Why wouldn't GSP try to hurt Hardy on the ground? Its not like Hardy was gonna throw up a submission, and he sucked so bad at wrestling that GSP shouldn't have been worried about losing control. This was basically a grappling match between a very good wrestler and a novice grappler. GSP should be praised for neutralizing class wrestlers (Koscheck, Fitch), BJJ artists (Penn) and strikers (Alves)...but Hardy??...Hardy is a C class level fighter who had no business surviving for 5 rounds. GSP = W.Klit The Serra loss killed his edge.
Amen. That being said, I'm actually one of the few that doesn't mind GSP doing this. But in regard to last night's fight there is no f'n way he should not have gotten a submission there. He was hesitant to pull a Shinya Aoki and just rip the arm out of the socket. If that's what it takes then so be it. Sometimes you've gotta do things like that all in the spirit of good, clean, healthy athletic competition (ask Frank Mir). Outside of that, there's also no f'n way he shouldn't have gotten a GNP victory against a vastly overmatched opponent w/o the ability to sub you when you fully mount him with minutes left . . . or at the very least dish out some mean punishment, neither of which occurred. That's actually inexcusable if you're claimin' to be if not the, then one of the, p4p greatest fighters in the world.
Well, no one has been more critical of GSP's performance last night than GSP himself. So, I guess we will see in his next fight if he does anything different.
Look GSP is the classiest guy in the sport of MMA. Its hard not to like the guy. I was in a discussion thread last night stating the obvious, hes turned into a boring fighter post Serra. The one thing that galls me as a fan (I want to be entertained) is his corner telling him to take the guy (you can crush standing up)down. And they were telling GSP to not pass the guard and just be on top of him wear him out. atsch And I posted that Silva when he fought Leben, who has a far more dangerous stand up than Hardy because of his heavy hands, Silva chose to stand with him and demolish him even though it was Silvas first fight in the UFC. Who exactly has Hardy finished in his fight in the UFC? I mean cmon, no wonder people started booing in the 5th round. Had it gone to another round , boos would have rained. Fact is GSP has become the most boring champ in MMA.
One of the few times Ill disagree with you Achilles, Hardys not that dangerous standing up. I was actually more impressed with Hardys guard early on. Whats exactly has Hardy done? He stood there for a couple of minutes and didnt do ****. Fact is GSP is a much better striker than Hardy, the Hardy one punch KO myth is just that a myth.
He tore his groin against Alves not to mention it would have been foolish to fight Alves standing. He NEARLY finished Hardy twice and Hardy just wouldn't tap. It appeared to me that GSP just couldn't bring himself to break Hardy's **** off. His fight with Fitch was an action packed beatdown the entire time. It wasn't long ago that Silva was coming off of three boring ass fights and was dubbed the most boring champion in MMA.
Yeah I was probably too aggressive. I guess you could say I was a little "ass hurt". I apologize, I can come off a little bit like a douche at times. I still think he would have stopped him in the fifth, but I am perfectly happy agreeing to disagree. I agree with a lot of what you have said so far. However, surely you can admit that Silva had a really boring couple of fights (back to back) and it wasn't because his opponents were afraid of him (which to certain degree may be true with Thales Leites) it was because he was happy to sit back and counter attack. He was not aggressive, he was refusing to make the fight interesting. Silva was content to win some of the most boring circling matches to date. That wasn't the case in his last fight, so I think we have the old Silva back. Still, the Cote match was mainly Cote trying to fight and while Thales Leites was perfectly happy to lay back and try to grapple Silva was happy to keep his distance and dance so you can't blame that snore fest solely on Leites... Beyond the Hardy fight I wouldn't call any of GSP's matches boring, so maybe in his next match he will come back with the same excitement that Silva did when he fought Forest...
Let's give credit to hardy. If it was somebody else in there, the fight would have ended with a submission win for GSP. He had him in an armbar and a kimura and hardy didn't tap. It's true that GSP could have made the fight a lil exciting by striking with hardy but i think gsp learned a while back that it's better not to take risk against a puncher. We all know what serra did to him in 2007. I do think gsp needs to move up to 185 and get new challengers. He is just too dominant against welterweights. It would be nice to see him fight at middleweight where he has a chance of getting KTFO.
They said don't pass guard, stand up and ground and pound. You can't wear someone out by sitting there in the guard and that's not what they instructed him too do. Although GSP's wrestling is second to none at 170 he obviously isn't a GNP fighter, he landed acouple of good shots towards the end but I think he's more content to pass guard, get the dominate top position and submit.
They should have said, "GSP youre so much better than this guy in everything, you outstruck BJ whos a great boxer. Knock this MOFO out now and lets go home"
GSP cant win with us guys.. He fights to his strengths and dominates his opponent we are bored and angry. But if he takes risks and loses we will say hes a idiot and should of stuck to his strengths. What do we want from him?? Im starting to think we should be blaming his opponets who continuely talk very big game but like Hardy deliver nothing of what they PROMISED..
I agree. I don't rate Hardys stand up like the hype does. I think he has a good chin which allows him to stand in the pocket and bomb with decent power. However standing is where Hardy has any chance and GSP didn't want to give him that chance. GSP said what I said after the fight. Hardy is well trained in Muay Thai and TKD so he deserves credit there. Hardy, along with Alves, are two of the most dangerous all round strikers I can think of of that GSP has fought... especially since the Serra ko which to a degree will have affected him mentally.
I think that is a HUGE part of it man. And a reporter hinted to it by asking him, "were you going 110% on those submissions?" GSP is a good dude and is a sportsman, doesn't want to hurt anyone.