GSP and the unknown

2011 was a forgettable year for Georges St Pierre. He last defended his title in April of 2011 against former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields. To say that the fight was not a good one would be an understatement. GSP fought very cautiously and with poor technique (winging overhand rights that were missing by a mile) and Shields gave up on his bread and butter (takedowns) in the first round. What we were then treated to was a sloppy kickboxing fest by both fighters, highlighted by either an eye poke or knuckle to the eye that blurred GSP’s vision. The shame is that this was a great fight card from top to bottom and Shields/GSP as a headliner left everyone at the party at my house with a bad taste in their mouth. Granted, everyone can have a bad night and this seems to be the case for both gentleman.

Dana White then decided to bring over Nick Diaz from Strikeforce to challenge GSP. After a crazy turn of events, Diaz faced BJ, Diaz re-gained his title shot, Condit lost his title shot against GSP, GSP tore his ACL and then Diaz/Condit was announced as an interim bout. Confused? You should be. Moving on, GSP will be out of action for a while. There are varying time speculations but most believe he’ll be out for all of 2012. My question is what type of division will GSP be returning to? We’ve already seen Johnny Hendricks with a spectacular knockout of Jon Fitch in 12 seconds, Jake Ellenberger with a fantastic knockout of Jake Shields in the first round and the eventual winner of Condit/Diaz for the interim strap. With due respect to GSP, what type of fighter will he be when he returns? He’ll be coming off major knee surgery, will be looking at roughly a year and a half out of the cage and will (obviously) be a year and a half older. I’m not convinced he’ll have the same explosiveness that he had prior to the surgery and I believe ring rust will play a major role in him struggling. GSP has become a fighter that relies on exploding through takedowns and using his footwork to avoid punches. How big of a factor will surgery on his knee play in him slowing down? Will his age (roughly 32 when he returns) also be a determining factor in his recovery time and success? That being said, if anyone could overcome these obstacles it’s GSP but at what point does Father Time take over and override your mental fortitude?

I think it’d be a shame for any fighter to face what GSP is facing but he is facing dire circumstances in his return. I’m not the biggest fan of GSP but I do hope he is able to return at 100% to defend his title. Nobody wants to see Ellenberger/Hendricks/Condit/Diaz beat a GSP that is not at full strength. Best of luck to GSP in his recovery and I can’t wait for a wide open welterweight division full of nasty fighters in 2012.

Will Cerrone/Diaz equal Condit/Diaz?

Per my predictions before UFC 141, I picked Donald Cerrone to win a decision over Nate Diaz. As we all know now, Diaz won the fight fairly easily. Honestly, Cerrone looked out of it from the start. As I watched the fight unfold, it became very clear to me that Diaz had gotten into Cerrone’s head. Instead of fighting a calculated and measured fight utilizing distance and leg kicks, Cerrone was lulled into a standup war that both Diaz brothers seem to thrive in. This fight baffled me so much that I’m now re-thinking my initial thoughts of how the Carlos Condit/Nick Diaz fight will unfold. Condit also seems to be a good style fight for Diaz. The pre-fight (and during) sh** talking and antics by Diaz seemed to get Cerrone fired up and pulled him out of his fighting style.

It’s been noted many times that both of the Diaz’s struggle with wrestlers. Nick had problems in losses to with Sean Sherk, Diego Sanchez and Karo Parisyian (a judo player who also excels in takedowns). Nate has recently had troubles in losses to Joe Stevenson, Dong Hyun Kim and Clay Guida. That being said, Nate landed an astounding 258 strikes in the three round war that he was in with Cerrone. The main difference in my opinion is that Cerrone never shot in for a takedown, even though Greg Jackson was pleading for him to between rounds. With no threat of a takedown, Diaz was able to stalk Cerrone and land punches at an alarming rate.

