Mixed Martial Arts Forum banner

The Event Seldom Equals the Hype

2K views 33 replies 18 participants last post by  IronMan 
#1 ·
I follow boxing & also started to follow MMA several years ago. I watched almost all of the WEC & Strikeforce events because almost all of them could be seen on Cable T.V.without forking out another $60 bucks.

I have Comcast for my T.V. & internet & I have one computer & one T.V. (with a very good station package)for which I pay approx $180 a month. And I don't like my bill to be $240 a month because I payed for one UFC PPV.

But I forked it out for UFC 129 for the 2nd time. Because of what I mentioned I of course knew of GSP...but I had never seen one of his fights on T.V. to see this guy in action.

It does look like this guy just does enough to win (which I've heard other people say)....he doesn't want to mix it up (sounds like how Mayweather usually fights). Sure, he is probably an elite athlete & MMA fighter....but boring. I want to see exciting fights.

The big headliner fight....the big build up...55,000 fans....biggest card ever in North America...& so on. LOL - the main event didn't live up to the hype at all IMHO. Sheilds...the great submission genius when he gets it to the ground.

So what do we see...a ho-hum boxing match. Great fighters go for it...they aren't afraid to gamble. Just look at Pacquiao...why is he so famous? Because his fights are always exciting...because he lets his hands go...always.

These headliners looked like a couple of Joshua Clotteys when he fought Pacquiao. Protect yourself...don't take any chances...throw some punches...but never in a way that will allow you to get hit with a hard shot.

Shields...he was supposed to have the advantage when it went to the ground because of his great submission skills. I don't remember him even trying to get it to the ground....ever. I guess he thought GSP had great takedown defense (which he probably does)....but this was the BIG FIGHT. He has to try & get it to the ground. How many times did he try to shoot on GSP or try & trip him or do any other manuever to get it on the mat? Once? Twice? Never?

He knows he's losing the boxing match. When great fighters know they are losing & time is running out. They try to change it up...they become more aggressive...they take chances...because they have to to win. Shields just did more of the same....ho-hum boxing.

GSP hurt his eye he said. At least the Aldo vs. Hominick fight was a good one. The first time I didn't see Aldo just overwhelm his opponent. Hominick was trying his best & Aldo is never a boring fighter. If Hominick could have unleashed some better ground & pound in the 5th round...he could have beaten Aldo....which I thought would be a huge upset. But Hominick tried his best....even with a golf ball sized hematoma sticking out of his forehead & a pretty messed up eye.

And there were several other interesting/good fights. I was mainly just disappointed with the main event I guess. Although I have heard others say the GSP fight was a good one...obviously everybody is entitled to their own opinion...but I just thought it was a boring fight.

Do you agree or disagree?

I think GSP is too hyped. I think he would lose to Jon Jones and Anderson Silva in catch weight fights. Maybe Machida, maybe even Nick Diaz (if he was in the UFC) & maybe more if I thought about it.

Or am I way off base about GSP because I really don't know most of his previous fights?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
GSP would smash Diaz, and likely beat Anderson and Machida. Thing with Jones is your starting to get a pretty significant size advantage. Where Machida is a small LHW, Jones is not, were talking likely 25-30 pounds difference on fight night. Being that Jones is a good wrestler in his own right with a signifigant size and strength advantage its hard to say he would lose.

I think you just need to learn to examine fights yourself. Stylistically if you weren't expecting GSP to jab Shields apart all night then you were just ignoring the match up. This seemed a little likely all along. Personally I expected Shields to gas again leasing to a late finish but I hardly find the results surprising.

Great fighters win don't go for it that is crap. Great fighters WIN. Entertaining fighters go for it but usually with mixed results.
 
#7 · (Edited)
GSP would smash Diaz, and likely beat Anderson and Machida.

Hahah...you are delusional man. GSP is great, but his striking is overrated. He just fought a boring standup fight with the worst striker in the WW division by far. His wrestling sure, but you have to take size in account. He won't be able to lay on Anderson for 5 rounds or even get Machida down much at all.

As to the OP's original post. Yea, many don't live up to the hype. Just like boxing cards. I thought it was a solid card, but you should learn that GSP fights are boring as hell for the main draw. He fights safe and either lays on the guy or jabs them to death.

But don't say a card is overrated before it happens. People will jump down your throat here. Either way it was a good lineup, I just thought the top 3 matches were all lopsided fights. So I wasn't expecting any fights of the year.

Also, you say great fighters win...fighters who entertain, have mixed results. Um Diaz has bean beating guys at there own game...um have you heard of Anderson Silva...last I knew he was undefeated in the UFC and is one of the most entertaining fighters of all time.

