The Swamp

Watched bits and pieces of the UFC press conference earlier today. I used to despise the Diaz brothers on account of them being huge cunts, but after watching Nick speak for an extended period of time I actually started feeling sorry for him. The man clearly has some mental health issues, which appear even worse when he's forced to speak to reporters due to his anxiety. I actually have some sympathy for the guy now, though I do still hope GSP whups him on Saturday.

I'm a-gonna guess that GSP wins that fight via homicide.

Nick Diaz' next opponent might be tougher than GSP: the IRS.

I don't buy too many MMA fights but I always loved watching GSP. Is he still as good as ever or has he lost a step yet?

Temporary J-Lo wrote:I don't buy too many MMA fights but I always loved watching GSP. Is he still as good as ever or has he lost a step yet?

His fight with Diaz wasn't the very exciting, but he controlled the fight from start to finish. He never gave Diaz a chance to throw any effective blows.

And seriously, how freaking stupid do you have to be to publicly state you've never paid any taxes?

Oh, this is a rematch?

Temporary J-Lo wrote:Oh, this is a rematch?

Nope, but Diaz supposedly said during the post-fight press conference that he wants a rematch, which goes against his comments that he's retiring.

It's just easier to chalk it up that Diaz is a dumbass.

Oh, I missed the timestamp. This happened this past weekend.

I had never heard of Diaz, but after watching that fight, I hated him.

Johny Hendricks looks like he was custom made in a lab for the sole purpose of beating GSP.

Great photo from today's Montreal Gazette:



The article from which that photo comes to us is right here.

That photo pretty much sums up the fight.

Did you watch it at all, Sabo? I'm curious as to your opinion of the Condit-Hendricks fight. I was thrifty and only watched the free bouts.

Non-Sabo opinion of that fight:

• Hendricks looks like Wes Welker the gnome

• For a wrestler, Hendricks does a lot of not-wrestling. He like, punches people and stuff.

• Hendricks takes a lot of shots, but instead of letting them turn into fight-ending barrages, he takes the guy down and stems the tide.

• Because of that, he can be (and is) aggressive as hell and goes after people like a honey badger. And punches really hard.

• Seemed like he should have won that fight in the first or second round, but let the Condit dude hang around, and after hurting his left hand before the third round, he almost blew it because of this.

• His short reach seemed to hurt him a bit in this fight.

• GSP will not be able to shoot on Hendricks at will like he did against Dick Diaz. Hendricks is a cyborg designed to defeat Georgesz.

Also, that fight made me like UFC because they weren't hugging all fight like queers.

Zlax46 wrote:Did you watch it at all, Sabo? I'm curious as to your opinion of the Condit-Hendricks fight. I was thrifty and only watched the free bouts.

Yes, I watched all of the fights. I didn't know we had an MMA thread at the time, so I posted my thoughts in The Sweet Science thread.

Sorry to sully that thread with MMA talk, howard.

Nice writeup, G-Penis. That's why I think that Hendricks is a good matchup stylistically for those who want to see GSP do something other than grind out a decision. Whereas GSP could dominate recent opponents on the ground (Diaz, Condit, etc.), Hendricks has the wrestling chops to prevent that from happening. I don't fault GSP for taking those guys to the ground repeatedly, he would've been stupid not to have that game plan. I still think GSP can strike with the best of them when he wants to, and I'm sure we'll see more of that against Hendricks. Should be a good one.

Sabo wrote:That photo pretty much sums up the fight.

I think these sum up the fight better:

Jordan Mein has taken Dan Hardy's place on UFC on Fox in April even though he just fought last weekend. I guess you don't accrue 35 pro fights by the time you're 23 by sitting on the sidelines.

Anyone else watch Anderson Silva act a fool and knocked the fuck out?

Completely bummed I missed it. But in my defense, Kaiserslautern was having a festival and I had to partake.

Amazingly awkward interview
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I love these two characters.

wlu_lax6 wrote:Amazingly awkward interview
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I love these two characters.

That is the greatest interview ever. I give props to the anchor there for rolling with Beard-guy's arrogant heel act, and flat out laughing at the guy who has taken too many severe blows to the head.

