Cruickshank bumps his official UFC record to 2-0 as a lightweight, including his previous decision win over Chris Tickle. Any ideas on who he should fight next?
(Props: RASTANITRO. Skip to 3:12 for the money shot.)
Cruickshank bumps his official UFC record to 2-0 as a lightweight, including his previous decision win over Chris Tickle. Any ideas on who he should fight next?
The latest in a series of video spots promoting the UFC in Australia, “The Art of Fighting Part 3: Learning to Dance” focuses on combat sports legend Mark Hunt, the former K-1/PRIDE veteran who has found an unexpected career rebirth inside the Octagon. After losing six consecutive MMA fights from 2006-2010 (five via armlock, one via Manhoef), Hunt is now on a three-fight win streak — including knockouts of Chris Tuchscherer and Cheick Kongo — and is currently calling out old foes while on injury leave.
Hunt is not a complicated man, and his best quotes in this clip are zen-like in their simplicity. (“The best part about fighting is the fighting.” “My gameplan is just knock his head off. That’s the gameplan.”) Plus, the 38-year-old New Zealander says he’d probably be in jail if not for fighting. So thank you, MMA, for saving Mark Hunt from a shameful life of white-collar crime.
After the jump: The first two installments of “The Art of Fighting,” in which James Te-Huna, Bernardo Magalhaes, and Anthony Perosh explain their philosophies on standup and ground-fighting.
The latest in a series of video spots promoting the UFC in Australia, “The Art of Fighting Part 3: Learning to Dance” focuses on combat sports legend Mark Hunt, the former K-1/PRIDE veteran who has found an unexpected career rebirth inside the Octagon. After losing six consecutive MMA fights from 2006-2010 (five via armlock, one via Manhoef), Hunt is now on a three-fight win streak — including knockouts of Chris Tuchscherer and Cheick Kongo — and is currently calling out old foes while on injury leave.
Hunt is not a complicated man, and his best quotes in this clip are zen-like in their simplicity. (“The best part about fighting is the fighting.” “My gameplan is just knock his head off. That’s the gameplan.”) Plus, the 38-year-old New Zealander says he’d probably be in jail if not for fighting. So thank you, MMA, for saving Mark Hunt from a shameful life of white-collar crime.
After the jump: The first two installments of “The Art of Fighting,” in which James Te-Huna, Bernardo Magalhaes, and Anthony Perosh explain their philosophies on standup and ground-fighting.
For those who missed the fights on Saturday, here’s another look at Johny Hendricks‘s devastating knockout of Martin Kampmann, which earned “Bigg Rigg” a $70,000 Knockout of the Night check, cemented him as the likely #1 contender in the UFC welterweight division, and saved the UFC 154 main card from a long night of decisions. The 46-second KO increased Hendricks’s win streak to five, with his last three victories coming against Jon Fitch (via 12-second KO), Josh Koscheck (via split-decision), and now this smash-up of Martin Kampmann.
On yesterday’s edition of the Verbal Submission radio show, Hendricks stated that he won’t take another fight before getting his title shot, even if reigning champion Georges St. Pierre decides to fight Anderson Silva in his next appearance. Judging from GSP’s non-committal post-fight interview with Joe Rogan on Saturday, squaring off against the Spider doesn’t really seem to be a priority for him. UFC fans may want to see GSP in a champion vs. champion catchweight superfight against Silva, but if St. Pierre decides to remain in his division for now, there’s at least one challenger who could give him a hell of a match. (Hint: It’s the bearded dude with the magical death-fists.)
(Props: Fox Sports/FUEL TV)
For those who missed the fights on Saturday, here’s another look at Johny Hendricks‘s devastating knockout of Martin Kampmann, which earned “Bigg Rigg” a $70,000 Knockout of the Night check, cemented him as the likely #1 contender in the UFC welterweight division, and saved the UFC 154 main card from a long night of decisions. The 46-second KO increased Hendricks’s win streak to five, with his last three victories coming against Jon Fitch (via 12-second KO), Josh Koscheck (via split-decision), and now this smash-up of Martin Kampmann.
On yesterday’s edition of the Verbal Submission radio show, Hendricks stated that he won’t take another fight before getting his title shot, even if reigning champion Georges St. Pierre decides to fight Anderson Silva in his next appearance. Judging from GSP’s non-committal post-fight interview with Joe Rogan on Saturday, squaring off against the Spider doesn’t really seem to be a priority for him. UFC fans may want to see GSP in a champion vs. champion catchweight superfight against Silva, but if St. Pierre decides to remain in his division for now, there’s at least one challenger who could give him a hell of a match. (Hint: It’s the bearded dude with the magical death-fists.)
In advance of Georges St. Pierre‘s long-awaited return at UFC 154 on November 17th, the UFC has made four of the welterweight champ’s greatest performances available on YouTube, along with the last four fights from the interim champ, Carlos Condit. Unfortunately the videos aren’t embeddable, but you can use the handy player above to give yourself a refresher course on the following…
– GSP’s blitzkrieg of Jay Hieron in his Octagon debut at UFC 48.
– GSP’s rear-naked choke of Frank Trigg at UFC 54.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Hughes to win his first title at UFC 65.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Serra to reclaim the unified belt at UFC 83.
– Carlos Condit snatching a knockout victory from the jaws of defeat against Rory MacDonald at UFC 115.
– Condit’s highlight-reel knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120.
– Condit’s demolition of Dong-Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
– Condit’s controversial decision win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143.
And for a different take on GSP’s historic reign in the sport, check out lookoutawhale‘s classic “Bloodsport Karma” film after the jump. We know it’s a lot to watch, so feel free to take the rest of the day off.
