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UFC 158: Where Did the Fight Rank Among Canadian Events?

The war of words that unfolded between welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz before and after UFC 158 nearly overshadowed the action that ensued inside the Octagon on Saturday. When the dust settled, however, the UFC’s makes…

The war of words that unfolded between welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz before and after UFC 158 nearly overshadowed the action that ensued inside the Octagon on Saturday.

When the dust settled, however, the UFC’s makeshift welterweight tournament produced several captivating bouts. This included a pair of tooth-and-nail clashes between Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit in the co-main event and “GSP” and Diaz in the main event.

But where does UFC 158 rank among other prominent Canadian events?

Because of the bulky nature of typical UFC cards, the most effective way to compare UFC 158 to Canadian classics like UFC 154 and UFC 129 is to examine each contest’s co-main and main events.

Although Hendricks and St-Pierre each won via decision, each fight generated enthralling action from bell to bell.

Hendricks got outstruck 94-69 against Condit, including 42-30 in the significant strikes department. But “Bigg Rigg“, a southpaw, not only scored 12 takedowns, he also tried valiantly to become the first man to KO Condit—despite injuring his left hand early in the fight.

Like the scrap between GSP and Condit at UFC 154, Hendricks and “The Natural Born Killer” garnered “Fight of the Night” honors because of the stark contrast in their styles. Hendricks’ wrestling dexterity and punching power pitted against Condit‘s pinpoint technical striking and dangerous submission aptitude was a recipe for an action-packed brawl.

Strikes got thrown at a much higher volume in the bout between GSP and Condit at UFC 154. The Natural Born Killer outstruck GSP 190-172, although St-Pierre fired the more significant shots, outlanding Condit 71-36.

Condit nearly ended the fight when he landed a high kick flush on GSP‘s temple in the third round.

St-Pierre cleared the cobwebs and bounced back brilliantly, finishing the fight with seven takedowns and eight guard passes.

Although it took less than a minute, Hendricks made the co-main event at UFC 154 a memorable one by putting perennial contender Martin Kampmann to sleep with a lethal left straight.

But regardless of the excitement it generated, a 46-second knockout just can’t give fans the brand of satisfaction a five-round war offers. Therefore, Hendricks vs. Condit was a more aesthetically pleasing bout than Hendricks vs. Kampmann.

In his win over Diaz at UFC 158, “Rush” employed a similar game plan en route to another conservative win.

St-Pierre utilized his Muay Thai prowess to keep Diaz at bay and make his venomous boxing game seem rudimentary. Rush landed 105 significant strikes and outstruck Diaz 210-80.

In the grappling category, GSP scored on nine of 16 takedown attempts and passed Diaz‘s guard twice.

Granted, GSP put on a solid show by physically demoralizing Diaz for the better part of 25 minutes. However, Condit landed 110 more strikes against GSP, a fact that made their fight infinitely more interesting.

At the historic UFC 129, in which 55,724 fans packed into the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Jose Aldo defended his featherweight title against a game Mark Hominick in the night’s co-main event. Hominick outstruck Aldo 147-131, but only landed 71 significant strikes to Aldo’s 94. Hominick also scored just one takedown and surrendered five.

In the main event, GSP did just enough to nip Diaz‘s teammate, Jake Shields, in a back-and-forth affair.

Shields took a round from GSP and outstruck Rush 96-92. But St-Pierre not only landed 85 significant strikes to Shields’ 78, he also scored two takedowns and allowed none.

Hominick and Shields undoubtedly forced Aldo and GSP to work diligently to defend their respective belts. However, the co-main and main event fights at UFC 158 both offered more in terms of entertainment value to the fans.

After all, it was awfully fun to watch Hendricks brawl with a hungry Condit for his long overdue title shot, and to see GSP silence a chatterbox like Diaz.

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UFC 158: 5 Fights for Jordan Mein to Take Next

Jordan Mein has been fighting since 2006 and has 35 fights in his career. That’s remarkable considering he’s only 23. On Saturday night, at UFC 158, he had the best night of his life. In his UFC debut, Mein KO’d the previously unstopp…

Jordan Mein has been fighting since 2006 and has 35 fights in his career. That’s remarkable considering he’s only 23.

On Saturday night, at UFC 158, he had the best night of his life.

In his UFC debut, Mein KO’d the previously unstoppable Dan Miller in the first round. It was an announcement of his bad intentions in the welterweight division, and while he has some rank-climbing to do before he’s allowed to avenge the loss to Rory MacDonald in his first-ever fight, there are five other fights that he could take next.