GSO can fight how he wants. He should fight to win. Egos and out of the ring/cage aside. GSP is the Mayweather and Anderson is the Pacman. Both great fighters...I just enjoy and respect Pacman's style more.
 
#3 ·
You're right OP and epic first post. GSP is a boring, decision fighter and has been for the past 2 years or so. He has lost his killer instinct and never tries hard enough to finish fights (even though he is physically capable of doing so, but his head says no).

Toxic you haven't even watched the Shields fight yet have you? It was an embarrassing performance from both men.

GSP is likely to fight Nick Diaz next.
 
#19 ·
yeah, gsp has been kinda boring for a while now but i do think he really tried to come out for this fight and finish mainly from him throwing that overhand right so many times which he never did before in other fights. i think his injury really hampered his performance for most of the fight and you could tell during teh conversation gsp was having with this cornermen. to be fair he did stun shield s couple of times before his eye injury.

i think gsp is fully aware of people's perceptions of him as a boring fighter and he has been trying to change his style a bit. he added the overhand right into his standup game for this fight and i think if adds really good hook he will be scary for most guys in the ww division.

but the event as a whole was pretty darn good imo. can you say flying triangle?? that was a sick submission.
 
#4 ·
Awesome first post!

I must agree with Toxic, though. To get to the level GSP or Anderson is at you can't take huge risks. c Fighters who take huge risks lose, and fighters who lose fall into a different category than the gsp's and silva's of the world.

Unfortunately it is rare to "have it all". I agree that pac man is pretty exciting and pretty dominant, but I would say that despite the blemishes anderson is probably just as exciting.

GSP just isn't finishing fights often enough to satisfy the fans. If he could just ko or sub someone every third fight or so he would take less flak, but he already lost the belt once to Serra for being flashy, so I don't blame him.
 
#5 ·
I agree that GSP is smart not to take huge risks, but at the same time I was extremely disappointed in his last few fights. When he nailed Shields with that head kick he should have been all over him. When he landed the same kick on Hughes he was hungry for the belt so he followed him down and pounded him out. The same could have happened with Shields but as has been said he's now more concerned with hanging on to the belt than dispatching guys even when he has them hurt.

I can't entirely blame the guy for fighting smart and doing just enough to come away with the win. This is how the guy makes his living and not playing it safe has serious repercussions on your health. Still, it really bugs me to not see him seal the deal when he's so far ahead of the guy he's fighting. In the Hardy fight Hardy had nothing to offer him on the ground so he should have been going for every submission in the book until he found one that stuck. Against Koscheck, Kos was BUSTED UP on the feet. GSP should have started throwing in combinations towards his bad eye side and finished him. Against Shields it's a bit tougher to say because of how tough the guy's chin is, but I still feel that there were a few instances when GSP dropped him that he should have followed him down to cause some damage.

I learned my lesson awhile ago and bought 129 for Aldo/Hominick, Couture/Machida and Henderson/Bocek. Yet again GSP's fight was a snoozefest. There, now I've vented. =P
 
#6 ·
Their were twelve fights last night, three main events. We have Seven finishes, spectacular KO's and Sub's. You saw some of the best in the world with Submissions, Striking, and Ju-Jitsu but because the main event wasn't as good as the rest of the card you felt it was a waste.

Get over it.

This isn't boxing you aren't paying for one fight you are paying for a brand. Who cares if the fighters aren't huge stars, Mark Hominick wasn't a huge star and he went out and mutilated himself for you and came within one good shot of winning the title.

I was on the edge of my seat for six of the fights on this card we've had some cards where that never happens.

Why is it people can't be happy with 22 fighters who went out their and put on a damn good show but rather focus on 2 guys that fought a good safe, close fight.

If you want great endings stick to movies and professional wrestling because this a sport and it isn't scripted and if you can't find value in this show you will never find value for any UFC.
 
#8 ·
It was an awesome event, had a bit of everything.

GSP did not ruin the event it was brilliant, the only thing he's going to ruin is his own legacy. He needs to start finishing fights, or his win streak will become irrelevant, people won't want to see him fight. Mark Hominick gained 100x more respect than GSP last night, yes I know GSP's injury was perhaps more irritating to fight with, but aren't they all.

It's a no-brainer, yes GSP would lose to Silva, Machida, Jones, they're all too big for him not just Jones. Hell, Jones is too big for LHW he'll be HW at some point. Why is GSP considered competition for these guys? He can't finish WW's and IMO Nick Diaz would smash him.
 
#9 ·
There tend to be a lot of narrow views in the fickle world of MMA. All of the wagon jumpers can go back to WWE or wherever they came from because the sport of MMA quite honestly doesn't need the bloodthirsty attitude.

