fans, and thus, he’s not widely expected to dethrone Georges St. Pierre, many of the sport’s more ardent observers don’t expect the submission wiz to win either. Case in point? Just shift your […]

jake-shields

Yesterday we discussed the fact that not only is the name Jake Shields still relatively new to a lot of ‘ultimate fighting’ fans, and thus, he’s not widely expected to dethrone Georges St. Pierre, many of the sport’s more ardent observers don’t expect the submission wiz to win either. Case in point? Just shift your eyeballs to the right of your screen right now and take a peek at the betting lines we have up…The mighty GSP is the favorite and then some.

So, who is picking Shields to win? Well, a certain ex-light-heavyweight champ named Chuck Liddell is just one example. Now, keep in mind that Liddell and Shields go way back and that the former Strikeforce champ used to train with “The Iceman,” so either bias is raising its ugly head here, Liddell is making an informed assessment, or, yeah, maybe it’s a bit of both ….Speaking to MMA Fighting, here’s what Liddell had to say about the upcoming UFC 129 main event.

“I’m siding with Jake,” Liddell said. “Jake’s going to have to take him down. I’m expecting him to be in great shape for the fight. He’ll be in great shape for GSP. But yeah, I expect him to take him down and finish him.”

Now if Chuck had predicted Shields to win via highlight reel head kick or something similar, it’s likely the word ‘biased’ would be getting muttered repeatedly right about now. Will Shields, in fact, be able to take down a dude who had few issues countering renowned wrestlers like Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch? Guess we’ll find out Saturday.

To bet a little dough on this weekend’s action head here.

Georges St. Pierre Not Worried About Pressure in Fight With Jake Shields

We’re just a few days removed from UFC 129, and if you’re not excited about this Saturday’s event, you should probably keep that to yourself. After all, April 30th will feature not one, but two title fights, likely Randy Couture’s last fight ever, and…50,000 or so Canadian fans. Have you ever seen a hockey riot? […]

We’re just a few days removed from UFC 129, and if you’re not excited about this Saturday’s event, you should probably keep that to yourself. After all, April 30^th will feature not one, but two title fights, likely Randy Couture’s last fight ever, and…50,000 or so Canadian fans. Have you ever seen a hockey riot? There are some passionate sports fans in the Great White North.

Of course, the main event will feature welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre throwing down with Jake Shields. While avid observers of the sport understand that the former Strikeforce champ could pose a threat to GSP on the ground, a lot of mainstream fans aren’t really sure if they’ve even seen Shields fight, much less think he’s going to push St.Pierre. ‘Yeah dude, he fought that Martin Kampmann guy, and almost, well kinda lost, remember?’

In contrast, St. Pierre has consistently been saying that Shields is his toughest test to date, and with that in mind then, is he feeling the pressure come over him like a wet, soggy blanket? Yes, yes he is. Is that a bad thing? Non, non, it’s not. (Thanks to MMA Weekly for the quote).

“Let’s say I would fight Jake in a basement when nobody is watching, maybe the pressure would not have been that bad. Sometimes it’s having the people around and the entourage that makes it worse. But on the other side, I perform better when I’m under pressure,” St-Pierre stated.

Well, considering there’s going to be a few million people watching this fight, there’s probably going to be just a wee bit of pressure there… Saturday can’t get here soon enough. To bet on the bout head here.

Nate Marquardt Reports GSP “Definitely Considering” Bout with Anderson Silva

Earlier in the year, many MMA fans were sent into an excited “OMG you guys” frenzy, when UFC top dog Dana White conceded that a bout between welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre and middleweight king Anderson Silva would likely happen. Yes, there were a few little hurdles on the horizon, namely dudes like Jake Shields […]

Earlier in the year, many MMA fans were sent into an excited “OMG you guys” frenzy, when UFC top dog Dana White conceded that a bout between welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre and middleweight king Anderson Silva would likely happen. Yes, there were a few little hurdles on the horizon, namely dudes like Jake Shields and Yushin Okami (although only recently did the UFC confirm Okami wasn’t going to get effed over), but things were looking golden for the much ballyhooed bout.

While discussion about the super fight certainly hasn’t disappeared, it’s kind of cooled, as the realities of what is entailed to put the fight together have set in. So, is GSP still thinking about doing this? Provided he prevails over the terrifying ground game of Shields later this month? Nate Marquardt recently told ESPN UK yes.

“I don’t know if [St. Pierre] is planning on moving up but I definitely know he’s considering fighting Anderson. I think that’s a great fight and I think he has the perfect style to beat a guy like Silva.”

