Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[TheGoodBits]

Now that's ****ing funny!

[Sebowski]

Good article on sherdog about what I'm talking about.

Monday, February 02, 2009

by Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)

16020

Thinking of spending $44.95 for a replay of Saturday’s UFC 94 card? Let me spare you the expense and spoil the ending: size matters.

A redundant lesson, but one that seemed to get buried in the months of preamble leading to the cross-division meeting between welterweight phenomenon Georges St. Pierre and lightweight B.J. Penn. Fans ignored that St. Pierre had, in their previous encounter, managed to win the fight despite the effects of a poke in the eye; there was also little discussion of Penn’s losing record at 170 pounds (now standing -- wobbling, rather -- at 1-3).

Penn is a sensational martial artist. There are few greater joys in prizefighting spectatorship than seeing him dismantle a worthy opponent at his allowable fighting weight of 155 pounds. But Penn often appears so bored with that dominance that he frequently insists on competing one size up.

Being great isn’t enough: He wants to be two or three different kinds of great.

And so we got a bout labeled -- as virtually every main event is now -- the “greatest” in the UFC’s storied library. (Until it’s time to sell us the next one.) We got the color-corrected hype series, the elaborate Flash sites and UFC mouthpieces informing us that this is quite possibly the Most Important Event in Recorded Human History.

And of course we have to agree, because -- well, because they say so. Because they’re both dominant champions. Because Penn’s talent may just outstrip the limits of his muscular hypertrophy.

In many cases, it would. He’s outworked bigger men before: two Gracies, a shellshocked Matt Hughes. But against St. Pierre, Penn’s resolve was dwarfed against an ambulatory slab of granite determined to remove him from consciousness.

St. Pierre isn’t just any 170 bruiser -- he’s the 170-pound bruiser. Men who cut down from 190 pounds need to pack a lunch when scheduling up with him. Penn, despite a conditioning program much improved from his earlier days of stuttered training, was still a soft-looking 168 pounds. In the end, there was probably a 30-pound difference in lean, functional body mass between the two.

(Homework assignment: Go to the butcher and ask him to put 30 pounds of beef on the scale. Or just take my word for it: it’s a lot.)

That mass wasn’t simply there for show. While perhaps not Penn’s equal in technical ability, St. Pierre is a stunningly adept athlete with a deep bag of tricks. He didn’t simply bully Penn. He used his size to execute technique that would’ve given his opponent trouble even if he hadn’t weighed 185 pounds on fight night: persistent takedown attempts, guard passing, brutal strikes from above.

But whether St. Pierre won because he was truly the better fighter -- and the entire point of this sport more or less hinges on answering that question -- hasn’t really been satisfied. We only know he was the bigger, stronger fighter.

Watching Penn suffocate under St. Pierre’s attack brought about much of the same feeling stirred by Randy Couture’s molar-operation of a bout against the massive Brock Lesnar in November. In both cases, the stress of resisting a considerably larger foe catches up to you. This should not appear as a headline in anyone’s newspaper.

Would Rashad Evans -- himself a good 30 pounds larger than St. Pierre, if not more -- solve any of life’s mysteries by pummeling a welterweight?

Penn’s disassembly at the hands of St. Pierre should do nothing to tarnish his legacy as a martial artist. MMA is about grading on a curve. How Penn does at his natural weight of 155 pounds is all that matters. How Royce Gracie did against opponents in 1995, not 2005, is all that matters. Everything’s relative.

Penn remains a unique athlete. So was Michael Jordan. He couldn’t play baseball. And Penn can’t play 170.

The fee for reinforcing that fact was overpriced -- by about $44.95.

For comments, e-mail jrossen@sherdog.com

[Sebowski]

See the thing is Sebowski, that Penn doesn't typically fight at 170. He is best suited to 155, no doubt about it. Just like GSP is best suited to 170 because he walks around bigger than that. It's how the system works. The argument for GSP being high on the P4P list is because he is so much more dominant than any other fighters at 170 right now, people who are about the same size as him.