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Georges St-Pierre: Dominating Champ or Boring Game Planner?

Many things have been said about Georges St-Pierre over his illustrious career. Among the most biting is that the UFC welterweight champion, arguably the greatest 170-pounder in MMA history, is a boring game planner. That’s a reductive breakdown …

That’s a reductive breakdown of GSP’s recent record of not having stopped anyone since BJ Penn’s corner threw in the towel in 2009. At UFC 158 on Saturday night in Montreal, we saw another GSP decision win against Nick Diaz.

But the fight can be described as anything but boring. It’s true, it wasn’t the most electric match on the fight card. Nevertheless, it did bring with it a spectacular display of GSP’s skills. Against a game opponent, GSP worked tirelessly until the final bell, staying busy on the ground and staying calm in the stand-up.

But like so many of his opponents, GSP was never going to finish Diaz. He never looked close to submitting him or knocking him out. And for many of the ill-educated MMA fans, no fight is considered worth watching unless one or the other of those things happens.

However, for a connoisseur of the sport, there is much to admire in GSP’s performance; a man whose raw athleticism and martial arts talent can utterly dominate someone considered as a serious challenger to his crown.

There is no doubt that, like all MMA athletes, GSP comes in with a strategy that he executes better than most. But to limit his ability to just game planning is to do him a disservice. What’s remarkable about GSP is the way he’s able to figure out and get on top of his opponent quickly, readjusting as necessary, and never letting go of his commanding role for the entire match.

He’s a man driven to dictating the terms of every contest, and that’s a remarkable thing to watch considering last Saturday he was fighting an opponent who loves to bully others in the cage.

It’s that resolute quality that has made him a dominant champion for the last five years.

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So What Was the Big Deal With Georges St. Pierre’s Hand Wraps at UFC 158, Anyway?

(“Yup. That’s an Affliction shirt alright. This guy must be guilty of something.” #DanaWhite’sInnerThoughts.)

You might have missed it during the UFC 158 post-fight press conference, but midway through Nick Diaz’s clusterfuck of a rant aimed at the UFC, wrestlers, his teammates, Stephen Hawking’s wormhole theory, etc., the Stockton native made note that there was something unusual about Georges St. Pierre’s hand wraps as well. Granted, Diaz also stated that GSP was on steroids, but while that accusation would require a little more, you know, evidence before anyone starts buying into it, the idea that St. Pierre and the Jackson camp might be stretching the rules in regards to his hand wraps didn’t seem that far outside the realm of possibility given the champ/camp’s history with greasing allegations.

It all started when fellow Team Gracie/UFC fighter Jake Shields sent out a vague, accusatory tweet (Author’s Note: Truly a Team Gracie member, amiright?) aimed at GSP in the moments leading up to the fight:

I just checked GSP’s gloves and the wrap looked shady…now commission won’t let me back. Been trying to for the past 30 minutes…. Not saying he’s cheating but wtf?!

Things only got more tense once Team Cesar Gracie demanded to inspect St. Pierre’s wraps after he had already been gloved up. Thankfully, Dana White was able to make sense of the whole situation during the UFC 158 media scrum.

(“Yup. That’s an Affliction shirt alright. This guy must be guilty of something.” #DanaWhite’sInnerThoughts.)

I just checked GSP’s gloves and the wrap looked shady…now commission won’t let me back. Been trying to for the past 30 minutes…. Not saying he’s cheating but wtf?!

But first a little background info: In MMA, it is customary for a representative from each fighter’s team to sit in on the hand wrapping of the other. A member of the governing athletic commission is present during the tape job as well.

Now, back to DW, who explained the whole mess later in the evening (Via 5thRound):

So what happened was, Jake Shields was the one who sat in on the hand wrap. After they wrap [St-Pierre’s] hands, Jake Shields said, ‘Cool, see you later.’ And then they came back later and said they wanted another guy to look at the hand wraps and the commission said, ‘You already did the hand wraps. He’s gloved up. It’s over.

So then they started to freak out. But everything was taken care of. Then as soon as the fight was over, both hand wraps were cut off, put into bags and given to the commission.

St. Pierre, ever the class act, chalked up the freak out to a bit of last-minute head games on Diaz’s part:

Just before the fight, they send some guy to check my hand wrap. It was going back and forth, they were yelling in my locker room. Everything was about head games.

