Tag: UFC News

GSP is Going to Destroy Diaz

George “Rush” St. Pierre has given Nick Diaz the greatest and the worst Christmas present ever. On one hand he gave him the biggest pay day of his life, and on the other he will.

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George “Rush” St. Pierre has given Nick Diaz the greatest and the worst Christmas present ever. On one hand he gave him the biggest pay day of his life, and on the other he will give him the worst ass kicking of his life. I’m going to make a bold prediction here; GSP is going to retire Nick Diaz. I may end up eating my words, but after being dominated for five rounds I believe Nick Diaz will call it quits. GSP has the edge in all of the areas; here are a few where I believe he will really show his dominance.

Wrestling

This is quite obvious, St. Pierre is one of the best wrestlers in the UFC; and he had no prior wrestling experience when he began his career. When GSP met Koscheck for the first time he showed the world how dominant of a wrestler he really was, out wrestling the All American for all three rounds. Some people say that when the fight hits the mat Diaz will have the advantage because of his BJJ; those people forget that GSP has a black belt in the “gentle art” as well. GSP has crushing top control and Diaz will be no match for his strength and skill.

Athleticism

GSP is by far the most athletic fighter to grace the Octagon, yet this is only due to his hard work and dedication. Whereas in my opinion Diaz is one of the least athletic, sure he trains for triathlons, but he doesn’t measure up against GSP. The Champ is stronger, faster, and can go hard for five full rounds, something he has been doing for eleven out of his past twelve fights.

X-Factor

I’m not talking about the TV show here, I’m talking about intangibles. The fight is taking place in GSP’s home town of Montreal at the Bell Centre. Diaz is known for hating press conferences and the likes; it will be interesting to see how he fairs in another country while doing these activities.

GSP is also one of the most composed fighters ever, he is strictly business when he steps in the Octagon. Diaz on the other hand is not, he is known for his trash talking and antics while fighting and leading up to fights. This I believe will play into the hands of the Champion. GSP has dealt with trash talkers from Koscheck to Hardy, and I don’t believe Diaz has what it takes to get into his head.

Summary

In the end Diaz will be no match for GSP, much like all of the previous challengers to his belt. GSP will beat Diaz to the punch, kick, and takedown; and he will do so for five rounds. As we saw in the Condit fight, Diaz will lose his cool and begin to talk trash and try to anger King George. In the end the judges will be called to make a decision and Bruce Buffer will announce “And still the UFC Welterweight Champion of the World! George “Rush” St. Pierre”. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a brawl ensue, but in the coming days Diaz will retire; who knows maybe he will become a professional triathlete.

 

– Josh Leduc

 

War Between Siver and Swanson

Last week the UFC announced a Featherweight match up with title implications between Dennis Siver and Cub Swanson. Between these two there are five fight of the night awards, four knockout of the nights, and.

Last week the UFC announced a Featherweight match up with title implications between Dennis Siver and Cub Swanson. Between these two there are five fight of the night awards, four knockout of the nights, and a submission of the night. That’s ten fight night bonuses between them. So this bout is guaranteed to be a war.

Both men have looked impressive as of late, Siver is a winner of six of his last seven, and is two and zero since his drop to Featherweight. While Swanson is a winner of three of his last four, and is three and one in the Octagon.

Siver is coming off a dominant performance over the durable Nam Phan where he show cased his always impressive striking, and improved ground game. Swanson is coming of a first round knockout of the night win over Charles Oliveira. If their recent performances are any indication this fight should be fast paced and one of the most exciting fights of the year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this fight ends up being a late candidate for fight of the year. I’m leaning towards Siver winning this match because of his technical striking abilities and take down defense, but Swanson has serious power in his hands.

Let me know your predictions in the comment section bellow.

 

Written by: Josh Leduc

Rustam Khabilov is a Beast!

This is for anyone who missed Rustam Khabilov’s UFC debut on the TUF 16 Finale prelims. Vinc Pichel was the unfortunate soul to welcome the Russian to the Octagon on Saturday night. From the start.

This is for anyone who missed Rustam Khabilov’s UFC debut on the TUF 16 Finale prelims. Vinc Pichel was the unfortunate soul to welcome the Russian to the Octagon on Saturday night. From the start of the fight Pichel was out matched, and I think he knew it. In less than thirty seconds Khabilov had rag dolled Pichel with the first of many suplexes that would eventually knock Pichel out cold.

For those of you who don’t know, Khabilov is a Sambo practitioner. Not just any Sambo practitioner, but a Combat Sambo world champion. He is so good at what he does that he was awarded the highest sports title in Russia, the International Master of Sports in both Sambo and Hand-to-Hand Combat. When one thinks of the title International Master of Sports in Sambo, there is only one other man that comes to mind, and that’s Fedor Emelianenko.

Maybe I’m going a little over board with this, but I think Khabilov will be in the top 10 at Lightweight by the end of 2013, if he gets the step up in competition he proved he deserves. Pichel is by no means a high level Lightweight in the UFC, but the way Khabilov was able to control the fight and finish Pichel in less than two minutes and thirty seconds makes me optimistic for his future.

With the Lightweight division being one of the most stacked divisions in the UFC I think the Russian can become a top 10 fighter in a year or two if he fights and wins on a regular basis. I would like to see Khabilov matched up with John Makdessi, Mac Danzig, or possibly George Sotiropoulos. Leave me a comment and let me know how you guys feel.

