So the co-headline bout was boring as can be, but GSP vs. Matt Hughes was a solid round and a bit of fun… if you were cheering for GSP, that is. Going into the fight, I figured he had about a 40% chance of winning the title, but it was just a clinic. I imagine Matt might complain that this fight was too close to his last, but whatever… if you say you’re ready to fight, you better be prepared. At this point, I think you have to credit St. Pierre with great preparation for the fight; he stopped Matt’s signature slam and punished him standing up. Great fight.
What did you think about Monson versus Sylvia?
Did the guy who is deaf fight? I really liked him in the reality show thing they had. I think his name was Matt?
nope.
Agree with Tom – the George St. Pierre/Hughes fight was awesome. nice to see the old St. George back - he hasn’t looked this sharp in a couple of years, and when he’s on, he’s incredible. He completely blew Hughes out of the water, and made him look slow and helpless.
I think Sylvia needs to lose his belt to start fighting again. Right now it seems like he’s just fighting to keep his belt… not taking any chances. If you have 10 inches of reach on a guy, you damn well better hit him.
What the hell are you guys talking about?
:)
Something which should rightfully take boxing’s place as the dominant mainstream combat sport. I remember watching UFC back in the early days, when it was mostly just brawlers going out and kicking each other’s asses. It’s tremendously technical now, and after watching a few events and paying close attention to the generally very good commentary, anyone should be able to see the appeal. I’d recommend watching The Ultimate Fighter on Spike – remove the drama of a bunch of alpha males living in a house and just absorb the intricacies of the sport. It’s a good introduction. Then watch Chuck Liddell beat Tito Ortiz up on December 30th and you should be hooked :)
Ortiz is going to kill him this time, heh.
Completely agree with your commentary on Sylvia/Monson though - it was absurd how Sylvia “fought” in the third round - he basically just circled and threw, literally, a handfuf of jabs, and that’s it.
Well, and judo and wrestling before hand should have as well, but the simple fact remains that boxing is a lot more approachable to the common fan. “Wow, he hit him pretty hard” vs. “Holy shit, did you see him reverse out of the Oompa Loompa and into a Reverse Upside Down Kimono!!! ZOMG!”
When I first watched Royce Gracie fight, I had zero idea what he was doing and was bored, the typical “Goddamn, just get up AND HIT THAT BOY IN HIS MOUTH!”. I’d watch submission fighters and just think it’s a couple of half naked dudes trying to find a handhold. Now that I appreciate the stuff on a more technical basis, which takes a pretty significant time investment (not as much as football, but a lot more than boxing), a “stalemate” is far more interesting as you watch the fighters trying to sort out what attacks and counters to use.
Actually, I think MMA has already taken boxing’s place among the under 30s, and its growth over the past 5 years has been incredible – and boxing ain’t exactly fighting back.
MMA is basically winning by default, since boxing basically abandoned mainstream audiences by going entirely to extremely pricey pay-per-view events (which might have worked ok when there were fighters like Tyson who were well known by the general public, but these days you have to be really dedicated to even try to follow boxing) and by making the sport a laughing stock through corruption. Even amateur boxing, which used to be an exciting exhibition, has been marginalized (in North America) by absurd judging and lack of televised events.
MMA, on the other hand, has completely evolved from the circus freakshow events of the early UFCs - heh, much as I liked those crazy tournaments, there’s so much more talent, technique and athleticism on display now. A guy like George St. Pierre is just an awesome athlete, unlike the pit-fighting truck drivers that used to be consigned to “martial arts” competitions.
Oh come on, the grunts weren’t too bad. It was the 17th level ninja dragon wazoo black belts of tiger style face scratching that cracked me up. And the big huge fat guy in the first UFC.
You must have missed the part where I said I liked that stuff too.
Probably. I didn’t get much sleep.