Tag: not impressed

On This Day in MMA History: Georges St-Pierre Was Not Impressed by Your Performance

Georges St-Pierre has never been what you’d call a “trash-talker.” Sure, if you push him too far, he might call you an “uneducated fool” and explain the concept of passive income in a way that suggests you are a less-evolved form of life than he is. But throughout his MMA career, St-Pierre has generally avoided personal attacks, preferring to speak from a place of logic rather than emotion

To his detractors (aka Nick Diaz fans), that makes GSP a cold-blooded space-alien, a nerd who talks like a robot. That persona was set in stone at UFC 63 — eight years ago today, on September 23rd, 2006 — when St-Pierre infamously told Matt Hughes “I’m not impressed by your performance,” following Hughes’s third-round TKO victory against BJ Penn.

Even to this day, it’s still the most famous thing that the ex-champ has ever said, and has remained a dependable punchline among MMA fans. The St-Pierre/Hughes cage confrontation was incredibly awkward in its own way — “I’m not impressed by your performance” is like something Data would say to Wesley Crusher after learning about human combat sports. And yet, it was absolutely perfect for that moment.

Georges St-Pierre has never been what you’d call a “trash-talker.” Sure, if you push him too far, he might call you an “uneducated fool” and explain the concept of passive income in a way that suggests you are a less-evolved form of life than he is. But throughout his MMA career, St-Pierre has generally avoided personal attacks, preferring to speak from a place of logic rather than emotion

To his detractors (aka Nick Diaz fans), that makes GSP a cold-blooded space-alien, a nerd who talks like a robot. That persona was set in stone at UFC 63 — eight years ago today, on September 23rd, 2006 — when St-Pierre infamously told Matt Hughes “I’m not impressed by your performance,” following Hughes’s third-round TKO victory against BJ Penn.

Even to this day, it’s still the most famous thing that the ex-champ has ever said, and has remained a dependable punchline among MMA fans. The St-Pierre/Hughes cage confrontation was incredibly awkward in its own way — “I’m not impressed by your performance” is like something Data would say to Wesley Crusher after learning about human combat sports. And yet, it was absolutely perfect for that moment.

Originally, UFC 63 was supposed to be headlined by a rematch between St-Pierre and Hughes; the two welterweights had fought for the vacant 170-pound title at UFC 50 in October 2004, with the French-Canadian rising star losing by armbar with one second left in the first round. Following that loss, St-Pierre tore through Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, and Sean Sherk, and gutted out a split-decision against BJ Penn, which earned him a second crack at Hughes. Unfortunately, a groin injury knocked GSP out of the UFC 63 main event, and Penn stepped up to replace him.

Hughes came dangerously close to losing his title that night. A fired-up BJ Penn out-struck the reigning champ in round one, and had Hughes in mortal danger during round 2 with various submission attempts. But Penn visibly faded in round 3, which allowed Hughes to take Penn to the mat and smother him with ground-and-pound until the ref stepped in. It wasn’t Hughes’s most dominant performance, but it definitely showed heart.

“Heart,” of course, is an intangible that the android mind simply cannot process. As St-Pierre saw it, Hughes struggled against Penn, and when it was time for his pre-arranged run-in, St-Pierre grabbed the mic and gave the crowd his assessment. “I’m not impressed,” St-Pierre said, “by your per-for-Mance.”

The irony that GSP had also struggled against Penn and was unable to finish him was apparently lost on St-Pierre that night. Matt Hughes could have stuffed that fact directly up GSP’s ass, but instead, his response was a shortened, non-profane version of that old line about opinions being like assholes. As Hughes tells it, St-Pierre later apologized for the incident, claiming that his public diss was spurred by a misunderstanding of something Hughes had previously said on the mic.

Still, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, you know? UFC fans had just heard their beloved country-boy get dressed-down by a snooty foreigner, and couldn’t wait to see how the rivalry played out. Hughes and St-Pierre had their rematch just two months later at UFC 65, with St-Pierre winning by savage second-round TKO. Five months after that, St-Pierre lost his belt to Matt Serra, which eventually led to a rubber match between St-Pierre and Hughes. But that, my friends, is a story for another day. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the anniversary of one the UFC’s all-time greatest catchphrases…

(BG)

WMMA News Roundup: Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano Are “Not Impressed” by Ronda Rousey’s Performance, UFC Adds Four More to Women’s Bantamweight Division

Poor Miesha Tate. It’s bad enough that she nearly had her arm ripped from her torso when she first fought Ronda Rousey, but the fact that she is forced to relive it each and every time a microphone is shoved in front of her face has to leave her feeling somewhat bitter about the whole experience, and perhaps rightfully so.