We had a few absolutely brutal knockouts, likely worthy of highlight reels for years to come. Vladdy had a quick KO, Hominick and Aldo and MacDonald and Diaz both had epic wars that were both deserving of fight of the night awards. Jason McDonald had a quick submission victory for the home country crowd. All in all this event was a lot more exciting than a lot of previous cards and I'm sure future cards.

Just because you didn't enjoy the GSP vs. Shields fight where GSP basically completely shut Shields down aside from some blatant eye pokes doesn't mean an event is a failure. What if GSP came out and knocked out Shields in the first 10 seconds of the first round? Would you feel like you got your money's worth?

Back when Mike Tyson was doing it, people stopped buying the pay per views because it really was a waste of money. You'd watch 2 crappy 10 round decision fights with 4 scrubs paid to make sure that the fights went to decision and then you'd get 45 seconds of the main event and its over.

If you compare this event to an old Mike Tyson card there really is no comparison. You're getting more bang for your buck with MMA and the UFC in general with solid cards once a month typically. Sure there are some lemon fights, even some weak cards but nothing near what you were getting from boxing.​
 
#13 ·
Jabbing your way to victory isn't that impressive over the likes of Kos or Shields.

Do it if you can win. But only reason he can sit and jab all night is because these guys suck at throwing hands. Kos has power, yea of a wild wrestler. His stand up is still average at very best. Shields has the worst stand up in the division. So I am just saying he can't do that vs. a real striker...he can take them down though.

Nothing to me proves he can strike with actual strikers. Should he? No. Wrestle them. But all i am saying is GSP isn't a great striker. He is a good striker who can jab fighters with poor stand up skills.

Again...if you would read my post...I am not saying GSP is bad. So please don't act like I said that. Yea, Penn's striking is real good. GSPs striking couldn't keep up. So that must mean GSP isn't "real good" on the feet....right?
 
#16 ·
Comparing Georges to Pacquiao is a mistake. There are very few fighters who, like Pacquiao, are able to build a successful, prolific career while taking risks in fights. There are a few guys at the top in MMA who have done that, but not many.

It's worth taking into consideration how many ways there are to lose in MMA. As a fighter, its important to keep an opponents skillset in mind, and that was what the Shields fight was about for Georges. Don't go to the ground, out of respect for Shields' skills on the mat, and that paid off.

I'm not sure why you had the expectation that this fight was going to be a barn-burner. No one I talked to before thought that was going to happen. What it was going to be, though, was a test for St. Pierre. Will he try to push his matwork against perhaps the top grappler at 170 pounds? No, he gameplanned effectively and avoided the major gameplanning concern that his camp had.

It's not an issue of excitement. It's an issue of intelligence. The at best, the two are unrelated; at worst, the former makes the latter impossible.

There are exciting fights, then there are important fights. Sometimes the two overlap. Sometimes they don't.
 
#18 ·
Comparing
I'm not sure why you had the expectation that this fight was going to be a barn-burner. No one I talked to before thought that was going to happen. What it was going to be, though, was a test for St. Pierre. Will he try to push his matwork against perhaps the top grappler at 170 pounds? No, he gameplanned effectively and avoided the major gameplanning concern that his camp had.
No. I never thought it would be a barn burner. WHat I thought is Jake would go for TDs more, since that is his only way of winning. I thought, if this was a 5 round stand up fight...that GSP just might get a finish for once because Shields has the striking of a TUF fighter.

But no. Yet again. Even though Shields could not get it to the ground...GSP didn't finish where he was supposed to be the much superior fighter.

He can fight to win. Would you not say they are all important? It is just sort of sad that he can't display his skills to show how much of a better striker he is than Shields.

He plays down to his competition. Smothering them with wrestling when they have no BJJ advantage over him.

While Diaz and Silva are on longer streaks, while beating guys in dominating fashion whether on the floor, against the cage, or right in the middle of the cage. Whether it is rear-naked, armbar, punch, knees, front kick...they dominate the opponents they should and display their skillsets.

There are cautious athletes in every sport...there are entertaining athletes in every sport. There is no right way to play the game as long as you win. I just appreciate the show Silva and Diaz put on...and the balls they have to test themselves...while still winning at a rapid pace.
 
#27 ·
GSP has become a very boring fighter. Its a fact and theres no need to be in denial or try and belittle people for pointing out the obvious. Ask any neutral fan what they think of his performances and they'll tell you the truth his fights are quite boring.

This opinion doesn't make me a "meathead" or a noob. I'm just being real.
 
#29 ·
Truth.

It is like no one is allowed to not enjoy a GSP fight. When it is just facts. There is no other champ who has so many boring title defenses. Perhaps he is just too good and makes one-sided...well then he should go for a finish and actually get it once every now and then.

If he fights Diaz, he may win via laying on top of Diaz. But he won't finish Diaz...that is for sure.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top