Cool beans. Marquardt also revealed in the interview that it was actually Georges who got him thinking about dropping to welterweight. Of course, Marquardt is making the cut and will fight Anthony Johnson in June, which naturally, has already led to a round of ‘will you fight your teammate’ questions. Marquardt responded “I’m not thinking about it and if it’s ever an issue I’ll deal with it then.”

To bet on GSP vs. Shields, or any other tilts at UFC 129, head here.

Changed Lyoto Machida Honored to be Fighting Retiring Randy Couture

Yes friends, if you haven’t heard, it appears as though the legendary career of Randy “The Natural” Couture is coming to a halt, as the former champ announced this week that his upcoming April 30th bout with Lyoto Machida is likely going to be his last. Really, everyone knew that day would finally arrive for […]

Yes friends, if you haven’t heard, it appears as though the legendary career of Randy “The Natural” Couture is coming to a halt, as the former champ announced this week that his upcoming April 30^th bout with Lyoto Machida is likely going to be his last. Really, everyone knew that day would finally arrive for the 47 year-old-phenomenon, and fittingly Couture’s final fight has all the makings of a good one.

Why? Aside from the whole ‘one of the greatest fighters of all time bit,’ as we mentioned earlier in the week, it wasn’t long ago people did a mental bow in their head every time they mentioned the name Machida. Of course, Machida didn’t look so mythical in his first tilt with “Shogun” Rua, got KTFO in the rematch, and then didn’t look very impressive in his split decision loss to “Rampage” Jackson. So what’s “The Dragon” learned from all this? (Thanks to MMA Bay for the quote)

“The biggest thing I learned is you constantly need to be changing and you constantly need to be evolving. At that moment, a lot of people think, ‘Oh, if it’s working, don’t change anything.’ But I realize now when you’re winning, when you’re the champion, that’s when you constantly have to be evolving because everybody’s gunning for you. Whether you’re winning or losing, you’ve constantly got to be changing.”

Yup, clearly guys were starting to figure out Machida’s shtick. The former champ also noted that he’s extremely honored to be fighting Couture, and is thrilled to get that fight down on his resume. Now it just remains to be seen if it will be recorded as a win. To bet on the bout head here.

UFC Deal With Full Tilt Poker Kaput After Government Seizure

If you haven’t heard about last week’s government shutdown of the U.S. online poker industry, you’re clearly not a card player, or you’re not blessed with the wonders of electricity.
On Thursday, we’ve learned that the UFC closed a rumored $15M+ advertising deal with one of the shut-down sites, Full Tilt Poker.
On Friday, online poker in […]

If you haven’t heard about last week’s government shutdown of the U.S. online poker industry, you’re clearly not a card player, or you’re not blessed with the wonders of electricity.

On Thursday, we’ve learned that the UFC closed a rumored $15M+ advertising deal with one of the shut-down sites, Full Tilt Poker.

On Friday, online poker in the U.S. was wiped out, as was the ad deal.

How would you like to be the sales guy who lost out on that commission check?

Well, we’ve learned more about the details of the UFC, Full Tilt Poker deal here. For additional info about the U.S. kyboshing online poker click here.

Anderson Silva Says Yushin Okami Could Have Kept Fighting

Aside from a couple of nasty, ‘and that’s a wrap’ stoppage wins, it’s safe to say that Yushin Okami has struggled to entertain most fans with his grinding style. Like it or not, the guy is damn effective, and if he gets ahold of Anderson Silva for a prolonged time at UFC Rio, the living […]

Aside from a couple of nasty, ‘and that’s a wrap’ stoppage wins, it’s safe to say that Yushin Okami has struggled to entertain most fans with his grinding style. Like it or not, the guy is damn effective, and if he gets ahold of Anderson Silva for a prolonged time at UFC Rio, the living highlight reel may not be so thrilling.

How the action will unfold aside, the good news is that it’s looking like the pre-fight road to Silva vs. Okami II is not going to be completely void of drama. While Okami isn’t exactly known for the smack talk, he is the last dude to defeat Silva, and the renowned Brazilian champ apparently is still a wee bit irked about that fact. In a recent interview with the LA Times (thanks to ESPN U.K. for the heads up), Silva talked about his DQ loss to Okami in 2006, and offered this:

“I was a little surprised with his reaction to that [upkick],” Silva said in the LA Times. “Do I think he could have continued? I do think he could have continued. But he had the rules in his favour. I did an illegal kick and he chose that it was better not to continue.”… “I respect everybody and have a history in the sport and I believe people need to respect me. When they cross that line of respect is when they don’t really understand what happens.”

Huh. Is someone calling somebody a coward? The article also mentions that apparently Silva referred to Okami in the past as a “samurai without honor”…now that’s gotta hurt. See, this Silva vs. Okami II bout is shaping up just fine.