*In Remembrance of yacobod. May he rest in peace.*
Greetings, fellow MMA fans of GAF. It has been a loooong time since I have ventured to make a UFC event thread. But I return from the wilderness bringing good news. For, after a full year and a half of darkness, Tha Gawd of MMA is finally returning to bless us with his presence.
I speak, of course, of the great Georges "Rush" St. Pierre. The UFC just hasn't been the same since this living monument to martial arts was tragically sidelined with injury.
And yet, there is hope. On Saturday, November 17, 2012, the most well-rounded, dominant, dynamic champion in Mixed Martial Arts returns to reclaim his glory.
Without further ado, a breakdown of select fights.
UFC Welterweight Championship Bout:
Georges "Rush" St. Pierre (22-2) vs. Carlos "Suck it Diaz fans" Condit (28-5)
GSP is perhaps the most well-rounded fighter in the sport of MMA. He is the greatest welterweight of all time, he is the best wrestler in the wrestler-stacked WW divison. He is a skilled striker, with one of the best jabs in the sport, and a dynamic kicking game. He is one of the best guard-passers in the sport.
Carlos Condit, on the other hand, is pretty good.
I don't mean any disrespect to Condit by that. It's just that, while GSP generally runs all over his opponents in his wins, Carlos, well, he sometimes just squeaks by. In his UFC debut against Jake Ellenberger, he got roughed up bad in round 1, and only came back to win a split decision. In his next fight against Rory Macdonald, he was down on the cards until beasting against the kid and scoring a down-to-the-wire TKO. And although I thought he clearly won against Nick Diaz in February, legions of butthurt Diaz fans from across the interwebs have cried long and hard that their boy was robbed.
Unfortunately, of course, that is not the whole story. In many ways, Carlos Condit is not GSP's opponent on November 17th. GSP's knee injury is. If it weren't for the injury and the long layoff, this fight would just be going through the motions, with the natural result being a 50-44 decision for GSP, or possibly TKO in the 4th or 5th round.
But alas, although I may be the biggest GSP fan in the history of neoGAF, I'm not some reality-denying Republican pollster. I am scared shitless that the injury means that GSP will never be the same. That he won't be as explosive, as confident, as dominant as he used to be.
And that is why, come the main event on the 17th, I will be on the edge of my seat.
My call: GSP by decision, or TKO in the 5th.
Welterweight bout:
Martin "the human punching bag" Kampmann (20-5) vs. Johnny "Fitch-Killer" Hendricks (13-1)
Once upon a time (ie. before May 2012), I thought that Hendricks might be a man who could possibly run the risk of dethroning GSP in the future. But then he barely squeaked by Josh "Oh God, not my eye!" Koscheck. Sooo, nevermind that.
Kampmann, on the other hand, is like a welterweight version of Antonio Nogueira. Which is to say, he always gets the shit beat out of him before finding a way to win.
That being said, I think Hendricks hits too hard, has too good of wrestling, and hopefully will be smart enough to capitalize when he hurts Kampmann (which he will).
Hendricks by TKO in the 2nd.
Francis Carmont (19-7) vs. Tom Lawlor (8-4)
Who the hell is Francis Carmont?
Lawlor by me recognizing his name.
Cyrille Diabate (18-8-1) vs. Chad Griggs (11-2)
What? This fight is on the main card over Stout/Makdessi, Bocek/Dos Anjos, or even Cote/Sakara? (err, nevermind on that last one.)
That's some booolsheet.
Mark Hominick (20-11) vs. Pablo Garza (11-3)
My boy Hominick has had a rough go since taking Aldo five rounds. But still, I can't pick against him.
WAR HOMINICK!!!!
Date: November 17, 2012
Time: 10PM ET/7PM PT
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Main Card (PPV) - 10PM ET
Preliminary Card (FX) - 8PM ET
Patrick Cote (17-8) vs. Alessio Sakara (15-9)
-Nick Ring (13-1) vs. Constantinos Philippou (11-2)
-Sam Stout (17-8-1) vs. John Makdessi (9-2)
-Mark Bocek (11-4) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (17-6)
Preliminary Bouts (Facebook) 6PM ET
-Antonio Carvalho (14-5) vs. Rodrigo Damm (10-5)
-Ivan Menjivar (24-9) vs. Azamat Gashimov (7-1)
-Matt Riddle (6-3) vs. John Maguire (18-4)
-Steven Siler (21-9) vs. Darren Elkins (14-2)
The UFC has put up a youtube link with some of GSP's and Condit's best fights:
http://youtu.be/q4B-Mvu4dz8
And also these reaaaallly lame Election-themed promos:
http://youtu.be/owXOVr7jYyg
http://youtu.be/_JO3-DMd3no
Finally, if the previous 26 UFC Primetime episodes featuring GSP weren't enough for you, here is one more:
Ep 1: http://youtu.be/BohVvuZUlsM
Ep 2: http://youtu.be/N0ipGlCIoe4
