UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz - Page 9

GSP is very methodical in how he dispatches opponents and just cares about getting his hand raised. He got tagged a few times in round 3 i think but there was no imminent danger as he had won the first two rounds decisively. Only in the last 10 seconds or so he started swinging like a gorilla as i had hoped. If reclessness was a part his gameplan it would be more popcorn.gif for us but he had a point to prove. On a scale of 100m dash and marathon runner i'd rank Hendricks as a long jumper, not really sure about GSP cause he shows explosiveness in takedowns and is very fast in decisionmaking and executing his stuff. Surely they have to make compromises between KO power and endurance.

On March 17 2013 00:10 RaiNKhAN wrote: Show nested quote + On March 17 2013 00:08 bigredhoss wrote: for the future it's going to be difficult for me to become emotionally invested in trash-talking if they're just going to kiss and make up after fight every time the only time i've seen someone still bitter as hell was when Paul Daley sucker punched Josh Koscheck in the side/back of his head after the fight ended. he was cut then sent to strikeforce, so as u can tell these guys care way more about not getting cut and getting paychecks than they do about their pride

nice, just checked the youtube clip.

actually overall this was pretty fun to watch (first time i've watched a full card of MMA), prob going to start following it more.

I used to love GSP's dominance but now its just frustrating that he doesn't do more damage or even LOOK to finish any more and then claim to be devastated that he didn't finish. He's not ended a fight in years besides vs a 168 bj penn and he's had extreme control in all of those fights

post fight conference just starting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=...tate=6d2376c0857c48a2fe7beda923429850

Seeing Hendricks swinging like a madman reminds me of an interview in which Tyson said he would have loved to give MMA a shot if it was so popular at his time. The thought of it takes ones mind down weird roads.

His dominance sends a pretty nasty message to whoever he is fighting though, doesn't it ? Challengers need to accept the fact they are going to go down and not be given much to work with cause GSP top control is pretty damn solid.

GSP should outclass hendricks by quite a bit. Hendricks is really not a good striker but he just wings those super hard lefts and makes you respect them cause you cant let even one of them land so trying to beat him to the punch when his hand is at his waist is super risky.

However, GSP really alters how people strike against him because of the threat of his wrestling. GSP outstruck diaz all fight. Diaz won all the clinch battles and actually had some success stuffing GSPs takedowns but he got outboxed most of the fight. Hendricks would get taken down immediately if he charged like that vs GSP so he has to be more tentative and if hes not winging he cant outstrike GSP. he has to land a fight ending blow so hes caught in kind of a pickle. of course he only has to land one....

at least ellenberger and hendricks are live dogs for once. nobody at 170 will outfight GSP, but at least they have a chance to win.

It does indeed, finishing fights or at least TRYING to sends a nastier message tho no?

lol diaz making a lot of excuses as of why he didnt do well, that's weird

On March 17 2013 00:56 Daut wrote: GSP should outclass hendricks by quite a bit. Hendricks is really not a good striker but he just wings those super hard lefts and makes you respect them cause you cant let even one of them land so trying to beat him to the punch when his hand is at his waist is super risky. However, GSP really alters how people strike against him because of the threat of his wrestling. GSP outstruck diaz all fight. Diaz won all the clinch battles and actually had some success stuffing GSPs takedowns but he got outboxed most of the fight. Hendricks would get taken down immediately if he charged like that vs GSP so he has to be more tentative and if hes not winging he cant outstrike GSP. he has to land a fight ending blow so hes caught in kind of a pickle. of course he only has to land one.... at least ellenberger and hendricks are live dogs for once. nobody at 170 will outfight GSP, but at least they have a chance to win.

Do you see Hendricks as being similar to Matt Serra, in that GSP can have a similar game plan and possibly finish Hendricks?

Interesting call out by Mr. Roop...

Lol he wants a shot at the best prospect and future champ bruce lee roy

press cliffs - nick diaz mad

honestly, gsp is just plain boring. He's a fantastic fighter, but icnredibly boring. Basically all his fights are a snooze fest.