The Sybian wrote:

wlu_lax6 wrote:Amazingly awkward interview
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I love these two characters.

That is the greatest interview ever. I give props to the anchor there for rolling with Beard-guy's arrogant heel act, and flat out laughing at the guy who has taken too many severe blows to the head.

So I have been hooked on "The Ultimate Fighter" for a long time. This is the reality show where they have a tournament of up and comers trying to get in the UFC. Both of these guys have been involved. Nate Diaz and his brother Nick are tough kids from a tough childhood. They just don't give a f about anyone. On the TV show he was the same way. Just trying to win the thing and get in the UFC. Did not care about the fact that he had a platform to build a brand.

The world is out to get them etc. McGregor is the current top man in the UFC. He is a metro sexual dressing showman. He coached one of the seasons recently and just showed off his charisma. The heel thing is an act because he knows he can play this up and make $$$$. I think he is a very shrewd business man.

Diaz took this fight on short notice when the original opponent broke a foot training. McGregor is going to win this.

I get to watch UFC 196 for free on base. And then there's a $7-buffeton top of that! Bring back in America has a few perks.

Last night was quite the treat. I would've had to be up pretty early Germany time to watch.

Also this pic is excellent:

Gotta be bullshit, right?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mm ... /83241488/

Jerloma wrote:Gotta be bullshit, right?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mm ... /83241488/

Anyone else think the McGregor stuff is just rigged media manipulation? The hype around pre-fight press for MMA and boxing just seems so staged to me.

No link yet, but I'm seeing on Twitter that Kimbo Slice is dead.

ETA: Here's a link to a story about him being rushed to the hospital today.

http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/16008 ... ed-reasons

Sabo wrote:No link yet, but I'm seeing on Twitter that Kimbo Slice is dead.

ETA: Here's a link to a story about him being rushed to the hospital today.

http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/16008 ... ed-reasons

The reporter that got banned just confirmed he's doing bad and in the hospital.

govmentchedda wrote:

Sabo wrote:No link yet, but I'm seeing on Twitter that Kimbo Slice is dead.

ETA: Here's a link to a story about him being rushed to the hospital today.

http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/16008 ... ed-reasons

The reporter that got banned just confirmed he's doing bad and in the hospital.

Dead

govmentchedda wrote:The reporter that got banned just confirmed he's doing bad and in the hospital.

Speaking of that, Ariel Helwani and his crew had their credentials restored by the UFC. Apparently all he was guilty of was developing credible sources.

The UFC looked extremely petty during this exercise and did nothing more than shoot themselves in the foot. Instead of everyone talking about Michael Bisping finally winning the title or about Brock Lesnar returning to the UFC, people were talking about the barred reporter.

Horrible PR move by Dana White and his cronies.

UFC -- bought for $2 million 15 years ago -- sold for $4 billion today.

Not a bad return on investment.

brian wrote:UFC -- bought for $2 million 15 years ago -- sold for $4 billion today.

Not a bad return on investment.

I think they are selling at the right time. Feels like with events almost every other weekend, the growth opportunity is starting to limit domestically.

Yeah, I agree. Seems like they're selling high.

brian wrote:Yeah, I agree. Seems like they're selling high.

Oh also the gimmick factor is starting to show up (WWE guys, more women, bigger focus on pre-fight media showmanship). UFC has made some great business moves. The story behind their Ultimate Fighter success is very interesting (they basically paid for the first seasons to be shown). Also their ability use their muscle to buy out challenging promotions in the US and abroad. Apparently they are working on IP protection for the octagon cage and other aspects of their presentation.

If you missed the fight...

Just not good for this sport.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2705 ... =editorial

Rough weekend
Matt Hughes not awake after collision with a train
http://www.foxsports.com/ufc/story/form ... ain-061817

UFC trying to make a go at boxing ends up with a serious brain injury.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2716 ... =editorial

wlu_lax6 wrote:UFC trying to make a go at boxing ends up with a serious brain injury.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2716 ... =editorial

He died, by the way.