UFC 94: Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn II (Jan 31/09)

[Cammo101]

"Master" at cutting weight? He's downright failed at least twice.

I was thinking the same thing. He is a master at re-gaining weight.

[Cammo101]

Jon Jones vs. Wanderlei Silva makes a ton of sense. Make it happen Dana.

[damo[23]]

Just watched the event [once again waiting for my buddy to get free so we can watch without knowing the results]. Quite enjoyed the event.

I actually expected a little more from the card, but it was more prob from my own over hyping of fights 1 to 4 [not inc GSP/BJ] that did it.

I dont know why but within about 0.1 seconds of seeing Jon Jones walk in I felt obliged to root for him, actually was close to screaming at my screen to hold on at the end of 3. Really liked this guy - he needs to work on his conditioning to maintain that pace, but was damn awesome in the first two rounds, cant wait to see more of this dude. Very innotive standup and his take downs were lightning quick and very hard to predict - he did it in all manners from underhook/over his head to a leg sissors - so much fun to watch.

Machida was a good fight - was calling for a knock out at this stage and about 2 mins in felt he was going to provide it. Bit cheeky a hit after the horn - but how was he going to pull out of it anyway [did make me suggest that the round should stop at the end of the horn - easier for brain/body to put two and two together rather than stop on the horn].

I didnt think Karo had won, I actually was thinking Kim in a split or a draw, but wasnt surprised it could lean that way. Wasnt the most fun fight to watch, but interesting at times.

GSP Penn - well wasnt what I expected. My theory and dont take this to literally, but afterwards I felt that BJ was thinking alot about conditioning, 25 minutes, 170 etc.. and all the while GSP was thinking one thing - BJ. Obviously, before cammo comes in and goes "no fighter would ever not thinkg about the other fighter", thats in there, but just thinking that BJ had so many things to think about other than GSP - where as GSP knew he had his 170 routine, he knows his training will do 25, thats a given, that he could think so much about the fight that he broke down every little bit. GSP very impressive. BJ showed how good a champion he is that even undersized it took a absolutely on form GSP 20 mins to break him, when BJ didnt look 100%.

Though all these comments are sponsored by a large quanity of overly strong beer, so take them with a large handful of salt.

[Chach]

This is going to be a hell of a fight and I think GSP takes it from ref stoppage in the 4th.

Eat a dick Edgar Casey.

I have never been so proud to be a Lyoto nuthugger. He totally owned the entire round and was more "exciting". I'm resigned to the fact that he'll probably have to face the winner of Liddell/Shogun before getting a title shot but that will only help prime up his rep before the fight. Especially if he can knock out Liddell. Not that it would really be anything special considering the four guys that could "hypothetically" be champ (Rashad/Rampage/Jardine/Lyoto) would all have knocked out Liddell. But that would help Lyoto's case. He beat BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, TIto Ortiz, and then Chuck Liddell, all former champs. In actually, he fought BJ in K-1 when BJ weighed in around 180 pounds and Tito and Liddell were all over the hill but it's the perception that he beats former champs that help him get a shot in the public mind. One more knock-out and you cannot argue he doesn't deserve a title. He's got two stoppages in his last three fights and has been more exciting with each fight (I've seen every one of his fights, he's much more exciting today that 3 or 4 years ago). mahalo
~Chach~

[SpReEfOrAlL]

He didnt fight Liddell. Did he?

[Chach]

Not yet, I was speaking in hypotheticals. IF he fights Liddell and knocks him out, he will have beaten those four champs. Having Liddell beat Shogun might be the best thing for Machida's rep because I've heard rumors that he will probably fight the winner of that fight and, if he wins that match-up, THEN he gets a title shot. Stupid politics. mahalo
~Chach~

[CPT]

Machida's record is very impressive, and he certainly deserves a title shot, but I have no problems with Rampage getting ahead of him in line.

Rampage's last 5 fights in the UFC have been
TKO vs. Eastman (can)
KO vs. Liddell (top 3 LHW at the time and UFC champ)
Decision vs. Henderson (top 5 LHW at the time and Pride champ)
lost a (very close and somewhat controversial) decision vs Griffin (top 5 LHW at the time)
KO vs. Silva (top 10 LHW)

Machida's last 5 in the UFC
Decision vs. Heath (can)
Decision vs. Nakamura (borderline can who may have been high)
Sub vs. Sokodjou (top 10 LHW at the time...arguable)
Decision vs. Ortiz (top 10 LHW at the time....arguable)
KO vs. Silva (top 10 LHW at the time....arguable)

Both have impressive records recently, but Rampage's level of competition has been much higher, especially if he knocks off Jardine in impressive fashion.

Ideally they would fight each other, but then Rashad is just stuck with his thumb up his ass for the next 8 months or so.

[Cammo101]

Machida has clearly not fought the top caliber that Rampage has. The Silva win was big and having a win over Franklin makes him legit. But, IMO Machida needs to win one more fight to get a shot. Beating Sokodjou and an aging Ortiz are not the signature wins that get you title shots in the very deep 205 pound division.

[Blame Rasho]

I finally got to see the fight. I can see why there are concerns about the Petroleum Jelly but I don't think it would have made a difference.

[Cammo101]

I finally got to see the fight. I can see why there are concerns about the Petroleum Jelly but I don't think it would have made a difference.

Agreed. The more disturbing issue is that Serra, Hughes, Sherk, and Mayhem Miller have all also come out and said they thought GSP was greasing. Could be a black eye on GSP going forward.

[Blame Rasho]

I finally got to see the fight. I can see why there are concerns about the Petroleum Jelly but I don't think it would have made a difference.

Agreed. The more disturbing issue is that Serra, Hughes, Sherk, and Mayhem Miller have all also come out and said they thought GSP was greasing. Could be a black eye on GSP going forward.

I am surprised that it has not come up before in MMA. Is there a rule about that within the UFC?

[cowboyronnie]

Oh, it's come up plenty. Diego was caught or accused, I can't remember.

And Akiyama in Japan had a huge scandal regarding this - dating back to his judo days. He's been a black sheep to Jap fans since he got caught using a greasing agent against the beloved Sakuraba.

[SpReEfOrAlL]

Has anyone noticed that Greg Jackson's camp has been accused of greasing quite a bit?

Diaz accused Diego of greasing back when Diego was with the camp.
Tito accused Rashad of greasing.
Florian accused Huerta of greasing even though he won the fight.
And now 5 fighters have accused GSP of greasing, atleast 3 of those fights were with him training at Jackson's camp. I dunno if he was with Jackson back for the Sherk and Miller fight.

What seems the most interesting is the fact that Serra's camp warned BJ's camp before the fight. So BJ's camp was already looking for it. And now they say that Chuck Liddell alerted the NSAC representative about the greasing going on in GSP's corner.

Lots of weird **** going on.

[Cammo101]

I finally got to see the fight. I can see why there are concerns about the Petroleum Jelly but I don't think it would have made a difference.

Agreed. The more disturbing issue is that Serra, Hughes, Sherk, and Mayhem Miller have all also come out and said they thought GSP was greasing. Could be a black eye on GSP going forward.

I am surprised that it has not come up before in MMA. Is there a rule about that within the UFC?

It has come up before, but never in a high profile fight like this. It is definitely against the rules.