On March 17 2013 02:23 PuertoRican wrote: Show nested quote + On March 17 2013 00:56 Daut wrote: GSP should outclass hendricks by quite a bit. Hendricks is really not a good striker but he just wings those super hard lefts and makes you respect them cause you cant let even one of them land so trying to beat him to the punch when his hand is at his waist is super risky. However, GSP really alters how people strike against him because of the threat of his wrestling. GSP outstruck diaz all fight. Diaz won all the clinch battles and actually had some success stuffing GSPs takedowns but he got outboxed most of the fight. Hendricks would get taken down immediately if he charged like that vs GSP so he has to be more tentative and if hes not winging he cant outstrike GSP. he has to land a fight ending blow so hes caught in kind of a pickle. of course he only has to land one.... at least ellenberger and hendricks are live dogs for once. nobody at 170 will outfight GSP, but at least they have a chance to win. Do you see Hendricks as being similar to Matt Serra, in that GSP can have a similar game plan and possibly finish Hendricks?

not really. hendricks is bigger, stronger, hits harder and is a much better wrestler than serra. sure they have somewhat similar styles, but hendricks is much more dangerous. i would for sure bet hendricks at +350. i think the line will be gsp -240/hendricks +200, which might be a bet on gsp, but its about right i think

We've seen this before with Koscheck right? Elite wrestling and so-so striking technique with ko power. Hendricks has more power but it shouldn't matter because I don't think he's going to land those big charging haymakers on GSP. GSP -350 sounds about right to me.

On March 17 2013 14:16 SleepyHead wrote: We've seen this before with Koscheck right? Elite wrestling and so-so striking technique with ko power. Hendricks has more power but it shouldn't matter because I don't think he's going to land those big charging haymakers on GSP. GSP -350 sounds about right to me.

theres a few key differences that make hendricks more of a live dog than koscheck:
-koscheck throws his monster punches from the pocket. hendricks throws them coming forward so hes more likely to land one. they are more dan henderson like
-as you said hendricks does hit harder than koscheck so one blow is more likely to win him the fight than koscheck
-hendricks is a southpaw which i think gives him a slightly better chance to land a big counter blow than koscheck does as a righty

either way GSP is in the ~70-80% range to win. but when you face these super live underdogs eventually the odds are against you that you make it through every fight without getting a loss. if GSP can get through this hendricks/ellenberger/maia group of contenders without losing and if he isnt willing to fight against rory for the title then there isnt much left for him to accomplish at 170

I'd like to see more out of Maia before even considering him as a contender.

- He beat Kim, who had some freak accident in his rib that didn't need surgery. It's labeled as a muscle spasm on Wikipedia.
- He submitted Story, which is good, but story wasn't and isn't top 10.
- He out-fitched Fitch to a decision win.

A 3 fight win streak is nice, but he hasn't shown anything to warrant his name being close to title contention.

maia is ranked #5 at 170. GSP has already beaten diaz/condit and hendricks gets the next shot. after that maia is highest ranked fighter in the division so hes pretty damn close to a title shot. maybe one fight away

The UFC will have a tough time selling GSP vs. Maia.

Expect Maia to get the Hendricks treatment, until he can beat at least 2 more top 7* opponents in a row.

What seems to be "only 1 big win away," is actually farther away than what you may think. No way will Maia get a title shot if he beats whoever the #2 guy is in his next fight. GSP will go afk from the fight scene and then we'll read about a potential super fight that will never happen, and Maia will have to fight again. Lastly, Maia isn't finishing his opponents like Hendricks is, so that's another reason why he won't get a title shot any time soon.

It's not like Maia just lay on Fitch looking to pass rounds in their fight. I felt like Fitch was put into danger fairly consistently. He would have gotten the finish against others who aren't as good at submission defense. The Kim fight was a weird injury but I thought Maia already looked stronger at 170 even just in a few seconds. And Rick Story for sure isn't top 10 but he's faced a fair amount of higher tier guys and had never been closed to being finished. That 1 round submission was pretty brutal too. I think he is at least a 'contender' and warrants being at least fairly close to title contention. But I definitely agree he'll get the Hendricks treatment. Has to knock off at least a few more would be contenders to start forcing the UFC's hand.