It was crazy. First time someone played a lot of head games like this with me.

St. Pierre’s trainer, Firas Zahabi, was not so forgiving:

Then it will be checking his shorts, then, what else, we’re warming up here, you don’t have infinite time to warm up. We’re going to go through a routine, we’re not going to be interrupted, the commission came in and said ‘please do check it again.’ The referee came in and checked the gloves and I said ‘you know what, bring NASA, if someone from the NASA office is out there, bring them in and let them check anybody who wants to check anything, you can have the hand wraps after the fight. You can have the gloves, send them to any laboratory you want, bring VADA in here right after, before, during, after.’ But I don’t want them to call the shots. I don’t want them to tell me when we’re warming up and when we’re not warming up.

So there you have it, the final Nick Diaz-related complaint that we will publish for at least eight hours. I’d tell you to tune in for more, but who am I kidding? Us MMA fans are all sheep anyway, sheep who will continue eating up this kind of news like it’s pasturage until Diaz tells us otherwise. Now can we just find a way to get Diaz and Chael Sonnen in the same room and record it for scientific purposes?

–J. Jones

UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC 158

Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz finally settled their differences at UFC 158, where the former defended his welterweight championship via decision.The fight card also produced St-Pierre’s next title challenger, Johny Hendricks. Hendricks picked up his …

Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz finally settled their differences at UFC 158, where the former defended his welterweight championship via decision.

The fight card also produced St-Pierre’s next title challenger, Johny Hendricks. Hendricks picked up his sixth straight win by defeating former interim champion Carlos Condit in a back-and-forth battle.

Prior to UFC 158, many had believed Hendricks was a more deserving contender than Diaz, so this weekend’s fights may have set up one of the toughest challenges of St-Pierre’s title reign. The event’s bouts also caused some notable movement throughout the 170-pound class.

Here are the official UFC rankings following Saturday’s bouts.

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Oh, The Irony: Ben Askren Not Impressed by GSP’s Performance, Is “100 Percent Sure” He Could Beat Him

(“You see, Georges? THIS is how you dominate someone for five full rounds without ever coming close to finishing them!”)

Likely because he has failed to stir up any interest in the cage with his fighting style, which often feels like watching The English Patient at half speed, Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has become quite the prominent Twitter troll over the years. And honestly, his Twitter beefs and troll tactics have quickly become the most entertaining part of his mixed martial arts career.

Just last week, for instance, Askren lashed out at Michael Bisping — who is scheduled to face Askren’s friend/training partner Alan Belcher at UFC 159 — via one hilariously xenophobic and self-deprecating rant. And now, he’s got his sights set on UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who apparently did not do enough in his title defense against Nick Diaz at UFC 158 to earn Askren’s much sought after hespect. Via Askren’s Twitter:

Have we seen GSPs dark side yet? Or is he saving it for rounds 4 & 5?? I saw more viscous things happen at the youth wrestling tourney!

After tonight I am 100% sure I could beat GSP… GSP is no longer an aggressive striker. He will not out wrestle or grapple me. He gets tired. Simple enough.

(“You see, Georges? THIS is how you dominate someone for five full rounds without ever coming close to finishing them!”)

Just last week, for instance, Askren lashed out at Michael Bisping — who is scheduled to face Askren’s friend/training partner Alan Belcher at UFC 159 – via one hilariously xenophobic and self-deprecating rant. And now, he’s got his sights set on UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who apparently did not do enough in his title defense against Nick Diaz at UFC 158 to earn Askren’s much sought after hespect. Via Askren’s Twitter:

Have we seen GSPs dark side yet? Or is he saving it for rounds 4 & 5?? I saw more viscous things happen at the youth wrestling tourney!

After tonight I am 100% sure I could beat GSP… GSP is no longer an aggressive striker. He will not out wrestle or grapple me. He gets tired. Simple enough.

You hear that, guys? Georges St. Pierre is boring and Askren is the only one boring enough to out-boring him! If only Askren hadn’t already screwed himself out of a future UFC career with (years of forgettable fights and) a Twitter rant last year, Joe Silva would probably be all over this superfight, which would effortlessly destroy the UFC’s current records for attendance and PPV buys. Make it happen, Joe!

Now that Askren is a bona fide finisher, does anyone find his criticism of GSP’s recent performance valid? Or should he just shut the hell up and focus on finishing his own fights without doctoral assistance?

–J. Jones