GSP

[Rodja]

We're less than two weeks away from his return, but it's not his fight against Condit that has me excited; for the first time, it seems as though there is a real possibility of GSP/Silva at a catchweight. Dana has recently talked about how the wheels are in motion and this would be without a doubt the highest grossing PPV/gate ever in MMA. If it were to happen, it only makes sense for it to occur on 4th of July weekend at Cowboy's Stadium.

Thoughts?

[Rulk]

Good topic! I know you know, that GSP must first get past Condit, so let me get that out of the way first.

GSP-
Big BiG test in condit imo. Coming back, tune up fight would be ideal, but it's not the reality. GSP's wrestling and ability to take down condit ( and keep em down ) will be the biggest xfactor. If he can do that, I think he wins by decision.

GSP vs The Man ( Silva )
GSP will lose by decision at the very least and win by decision at the very most. He won't knock out Silva, not even come close. He could control the fight with his wrestling, and grind out a Fitch like win. I do think GSP's wrestling is amazing, and the fact that he did not come from a wrestling background is even more amazing. Silva can win anywhere, period. The only thing i've seen him weak in, is wrestling, when Sonnen controlled most of the 1st fight ( yes I know about silva's injury then ).

Now this is one of the best fights that can be made, but what I really want to see is Silva vs. Jones.

[Rodja]

Good topic! I know you know, that GSP must first get past Condit, so let me get that out of the way first.

GSP-
Big BiG test in condit imo. Coming back, tune up fight would be ideal, but it's not the reality. GSP's wrestling and ability to take down condit ( and keep em down ) will be the biggest xfactor. If he can do that, I think he wins by decision.

GSP vs The Man ( Silva )
GSP will lose by decision at the very least and win by decision at the very most. He won't knock out Silva, not even come close. He could control the fight with his wrestling, and grind out a Fitch like win. I do think GSP's wrestling is amazing, and the fact that he did not come from a wrestling background is even more amazing. Silva can win anywhere, period. The only thing i've seen him weak in, is wrestling, when Sonnen controlled most of the 1st fight ( yes I know about silva's injury then ).

Now this is one of the best fights that can be made, but what I really want to see is Silva vs. Jones.

The "injury" during the first fight with Chael doesn't hold its salt. If anything, Silva severely underestimated Chael's abilities and it nearly cost him the fight. That being said, GSP has the tools to defeat Silva: POWER wrestling, cardio, and submission defense. I would favor GSP to win a decision based upon his wrestling accumen and his ability to mix up his striking and his wrestling.

[Rulk]

My ultimate prediction on that fight would be- Silva win by decision. Is this fight 3 or 5 rounds though?

[Rodja]

My ultimate prediction on that fight would be- Silva win by decision. Is this fight 3 or 5 rounds though?

It'll be 5. All main events are 5 now.

[Rulk]

^ thats cool. I'm looking forward to watching GSP's return.

[DJM]

We're less than two weeks away from his return, but it's not his fight against Condit that has me excited; for the first time, it seems as though there is a real possibility of GSP/Silva at a catchweight. Dana has recently talked about how the wheels are in motion and this would be without a doubt the highest grossing PPV/gate ever in MMA. If it were to happen, it only makes sense for it to occur on 4th of July weekend at Cowboy's Stadium.

Thoughts?

its obvious the dallas show will be headlined by a silva superfight be it gsp or jones

im scared for gsp as he gives up alot of length to silva, and of course big fan (fucker lives 5min from me, we all see him around grocery shopping time to time, guy dresses like a hobo btw lol).....but every fkn time he was gonna face his 'biggest' test he mauled them, and i dont see how condit can do anything, especially infront of 23000 here, diaz woulda been a better fight, or at the very least more build like the gsp kos show, i was there and it was incredible the entrances

if sonnen can dominate silva for 7rnds outside of being caught by a submission and being caught after he attempted a fkn spinning backhand, i can see st pierre doing the same, and if anything more skilled ontop and bit more explosive seeing sonnen hits pretty light

striking hes great but gives up alot of length, and considering hes the best tactician in the game, he will shoot on silva from the get go...........gsp decision as he wont gas, if silva wins its cause he catches georges and tkos him early, longer it goes he'll wear out silva

jones silva would be a stand up dream fight, and id prob want silva to kick his ass (im assuming jones handles sonnen, sadly probably chael last big money main event chance)

noa gsp wrestling is great cause he trains with the can national team here, he trains boxing with boxers, bjj with bjj guys ect

[Rulk]

I thought gsp trained with the can national team. They said he could of been a top wrestler or something. Remember, gsp's athletisism combined with Greg Jackson's game plan, = a much more dangerous package for Silva to deal with. I'm sure GJ will come up with something really smart, as always.