And so this leads us to Condit/Diaz. Condit is a great striker no doubt but he doesn’t seem to have a great wrestling base. If there is no threat of a takedown, shouldn’t we expect a similar fight to Diaz/Cerrone? Aren’t these fights very similar on paper? Granted, Condit is very dangerous and can win this fight but this now seems like Diaz’s fight to lose. Neither man will gas but Diaz’s volume punching and gas tank seemed to overwhelm past opponents and break them down. I’m not going on the record as of yet but this now clearly seems to be a great stylistic matchup for Diaz. I don’t believe Condit will want to go to the ground with him so this seems to be a likely stand up war. Can Condit resist the urge to brawl? Will he fight in control and measured? Can Diaz also get in Condit's head pre-fight? I guess we will find out soon what the older brother from Stockton has up his sleeve.

Shake on it: UFC's Diaz won't let Cerrone in his 'comfort zone'

In the often complicated mind of Nate Diaz, Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight rival Donald Cerrone sparked a feud between the two when he dared try to shake his hand.


Diaz wanted no part of the gesture and plans to settle his differences with Cerrone at UFC 141 at the MGM Grand Garden on Friday night.


It's the type of conflict that often is trumped up to hype fights, but Diaz says he isn't the type to participate in such exercises.


He says what would seem to most to be an innocent gesture was part of what he sees as a growing problem in mixed martial arts.


Everyone wants to be buddies.


"With a lot of these guys, there's like this jock (mentality) going on. They all try to be friends, and they feel comfortable being friends with everybody," Diaz said. "I'm not going to let them get the satisfaction of coming in my comfort zone. I've got to keep them outside. I don't need them trying to figure me out."


The 26-year-old Diaz is notoriously temperamental and is among the most polarizing fighters in MMA. He also is talented and coming off perhaps his best performance to date in dismantling Takanori Gomi in September. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak and came in his first fight back at lightweight after a stretch in the welterweight division.


He and his brother Nick, along with their teammates in the "Skrap Pack," are loyal to a fault to their inner circle and skeptical of most outsiders.


They were central figures in the infamous brawl following a Strikeforce event on CBS in 2010.


The proud native of Stockton, Calif., says the "jock culture" permeating the sport stems from too many wrestlers getting involved. Too many guys are pulling pranks on each other and goofing around. He prefers a purer form of fighting.


Diaz says one of the reasons fighters have tried to be friendly with him is to humanize him as a means to soothe the fears they might have stepping into the cage against someone who might be a little out of his mind.


"Let's just say for a second you're fighting some maniac in the street who has killed 20 people, and crazy as hell, but you get a fair fight with him, and he's like biting his arm off and talking crazy (expletive)," Diaz said. "And then you're going to fight some nice guy who goes to church and comes up and shakes your hand and says, 'Nice to meet you,' and 'Hey, it's going to be a good fight.'


"Who are you going to feel more comfortable fighting? They're trying to put me in a comfort zone. They're trying to make it so they can sleep better at night."


For his part, the 28-year-old Cerrone insists there were no mind games going on when he decided to shake hands with a fellow fighter on that late October day at "The Ultimate Fighter" gym in Las Vegas.


Diaz was talking to Cerrone's close friend, fellow UFC fighter Leonard Garcia, at the time and says Diaz slapped his hand away before walking off. The two had not been scheduled to fight, but Cerrone was offered this bout three days later in the locker room after defeating Dennis Siver on Nov. 29 at Mandalay Bay.


"He is the guy that punks everybody else and gets in everyone else's head, so now what happened? The tables turned, and now I'm in your head, you little (expletive)," Cerrone said of what he considers Diaz's delusions. "It feels good to turn the tables, to think that he came out hard and wanted to be a bully and now I'm bullying him.


"I saw him at the workouts (Tuesday) watching me instead of worrying about what he was doing. He started mumbling and looking around. Good. Sleep on that."


The action almost got started at Wednesday's news conference in the lobby of the MGM Grand when Diaz responded to Cerrone's trash talk by flipping the cowboy hat off his head.


Don't expect any handshakes after Friday's fight, either.


(via Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review Journal, lvrj.com)

UFC 141 Diaz vs Cerrone Face Off

Donald Cerrone on Nate Diaz

"He's got good stand-up, if the fight goes to the ground he's his jiu-jitsu is very good. All that aside? That mother****er is game. If we bumped into each other out in the parking lot and said what's up, we're throwing down. To me, I like that mentality. You can't teach that, they come to fight, and me too. You don't have to be from Stockton to be tough. Come fight night? Let's go mother****er."