Penn is equally dominant in lightweight. Fedor is equally dominant in heavyweight. Silva is equally dominant in middleweight. So I propose this list of top p4p fighters:

1. Fedor

1. GSP

1. Silva

1. Penn

5. Others... nobody is as dominant at 205 right now as these guys are in their weight classes. But lets just cut the BS and put them all as tied at #1 because right now nobody in their weight class can touch any of them imo.

I understand where you are coming from. I just don't agree on your criteria for p4p. To me it is when you judge against guys in other weight classes. Not just dominating your own. It is the ultimate hypothetical that I thought we had a shot of getting a glimpse of on Saturday. I was wrong.

[TheGoodBits]

edit: didn't see your response b4 my post.

Edited February 2, 2009 by skinsfan_1215

[Sebowski]

Breaking news: GSP has released his first single

That is hilarious. How great would it be if he used that for entrance music.

[StillUnknown]

its a sad day when you look to the ref for consoling...........another factor in confirming the greatness that is Lyoto Machida

[Sebowski]

It's not uncommon to have fighters wiped down in between rounds. In fact it happens all the time.

I'm gonna wait for more information to surface about this before I get all worked up.

As for now I really hope it's not true.

Takes a Canadian to hold innocence until guilt is proven. Good job Dance. Here is Greg Jackson:

Props: MMAWeekly

“So in between rounds, (Team St. Pierre’s Steven Friend) had this little drill that you do – and Phil Nurse is the one who knows how to do it … he rubbed your back and tapped your chest; I don’t know exactly how it works. But anyways, what that’s supposed to do is get your energy in line, or motivated or whatever. So in between rounds, we had Phil Nurse do that. The controversy came because Phil Nurse also was putting Vasoline on Georges’ eyebrows … So Phil Nurse put all the Vasoline on his face, so his hands might have had a miniscule amount left over from that, when he went around the side and rubbed a little point on his back, and tapped on his chest … If we were trying to grease the back we’d be greasing up and down, we would make it count. We wouldn’t do a little tiny spot in the back … The whole greasing thing is pretty ridiculous … They check your body before you get into the cage, there’s an inspector right there. In order for us to grease him up, it would be insane. There are cameras everywhere. We don’t cheat. We don’t need to cheat to win.”

---------

Sounds good to me. Unless BJ comes out complaing that his rubber guard was slipping off big time in the second I don't see a problem here. Hopefully this just goes away.

Next up for UFC 94 questions is what was the deal with Karo's mouthpiece?

[Special K]

Next up for UFC 94 questions is what was the deal with Karo's mouthpiece?

Lol, ask Rogan, he was making all sorts of excuses for that.

My opinion (based on how Karo looked like crap during that fight and was totally out of shape) is that he kept opening his mouth so effing wide in attempting to gasp for air that the mouthpiece coming out. On purpose or not, who knows. I don't like Karo, so I'm going to be judgemental and say it wasn't completely unintentional.

[TheGoodBits]

Lol, ask Rogan, he was making all sorts of excuses for that.

My opinion (based on how Karo looked like crap during that fight and was totally out of shape) is that he kept opening his mouth so effing wide in attempting to gasp for air that the mouthpiece coming out. On purpose or not, who knows. I don't like Karo, so I'm going to be judgemental and say it wasn't completely unintentional.

I was thinking the same thing about him being gassed. Shame he didn't get hit square on the jaw. He would have got KOed in a second the way his mouth was hanging open like that.

[Dance04]

Well here are all the GIFs I have been able to find so far.

It does seem to go along with what Greg Jackson was saying.

I'm pretty sure these 2 above are right after each other, not sure tho.

[ZoEd]

Sebowski, cutting weight is part of the game, some walk around closer to the weight than others. Penn walks around looking dumpy no matter what weight he's at and St Pierre goes around looking ripped even at 185lbs. If you want to shoot off your mouth and talk **** then hit the weights, train to beat your opponent and don't take five day trips to the beach.

This happens all the time even within the weight class, some cut less than others. It's really not that big of deal, why wouldn't GSP use his weight and more importantly his strength to his advantage?

