UFC 158 Review

George St-Pierre def Nick Diaz, points

Some fights are over before the first bell rings. Nothing about Diaz’s entrance or aura as he entered the ring suggested he believed in himself. Now I don’t know if maybe he was just taken aback by the crowd and/or the occasion but GSP looked like the winner straight of the bat. To Diaz credit I thought he did extremely well. I don’t think it’s fair to say GSP dominated this fight, sure he was in control but Diaz gave him more than enough to think about. At the end of R2 it looked like there was no way back for Diaz but using the boxing skills so often touted around him he caused a few tremors in GSP’s solid fight plan, considering he didn’t come close to stopping the takedowns in the first 2 rounds he managed to pull off 3 blockages in R3. Diaz got himself back into a fight where he was miles behind and I don’t think anybody predicted he would be able to do that.

I feel Diaz is getting a lot of flak from the media because of of who he is, reading various reports across the net it seems every journalist is using this defeat as a chance to have a dig at the challenger-Love him or hate him he went in there and gave GSP a fight, if you disagree take a look at GSP’s face-you don’t get that from a ‘comfortable victory’.

The other big talking point coming from this fight was Diaz’s retirement. I think he genuinely wants out but he’s still young and sooner rather later he will find himself dragged back into the ring, probably not in the UFC though, his dummy punch attempt after the bell in R3 all but secured a P45 for him, I get the feeling his retirement was his version of ‘jump before getting pushed’. GSP summed it up after the fight when he praised Diaz’s promotion work, regardless how much you hate Diaz there is no denying he made this fight interesting, his mouth got you interested, And what’s next for GSP? 2 words-Johny Hendricks.

Johny Hendricks def Carlos Condit, points

I thought this fight was straight out awesome, both men bought it and tore the house down. I really like both fighters so it was a great pleasure to see both of them go at it like this, it was such a good spirited contest that nobody wanted to see end. Hendricks has the most beautiful looking punches in UFC today, that left hand of his is just a bomb exploding in people faces and he keeps finding his shots.

Truth is Hendricks had a raw deal last night-it should have been his title shot, he knew it, GSP knew it, Dana knew everyone did. By beating such a serious fighter as Condit he has now secured himself as #1 contender and based on his current form you got to fancy him having half a chance.

Ronda Rousey and winner of Tate v Zingano announced as the coaches on next seasons Ultimate Fighter

The fans have been asking for this on Twitter and now Dana has answerd the call. One thing we all know is that Rousey is a natural at talking to the camera, she is so watchable when being interviewed it seems being a coach on TUF is a natural transition. Her already heated history with Tate would make it a great season to watch if Tate wins her bout, exciting time ahead in the UFC womens division.

UFC 158 Main Event Preview

UFC 158 Main Event Preview

I’m just going to come out and say this-I have GSP winning and I don’t see it  any other way.

 

I don’t buy into this being ‘personal’ for GSP, sure he may dislike Diaz but he’s taking this fight because it’s an easy cheque, a nice simple payday. Nor do I buy into GSP going in and wrestling Diaz, GSP is a proven boxer himself and I fancy him to go in there and go toe to toe, he has nothing to fear from Diaz fists. And now this is where GSP can’t fail; If( and it’s a big IF) GSP finds himself being out boxed by Diaz all he has to do is switch it up and go to ground where he knows he is far Superior to the pretender to his throne. But I don’t see that being the case, at the very least GSP will be equal to Diaz in terms of boxing. Another approach for GSP is to go in, wrestle him for 2 rounds, wear him down then just pound him with boxing for the final 3 rounds. GSP has so many paths in front of him where Diaz has only one-to punch.

 

I like Diaz, he’s entertaining and like Sonnen there are a lot of fighters who could learn a lot from them; these men get title shots because their mouth puts asses on seats. An ideal scenario is to have Diaz pull of the upset and win, stick with me here, I’m a huge GSP fan myself but stick with me.

 

So Diaz pulls of the unthinkable and defeats GSP either by knockout or points, one of the most hated men in MMA has the belt and GSP, a legend of the sport, a champion of the people has to pick himself back up and try and reclaim his title and avenge his shocking defeat. Cue a rematch with a monster of a build up as UFC push Diaz in front of the camera talking about how he is the best and then shows the humble GSP in the gym, training with his eye of the tiger like montage. Everyone would buy into it and everyone would love it whether you are a GSP fan or Diaz fan. The buy rates would be huge and if GSP reclaims the belt another glorious chapter would be written in his and in UFC’s history.

 

But back to reality.

Prediction: I see GSP winning on points (because he always does) I think he will keep his emotions in touch and I think he will dominate.