Gsp vs Condit, I could see Condit giving him real fits... GSP has not fought in like 2 years or something and Condit is tough. Don't be surprised by an upset.

[DJM]

you smoke a 7 all last night????
gsp is gonna rape him, penn, fitch, alves, ect, they were all 'so' dangerous, and all got dominated....condit is good, but the gap between the champions at 170, 185, 205 and the rest of the field is insane, hence the super fight talk

[Rodja]

I don't see any real threat from Condit outside of a fluke shot. He is not known for his TDD (look how Rory ragdolled him) and GSP is cerebral enough to know where to keep the fight. Condit does have a very active guard and will look for submissions, but I can't see him catching GSP with a submission or even threatening him with anything major. Power wrestling will almost always overcome the guard these days.

[DJM]

^^^^hes dominated some guys with great pedigree in wrestling.......strength wise alot say hes easily the strongest theyve been in there with......i can see condit sitting in his corner after rnd 3, exhausted and lost his spirits as he realizes who he is truly in there with

it must be fking disheartening when you are a top contender, at 170/185/205, and truly great and one of the best in the world, but are manhandled by that divisions champion.......those 3 guys are just so ahead of the pack.....outside of sonnen controlling silva for 2 fights none of them are ever really threatened

[Rodja]

For whatever reason, I don't see Jones having the mental grit of the others. I feel that he'd crumble if someone were to really drag him into a war. I hate Anderson, but I cannot deny the fact that his fight with Chael proved that he has the mental side just as much as the physical side.

[DJM]

^^^^oh i dont like jones, and hope they have that superfight, i can see silva opening up the machine for him, like you said i dont think he can handle that heat, from someone who isnt scared.........sonnen wasnt scared so he was successful,

you can see in the gsp fights, after 2rounds his opponents seem 'broken'

[Rulk]

I'm going to remain with that stance. Condit will be tough for GSP, maybe the stiffest challenge he's been up against so far in his career. I think the long hiatus Gsp has gone through will play a factor. Either way, it should be interesting and I know Condit wants to play spoiler in this scenario.

[Rulk]

Jones has mentioned going up to Heavyweight in late 2013. I want Silva vs. Jones before this though, more than GSP vs. Silva. Jones poses a lot of threats to Silva, even standing up, and obviously Silva poses the biggest threat to Jones via standing. Jones though is ground n pound evolved to it's highest degree so far- His biggest weapon imo.

[Rulk]

So the count down has begun- GSP vs Condit. Any fight predictions? I think this goes to a decision with GSP doing enough to take the Win.

[Rodja]

GSP via decision
Hendricks via TKO

[DJM]

^^^^x2
gsp takes all 5 rnds, mentally breaks condit, woulda much preferred diaz in there

[JM1000]

Condit will be forgotten forever after Saturday night... Although it might be decision, GSP is untouchable in ww class. Hope he can finish the fight

[Rulk]

Pre-fight press conference:

VIDEO | GSP: MMA News | Mixed Martial Arts | UFC News | BJPenn | MMA Fight | UFC Fights (http://www.bjpenn.com/video-gsp-my-last-fight-was-my-worst-fight/)

[longBallLima]

gonna be bold. GSP finishes. round 4. i could eat crow, but i think the man comes back possessed.

BTW, DJ, i have friends who possibly live near you. They ran into GSP a couple of times around the Royal Mount :)

[DJM]

gonna be bold. GSP finishes. round 4. i could eat crow, but i think the man comes back possessed.

BTW, DJ, i have friends who possibly live near you. They ran into GSP a couple of times around the Royal Mount :)

i know where that is, not far, im in nuns island, just out of downtown
he lives in a high rise about 5min from me, but obviously isnt there alot seeing his training takes him all over.....hes around alot at the local grocery store and pharmacy.....got a friend who trains crossfit and boxing, they used him this past summer at silver star for sparring purposes, the dude is 250 6'2 and was sparring with lil georges

[Rulk]

GSP's hungry, physically healed. This makes him more dangerous than he already is. Still though, Ring rust may play a role, and he has not been able to finish fights for awhile at this level. Condit is tough, smart and his size ( height ) may play a role in giving the canuck his toughest fight in a long time. The safe assumption is that gsp takes this fight to a decision, wich he gets the win. If Condit can get in and out and avoid being taken down, he could win the decision, just like he did vs. Diaz. Either way, Condit has been finished 3 times via submission, but, he's finished hardy, something that gsp could not do, he also has finished 3 of the last 4 opponents he's faced.

I'm not so ready to concede victory for george yet. Condit, imo, has the goods to hang in there the whole 5 rounds. This fight will go to decision, the win going to whoever wants it most ( neither man finishes either ).