I still don't see how you can watch GSP over the last two years and not see how far he's come, how far he's going and how much upside this guy has. He's young, strong and has arguably the best work eithic in MMA. He trains with the best and never goes anything less than %100. He's easily top 3 P4P, no matter how you slice or dice it.

[Sebowski]

Sebowski, cutting weight is part of the game, some walk around closer to the weight than others. Penn walks around looking dumpy no matter what weight he's at and St Pierre goes around looking ripped even at 185lbs. If you want to shoot off your mouth and talk **** then hit the weights, train to beat your opponent and don't take five day trips to the beach.

This happens all the time even within the weight class, some cut less than others. It's really not that big of deal, why wouldn't GSP use his weight and more importantly his strength to his advantage?

I still don't see how you can watch GSP over the last two years and not see how far he's come, how far he's going and how much upside this guy has. He's young, strong and has arguably the best work eithic in MMA. He trains with the best and never goes anything less than %100. He's easily top 3 P4P, no matter how you slice or dice it.

I agree with everything you said except the last part. I have always thought a lot of GSP. All I'm saying is that I don't see how you can elevate his p4p status based on the Penn fight. The weight made all the difference. He needs to be the smaller man before I can see where he is p4p. He'll get that chance against Alves. I'm picking GSP, and I can't wait.

[#98QBKiller]

99...im still waiting for you to assign me the sig of your choice.

I find you one today Big Mike...how'd you do in beer pong the other night?

[#98QBKiller]

Here ya go Mike...if anyone has a faster one I'll take it but this is the only gif I could find of the Superman.

UFC 94: Me and BJ got Superman'd

[#98QBKiller]

And on another note, I'm officially on the Machida bandwagon. He looked straight up dominant against Thiago Silva.

[StillUnknown]

And on another note, I'm officially on the Machida bandwagon. He looked straight up dominant against Thiago Silva.

you'll appreciate this one:

[#98QBKiller]

:applause:

Very nice. He is so damn effective with those trips and sweeps.

[StillUnknown]

:applause:

Very nice. He is so damn effective with those trips and sweeps.

thats what i like most about him, he gets unconventional takedowns. he doesn't shoot single or double legs, he just literally kicks your leg and pushed you over. he makes it look effortless

the more i watch his fights, the more i see a parrallel with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd never gets hit with a clean shot and has the highest accuracy of shots in boxing, Machida is pretty much the same in MMA.

both have shown they can be dynamic offensive fighters, but are guilty of deploying an almost overly cautious approach at times.

definitely look forward to seeing who they match him up with next if Rampage gets the next title shot. i can't imagine Machida sitting on the sidelines until after Rashad/Rampage meet.

maybe they match him with the winner of Chuck/Shogun

[#98QBKiller]

I wouldn't mind seeing him fight the winner of Chuck/Shogun or even have Rampage fight him then the winner gets the title shot...only problem there is that Rashad will sit with the belt for too long without any opponents.

Then again he just fought twice in a 3 month span.

[StillUnknown]

more of the brilliance of Machida:

BJ Penn:

sam hoger:

sokoudjou:

[#98QBKiller]

Those takedowns are just too damn sweet

[Chachie]

Lyoto looks like a giant fighting a midget in there with BJ.

[StillUnknown]

[Sebowski]

mmamania.com

Props: KHON2.com (Video here)

Quoteworthy:

“I have no clue what is going on in my head right now. I was going to make this my last fight and finish up fighting GSP. In my head, I was with [the UFC] for nine or ten years and I kind of just wanted to be finished with this whole thing after this. So I don’t know where my head is right now.”

UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn makes his first public remarks after losing to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 over the weekend, saying that he had pre-fight intentions of making it his last performance inside the Octagon. Perhaps the lopsided manner in which he lost — rather than retiring on top as a dual champion — has made him rethink that decision. It sounds as if the 30-year-old fighter will need more time to come to grips with his performance and fight future.

[lovetoaster]

I am not a fan of Penn, but I hope he does not retire.