Written by:  Josh Leduc

 

Nick Diaz Ahead of Johnny Hendricks?

I can’t wrap my head around that fact that Johnny Hendricks won’t be getting the next crack at the welterweight title. This isn’t the first time a fighter has had to wait for a title.

I can’t wrap my head around that fact that Johnny Hendricks won’t be getting the next crack at the welterweight title. This isn’t the first time a fighter has had to wait for a title fight, but this may be the most disturbing, seeing that Hendricks is the clear number one contender. Anyone that believes that Nick Diaz is more deserving of a fight with Georges St-Pierre is a fool, plain and simple.

Nick Diaz is coming off a loss in his last fight against Carlos Condit. People argue that Diaz should’ve been awarded the win against Condit, but he lost. In the history of the UFC, no fighter has ever been awarded a title shot while coming off a loss, with the exception of immediate rematches due to controversy or if there were no other options due to injury. Johnny Hendricks is on a five fight win streak and is injury free, so no one can say there aren’t other options for opponents. The controversial decision excuse doesn’t apply, because it’s not as if Diaz is fighting Carlos Condit. He chose to cry about his loss to Condit and then “retire” from MMA, and now his first fight back will be for the belt. Does this make sense to anyone?

The only reason Diaz was considered for a title shot in the first place was because at the time, he was the Strikeforce champion, and it was intriguing to see two champions fight each other. If Diaz wasn’t the Strikeforce champion, no one would think that he deserved to fight Georges St-Pierre. Before he came back to the UFC, he had beaten KJ Noons, Evangelista Santos, and Paul Daley; not the strongest argument that your next in line to fight the UFC champ. I agree that after beating BJ Penn at UFC 137, Diaz’s scheduled title fight with GSP was justified. Unfortunately for him, Condit stepped in as a replacement, beat him, and now that Penn looks like he should retire after loosing to Rory MacDonald, Diaz doesn’t have much of an argument that he still deserves a title fight.

The only angle that Dana White could be playing, is the pay-per-view buys. If I had to guess, I’d say that a fight between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz would sell more pay-per-views than Georges St-Pierre and Johnny Hendricks. This would arguably create a small boost in revenue for the UFC and would be an understandable business move, but as a boss, it’s as if he is denying a hardworking employee a promotion, that he clearly deserves, just to make a few more bucks.

I respect Dana White for everything he does and the decisions he makes, but regardless of his reason for giving Diaz a title shot before Hendricks, I strongly disagree, and I don’t think it can be justified by anyone. If Dana White won’t reconsider, then I implore him not make the same mistake in the future, as I’m certain that the real MMA fans find this as baffling as I do.

 

Written by : Ryan “Fight Freek” Poli

@FightFreek

What’s Next for Hector Lombard?

Hector Lombard is coming off a vicious knock out of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares, securing his first win inside the UFC and the biggest win of his career. Now in the aftermath we are.

Hector Lombard is coming off a vicious knock out of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Rousimar Palhares, securing his first win inside the UFC and the biggest win of his career. Now in the aftermath we are left with the question of who to match the Cuban Aussie power house with next. Here are a few of my choices:

The winner of Stann  vs  Silva.

Both Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva are brawlers that would provide an exciting stand up war with Lombard. The only problem is the two are fighting at Light Heavyweight at the moment. If Brian Stann wins he has stated that he is going back down to Middleweight, where as Wanderlei Silva is looking to stay at Light Heavyweight. Personally I think Stann is going to win this so there won’t be a problem, but if Silva gets passed Stann it will show he still has a chin. Remember money talks and Wanderlei is a company man, if Uncle Dana comes knocking, Wanderlei will answer the call.

The winner of Boetsch  vs  Phillipou.

Lombard vs either Boetsch or Phillipou could potentially be a number one contender fight. If Boetsch wins there could be a rematch in the making with Lombard, both fighters entered injured in their first encounter; thus causing an uneventful bout. If Phillipou wins in impressive fashion a battle with Lombard would be perfect. Both men are exciting and would potentially be a good match ups for Lombard.

Chris Weidman.

Chris Weidman is an option, but don’t expect this one to happen. I don’t see the UFC throwing Weidman their current golden boy against Lombard. Lombard poses too many threats to Weidman, and after an unimpressive bout with Boetsch I don’t see the UFC jumping to give Lombard a title shot if he beats Weidman. Not to mention Weidman is coming off of an injury, as well as the destruction of his home by Hurricane Sandy. It’s been a rough couple of months for Weidman and I think the UFC will give Weidman a tune up fight upon his return.

The loser of Bisping  vs  Belfort.

Hector Lombard in his post fight interview with Karyn Brant called out Michael Bisping for his next fight. I think this would be an interesting fight, and it probably would have turned into a war. There’s just one problem, and that’s Vitor Belfort. Vitor almost stole Jon Jones’ title in his last fight by way of arm bar, and is now scheduled to fight Bisping in what is possibly a number one contender’s bout. I don’t see Bisping getting past Vitor, and if this happens rather than letting Lombard fight Vitor; I would like to see Lombard fight Bisping. Let Vitor have another shot against Anderson Silva, he earned it for stepping up on short notice against Jones. However if Bisping wins, a bout with Belfort is sure to cause fireworks. Both men are more than willing to stand and bang, and the winner would be one step closer to a title shot.

Written by: Josh Leduc