[Rodja]

Condit has never been finished by strikes and has shown great composure while rocked (e.g. Ellenberger). GSP hasn't shown stopping power in his strikes in years (Hughes II, Hieron) as he's become so technical that puts less power into his strikes in favor of staying fundamentally sound. He's almost abandoned his kicks since he started working with Freddie Roach and I don't expect him to bring to bring them back coming off an ACL tear.

[DJM]

hes had a year n a half to heal from acl ......... AP is tearing up the nfl 9mos removed from the same surgery

does anyone remember he ran from diaz for 25min? plus all this talk of finishing, gsp's resume is loaded with names who were all in their prime (hence title shot) and he went through them all quite easily for the most part

i dont see how condit can win a decision unless it was extremely one sided, georges is in his building and in line for a superfight dana white wants very badly

[Rulk]

hes had a year n a half to heal from acl ......... AP is tearing up the nfl 9mos removed from the same surgery

does anyone remember he ran from diaz for 25min? plus all this talk of finishing, gsp's resume is loaded with names who were all in their prime (hence title shot) and he went through them all quite easily for the most part ( at this level, the likelyhood and track record of finishing off opponents is, well, unlikely. the championship matches at 155 and 175 recently, have gone to more decisions than finishes. Just a testament to the level of competition. In my mind it's a master vs. another master, and they almost cancel each other out. )
i dont see how condit can win a decision unless it was extremely one sided, georges is in his building and in line for a superfight dana white wants very badly

^ Same way he won vs. Diaz. As you put it, run away.

[Rodja]

^ Same way he won vs. Diaz. As you put it, run away.

Diaz, foolishly, didn't adjust to Condit pivoting out and not getting pinned against the cage. That fight showed, like I've been saying for years, that Diaz has shit for footwork as he was unable to keep Condit pinned on the multiple opportunities because of his poor footwork. GSP, however, has fantastic footwork.

[Rulk]

Diaz, foolishly, didn't adjust to Condit pivoting out and not getting pinned against the cage. That fight showed, like I've been saying for years, that Diaz has shit for footwork as he was unable to keep Condit pinned on the multiple opportunities because of his poor footwork. GSP, however, has fantastic footwork.

I was thinking that too, Diaz never adjusted and just played Condit's game. Like he was sucked into the match mentally stuck on pursuing Condit. Hm.. Good mention. Anyway, countdown has begun, 4 hours from where im at.

[Rulk]

It's go time right now. Damn... What a war.

[burlyman30]

Good fight. Much better match than I expected. I watched it on the big screen at Buffalo Wild Wings.

[Rodja]

Outside of the first 2:30 of the 3rd round, it was the same as every GSP fight for the past 5 years.

[Rulk]

Good fight. Much better match than I expected. I watched it on the big screen at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Damn I did not know they show the fights there. Cool.

[burlyman30]

Damn I did not know they show the fights there. Cool.

Unfortunately, the Ducks game was also showing there, and had started 2 hours before the fight. I got there at 6 and got seated at 9. Right as the fight started. 3 hour wait is probably not something I will have the patience to do again.

[DJM]

agree with rodja, outside the kick, he dominated, his face is beat up because of the ground n pound he took after the kick

i think the blood made the fight look tougher than it was, he did what he wanted

silva wise he still shows he has no urge to get in there.....and the way hendricks is the new h-bomb, that should be the next defense

iv seen the guy in person enough times to see he walks around at 185-190 max......silva CUTS to 185 from supposedly 215-220, hes a much much bigger man.....bones jones is the more logical match........sonnen after jones beats him, should start on twitter bout georges, those two would be a good fight at a catch weight

[Rodja]

agree with rodja, outside the kick, he dominated, his face is beat up because of the ground n pound he took after the kick

i think the blood made the fight look tougher than it was, he did what he wanted

silva wise he still shows he has no urge to get in there.....and the way hendricks is the new h-bomb, that should be the next defense

iv seen the guy in person enough times to see he walks around at 185-190 max......silva CUTS to 185 from supposedly 215-220, hes a much much bigger man.....bones jones is the more logical match........sonnen after jones beats him, should start on twitter bout georges, those two would be a good fight at a catch weight

Silva weighed 202 against Bonnar and was visibly softer than usual. The whole 215-220 walk around weight is when he gets fat in between camps, which is something that GSP doesn't do. Silva is NOT a big MW. Alves was probably as heavy when he fought GSP as Silva usually is when he fights at MW.

[Rulk]

I would like to see a superfight either way, but I also would like to see gsp put it on the line against hendricks too. Seeing this last fight, i'm more confident that gsp could win a decision over silva. Also, I hope we never see a year of inuries like we did this year, ever again!