In advance of Georges St. Pierre‘s long-awaited return at UFC 154 on November 17th, the UFC has made four of the welterweight champ’s greatest performances available on YouTube, along with the last four fights from the interim champ, Carlos Condit. Unfortunately the videos aren’t embeddable, but you can use the handy player above to give yourself a refresher course on the following…
– GSP’s blitzkrieg of Jay Hieron in his Octagon debut at UFC 48.
– GSP’s rear-naked choke of Frank Trigg at UFC 54.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Hughes to win his first title at UFC 65.
– GSP’s revenge-TKO of Matt Serra to reclaim the unified belt at UFC 83.
– Carlos Condit snatching a knockout victory from the jaws of defeat against Rory MacDonald at UFC 115.
– Condit’s highlight-reel knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120.
– Condit’s demolition of Dong-Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
– Condit’s controversial decision win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143.
And for a different take on GSP’s historic reign in the sport, check out lookoutawhale‘s classic “Bloodsport Karma” film after the jump. We know it’s a lot to watch, so feel free to take the rest of the day off.
On November 17th in Montreal, Georges St. Pierre returns to the Octagon from his year-and-a-half layoff, and honestly, it couldn’t come soon enough. When St. Pierre and Carlos Condit meet for the UFC welterweight belt at UFC 154, it will have been a full three months since the last time the UFC put on a title fight that wasn’t a total mismatch. That drought of superfights has been one of the reasons why MMA has simply felt less exciting lately, but finally, things are picking up again, and I can’t freakin’ wait.
We’ve been thinking about GSP vs. Condit for a hell of a long time, and the anticipation has reached that saturation point where we just want this damn thing to be over by now. St. Pierre says his knee isn’t a weak link anymore, he’s 100%, he’s “back better than ever.” And it’s never a good idea to doubt such a fantastic and disciplined athlete. But still…a hungry and motivated Carlos Condit is the last guy you want to face when you’ve been out of the game so long.
Speaking of welterweights, Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann will be squaring off in the co-main event. (Kampmann scores the best point in the promo interview by promising to kick Hendricks in the beard.) Could an impressive performance put one of these guys next in line? And who will come out on top? Check out the extended trailer above and let us know what you think.
On November 17th in Montreal, Georges St. Pierre returns to the Octagon from his year-and-a-half layoff, and honestly, it couldn’t come soon enough. When St. Pierre and Carlos Condit meet for the UFC welterweight belt at UFC 154, it will have been a full three months since the last time the UFC put on a title fight that wasn’t a total mismatch. That drought of superfights has been one of the reasons why MMA has simply felt less exciting lately, but finally, things are picking up again, and I can’t freakin’ wait.
We’ve been thinking about GSP vs. Condit for a hell of a long time, and the anticipation has reached that saturation point where we just want this damn thing to be over by now. St. Pierre says his knee isn’t a weak link anymore, he’s 100%, he’s “back better than ever.” And it’s never a good idea to doubt such a fantastic and disciplined athlete. But still…a hungry and motivated Carlos Condit is the last guy you want to face when you’ve been out of the game so long.
Speaking of welterweights, Johny Hendricks and Martin Kampmann will be squaring off in the co-main event. (Kampmann scores the best point in the promo interview by promising to kick Hendricks in the beard.) Could an impressive performance put one of these guys next in line? And who will come out on top? Check out the extended trailer above and let us know what you think.
Some of you may have heard of a lil’ MMA fight that’s set to take place next month between the UFC’s interim welterweight champion and some French joker named Georges St. Pierre. GSP has been out of action since successfully defending his belt against Jake Shields in April of 2011 due to multiple knee injuries. Finally, on November 17th, the longtime champ is scheduled to make his return at UFC 154 after undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery and taking the necessary months to recover. In case Carlos Condit is thinking about going after St. Pierre’s newly-recuperated knee, “Rush” has a simple message for his opponent.
“I hope that Condit focuses on targeting my knee. Its not a weak link anymore,” he says in the above UFC video.
“There’s nothing that I can’t do now that I wasn’t able to do. I will leave with the belt.”
Some of you may have heard of a lil’ MMA fight that’s set to take place next month between the UFC’s interim welterweight champion and some French joker named Georges St. Pierre. GSP has been out of action since successfully defending his belt against Jake Shields in April of 2011 due to multiple knee injuries. Finally, on November 17th, the longtime champ is scheduled to make his return at UFC 154 after undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery and taking the necessary months to recover. In case Carlos Condit is thinking about going after St. Pierre’s newly-recuperated knee, “Rush” has a simple message for his opponent.
“I hope that Condit focuses on targeting my knee. Its not a weak link anymore,” he says in the above UFC video.
“There’s nothing that I can’t do now that I wasn’t able to do. I will leave with the belt.”
St. Pierre goes on to give his usual spiel about his next opponent being the best one he’s ever faced — a practice he’s kept up ever since getting upset by Matt Serra in April 2007 — but he brings up some legit points about Condit. The odds may be against “The Natural Born Killer” when he fights GSP but, as the Canadian says, Condit truly is a versatile fighter capable of coming up with and executing different game plans depending on who he is fighting. (Sound familiar?) It should also be noted that Condit has legit KO power — he stopped Dan Hardy cold, for example, whereas GSP couldn’t finish the Brit over five rounds.
What do you think, nation? Is GSP bluffing or will his knee hold up to any kicking or other attacks that Condit may throw his way? And do you think it makes sense for a fighter to design their game plan around an opponent’s injury?
Bonus fight-hype: This tasty St. Pierre vs. Condit promo reel from jhazizi21.