Even taking that into account the judges still screwed up. I saw a list list of like 15+ mma journalists covering the fight and their scoring. Not a single one gave the fight to GSP. All the tweets of other professional fighters were for Hendricks. Those two judges stand alone and are simply the latest example of the sorry state of MMA judging.
ElGuapo
1662
Damn,mhqvent watched the UFC in a while. Sounds like a scandal!
Desslock
1663
There is no reasonable defense of this decision – it is literally impossible to give GSP any of rounds 1-2 or 4, and I’m a GSP fanboy and think he’s a Canadian hero.
I hate to say it, but there’s no explanation for this decision other than Nevada corruption. This isn’t a case where you can argue, well, he didn’t beat the champ, or otherwise rationalize a close fight – you will never see a more obvious example of a corrupt decision. Unless you like soccer.
It’s worth reading Reed Kuhn’s analysis of the scoring.
Short version: The only round that most people are in disagreement about is round 1. That round was close. GSP landed more strikes and had a submission attempt. But Hendricks inflicted more visible damage. How should judges weigh volume of strikes vs. visible damage?
I’m inclined to agree with carltonbauheimer that the real problem is the 10-point-must system. It’s a poor match for MMA, where the number of rounds is small and the combatants frequently have asymmetric capabilities.
Great main event, and the correct decision. That last round should be displayed to all judges as an example of an even round - definitely another candidate for fight of the year.
Good card, overall. Nice to see Shogun look like his old self, even if I’m skeptical of him being “back”. I think the main event was easily the best heavyweight fight since Randy Couture vs. Big Nog.
I’d say since Carwin/Lesner, but yeah, great.
I’m not a fan of Shogun, but I found it pretty stunning that he was an underdog against James Te Huna, who is as old and while a tough guy, certainly doesn’t have the credentials of Shogun. That was just disrespectful, and I’m glad the correct perspective was quickly provided.
Yo_Rudy
1669
So GSP vacated his title today, citing a desire to go on a break. Robbie Lawler and Johnny Hendricks will fight to determine the new champion. Lawler has looked good lately but I could see Hendricks decisioning him via neverending wrestle. Both guys hit really hard though, so anything can happen.
There’s a free card on Fox tomorrow, featuring a flyweight title fight. Benavidez and the rest of Team Alpha Male have been on a tear over the past year and they’re fighting in their home turf, so I could see him beating Mighty Mouse, probably even by KO or TKO. Faber-McDonald should be good too. It’s a bummer Condit-Brown had to be pulled, as that almost certainly would have had some fireworks (and would have determined who would fight the new champion [it’ll be Condit and he’ll be champ for a while]).
TUF 20 will be a women’s straw weight (115 lbs) tournament to crown the inaugural champion. They basically lifted Invicta’s (all women organization) entire roster. I’m looking forward to it - the hijinks were at a minimum last season and I think a large part of that was because the ladies all wanted to show that Women’s MMA should be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the talent of the female contestants wasn’t quite there; the finale card was pretty terrible, and the winner (Julianna Pena) has a very sloppy fighting style. Whoever she fights next from the UFC’s 135 division should crush her. These 115’s, though, have all been fighting and headlining the female equivalent of the UFC for their division, so I expect some great fights and a professional attitude from most (Felice Herrig, Bec Hyatt ahem ahem) of them. It’s also neat that they’re all getting paid fight and win money for two UFC fights, regardless of the results of the tournament.
Even though he basically announced it after the fight, it is still kind of crazy to think of the UFC WW division without GSP. Lawler vs Hendricks is going to be a sick fight. I really hope Matt Brown gets healthy so he can fight with some of those guys or Condit. I’m not saying Matt is going to be walking away with the belt anytime soon, but I think those would be fun fights, especially him vs Lawler or Condit.
There’s a lot or fun potential fights in WW.
GSP says he’ll be back and, given his age, he probably will be. He definitely hasn’t looked like the same fighter since his injury and long layoff though, so hopefully if he does return he can recapture his speed and aggression. He looked really flat-footed in his fights since his return, and took horrific damage as a result, even though he’s still capable of mixing it up with anyone.
ElGuapo
1672
Girl fight just ended! UFC 168 had a championship fight with female fighters. Great fight. I hope to see more female fighters in the UFC. The bar I’m at easily cheered the loudest during this fight.
ElGuapo
1673
Ouch! Anderson Silva just snapped his leg in half on how opponent’s knee. He’s done. Damn!
Yeah… Silva’s leg gave it the full Theismann. No one needs to see that.
Weidman was winning the fight again and then this happened. Silva’s fans will get to claim Weidman isn’t a worthy champion, well, for as long as he holds the belt now, I guess.
geewhiz
1675
He won the fight, he practiced defending/checking against Silva’s kick; so it is a win all around (though I agree some will contest it but I do not think it will hold as well as the first fight where it is easier to say that Silva’s foolish attitude/clowning lost him the fight).
Being that the champ rose so quickly in the ranks will probably still be a factor with his acceptance in the long run, which he mentions himself in the after fight interview.
Zuwadza
1676
Not sure any current female fighter will beat Rousey. That was about as competitive as anyone has looked against her and it still wasn’t particularly competitive. Can’t see anyone in the division defending those take downs, and her ground game and striking are just going to get better. I love WMMA, but they desperately need someone who can give Rousey a run for her money. Maybe we can see a female equivalent of Weidman cross over from wrestling and run through the ranks.
As for the Silva/Weidman fight. Damn. Shame it ended like that because it was looking like a good fight. Thought the whole card and prelims were good. Little sad to see Leben in possibly his last fight.
First that was a cringe inducing ending to the Weidman/Silva fight. Probably the end of Silvas career. As for The Rousy/Tate fight. All props to Rhonda but stupid strategy by Tate. What she said after the fight about boxing but not running when it got close it totally not what she did. Several time Tate tried to close on Rhonda and got hip tossed again and again. Why in the world would anyone try that on er is beyond me. The fighter who should have been in there, Cat Zigano is the only one I see who could beat her now. I believe she can force Rhonda into a stand up which is the only way I see her being beaten.
Also what Browne did to Barnett with those elbows. Nasty.
Zuwadza
1678
Tate’s strategy was ultra stupid, I agree. She went for a bunch of really terrible take-downs. Still, she was probably gonna be taken down one way or another. Apparently Rousey is booked against Sara McMann for UFC 170. That will be interesting because of McMann’s wrestling background, but it doesn’t look like she’s faced much MMA competition yet.
RickH
1679
Yeah, he looked tired of MMA, for lack of a better phrase.
Matt Brown is fighting Eric Silva right now. Last time I saw a fight like this was Hughes-Trigg II. Epic, in the truest sense of the word.
Round 2. Reminds me a lot of Henderson-Shogun I.
I was a fan of Brown prior to this fight, but I’m a fan of Silva now, too. An incredible amount of heart from both of these guys.