Take last Saturday for instance, when Tate and her upcoming opponent Cat Zingano — both of whom appeared to be sponsored by either Lucky Charms or Zubaz Pants — were interviewed by Ariel Helwani following Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche’s historic battle at UFC 157. While one would think that Tate would put her personal differences with Ronda aside for a moment and simply congratulate her for the achievement, Tate opted rather to declare that she will “rip [Rousey’s] face off in the rematch.” Um, Miesha, your next opponent is actually the woman who was standing right next to you when you all but wrote her off. Awkward. 

In fact, Tate was spilling haterade so vigorously that even Zingano jumped in line for a glass, declaring that Rousey had “a lot of holes in [her] game” after first saying how proud she was of the first WMMA fight in UFC History and blah blah blah. On the opposite end of the spectrum, both Tate and Zingano were impressed by Carmouche’s performance despite the fact that she lost and that they would have totally finished Rousey if put in the same situation.

And fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) for Tate or Zingano, it’s looking like the winner of their upcoming fight will be given the opportunity to put her money where her mouth is. During the UFC 157 post-fight show on FUEL TV, Rousey mentioned that she “is interested” in the outcome of the matchup and will be in attendance when Tate and Zingano face off in Vegas on April 13th. So make sure to tune in for the chance to witness the first ever 209 gang-stomping in WMMA History.

In other WMMA news…

Poor Miesha Tate. It’s bad enough that she nearly had her arm ripped from her torso when she first fought Ronda Rousey, but the fact that she is forced to relive it each and every time a microphone is shoved in front of her face has to leave her feeling somewhat bitter about the whole experience, and perhaps rightfully so.

Take last Saturday for instance, when Tate and her upcoming opponent Cat Zingano — both of whom appeared to be sponsored by either Lucky Charms or Zubaz Pants — were interviewed by Ariel Helwani following Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche’s historic battle at UFC 157. While one would think that Tate would put her personal differences with Ronda aside for a moment and simply congratulate her for the achievement, Tate opted rather to declare that she will “rip [Rousey’s] face off in the rematch.” Um, Miesha, your next opponent is actually the woman who was standing right next to you when you all but wrote her off. Awkward. 

In fact, Tate was spilling haterade so vigorously that even Zingano jumped in line for a glass, declaring that Rousey had “a lot of holes in [her] game” after first saying how proud she was of the first WMMA fight in UFC History and blah blah blah. On the opposite end of the spectrum, both Tate and Zingano were impressed by Carmouche’s performance despite the fact that she lost and that they would have totally finished Rousey if put in the same situation.

And fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) for Tate or Zingano, it’s looking like the winner of their upcoming fight will be given the opportunity to put her money where her mouth is. During the UFC 157 post-fight show on FUEL TV, Rousey mentioned that she “is interested” in the outcome of the matchup and will be in attendance when Tate and Zingano face off in Vegas on April 13th. So make sure to tune in for the chance to witness the first ever 209 gang-stomping in WMMA History.

In other WMMA news…

According to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC has recently signed four other fighters to the bereft women’s bantamweight division, and they are…

Sarah Kaufman: 15-2 as a pro, including multiple appearances under the Strikeforce banner and notable victories over Alexis Davis and Liz Carmouche. Last suffered a 54 second armbar defeat at the hands of (shockingly) Ronda Rousey in August of 2012, but is best known for stealing BG’s heart with this photo.

Julie Kedzie: Despite dropping her past two contests to Alexis Davis (via decision) and Miesha Tate (via armbar), “Fireball” will be heading to the UFC as well. Known for her bubbly personality and commentating gig over at Invicta FC, this Jackson’s MMA product is currently 16-11 in professional competition.

Amanda Nunes: Currently 7-3 as a professional, Nunes has competed under the Invicta and Strikeforce banners multiple times and scored one of the quickest, most brutal knockouts in WMMA History (barring pretty much every Veronica Rothenhausler fight, obvs.) when she starched Julia Budd at Strikeforce Challengers 13. 

Germaine de Randamie: 3-2, holds a notable victory over former Dominatrix/featherweight title challenger Hiroko Yamanka. Scored a brutal first round KO via knee over Stephanie Webber in her Strikeforce debut back in January of 2011.

The signings of Kaufman and Nunes might seem a little odd considering that they are both scheduled to compete for Invicta in April, but according to Kaufman, being allowed to fight in multiple organizations is a privilege that extends to just the women’s division. TAKE THAT, EQUALITY. Next you’re gonna tell me that they get their own locker rooms.

–J. Jones