If there is one thing that UFC 69: Shootout reinforced, it’s the fact that, in the world of Mixed Martial Arts, anything can and will happen. In back-to-back UFC events, we have seen how Mixed Martials Arts is easily the best and most exciting combat sport in the world, and a lot of that excitement comes from the fact that MMA is so unpredictable. Any fighter can truly beat any other fighter at any time. With so many forms of martial arts involved, MMA just has a dynamic that boxing cannot provide and leaves a sense of “uncertainty” to each and every fight.
- Georges St. Pierre vs Matt Serra – I really am at a loss of words after this fight, and still am in disbelief somewhat, as I’m sure many of you are. Serra landed a punch that caught St. Pierre and was able to follow that up with several more shots that didn’t leave the champ anytime to regain his composure. The wrestler and jiu-jitsu expert won the fight with strikes where noone gave him a chance, ala Randy Couture vs Time Syliva.
- Josh Koscheck vs Diego Sanchez – As much as I know everyone is going to be screaming how this fight was so boring and such a let down, I found this fight to be a very enjoyable fight to watch. While there wasn’t any fireworks that the hype led people to believe would happen, what we saw was a gameplan executed to technical perfection. Josh Koscheck had one mission: to hand Sanchez his first loss and make him look silly while doing it. Koscheck did both as he just picked Sanchez apart round-by-round with pinpoint precision punches. Sanchez knew he didn’t want to mess with Kos on the ground and looked extremely tentative. Koscheck was happy to stand and show how he is the better striker by far. Excellent fight in my opinion.
- What happens now in the Welterweight division? With Matt Serra as the reigning champ, I really hope that the UFC doesn’t let Matt Hughes fight Matt Serra next for the title. If GSP had retained the title, I don’t think the UFC would have given Koscheck the title shot; sure they might have given it to Diego, but not to Kos. Well, now that Serra is the champ, I say let Koscheck take on Serra and have GSP and Matt Hughes have their rematch for the right to fight the winner of Serra vs Kos. To let Hughes have the opportunity to regain the Welterweight belt without having to go through GSP who so easily dominated him would be a mistake in my opinion.
- Roger Huerta vs Leonard Garcia – This was easily fight of the night in my opinion. What an excellent display of heart and desire from both Huerta and Garcia. Huerta showed why many people consider him near the top of the class of the next gereration of MMA fighters. Garcia showed heart and skills that I don’t think many people were prepared for, and the UFC would be foolish not to sign him to a three-fight contract after last nights performance.
- Alan Belcher vs Kendall Grove – Kendall Grove showed me that he has improved greatly since the TUF 3 finale and is on his way to being and excellent top-level fighter. With his size in the Welterweight division, Grove is going to be a tough matchup for most other easily-undersized opponents. What I was most impressed with was Grove’s Muay-Thai clinch game. Excellent clinch holds and knee strikes. Very impressive.
- Minotauro Nogueria was introduced as being the newest heavyweight signing for the UFC. Not a big surprise considering this announcement was expected to be made at Thursday nights UFC Fight Night Show. With the recent purchase of PrideFC many of these top Pride fighters will be making their UFC debuts, and I hope that we won’t have these lame “announcements” each and every time. Now that they own the company, “signing a fighter away” from themselves is not a big deal.
- ESPN Showing Highlights – For those that may not have seen it yet, ESPN showed highlights of the St. Pierre vs. Serra fight on SportsCenter. This is the first time ESPN has even acknowledged the existence of Mixed Martial Arts, and is just one more step in the march of MMA domination.
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Amber
eric
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Yael Grauer
itzFORT
Singh is King
Fizzlesticks
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Studog
FOOK me, and I missed it!
Serra’s victory recorded on ESPN…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lthC4nhskU
OMFG.. Talk about year of the Underdogs! its getting crazy now.. Now i think Chuck is gonna lose this year, Crocop is gonna lose, who else? Fedor.. why not, as we saw, ANYTHING can happen.
Matt Serra is THE MAN, the amount of time and energy he put into getting his title shot through TUF 4. Training his azzz off for this fight, with everyone doubting him and coming thru in the clutch. That shows us this guy has the heart of a champion man! well deserved victory and it couldnt have happened to a better guy!
GSP did all he could man, from what he was saying, he also trained like an animal for this fight, but it just wasnt his night.
Diego vs Kos, WOW im very impressed with Kos standup game, i really thought Diego had the advantage (so much for de la hoya). I dont think Diego did anything wrong in this fight either, what happened was all about Kos. I watched the fight several times and Kos executed his gameplan perfectly as Dr J said. If you notice whenever Diego would widen his stance to slug, Kos would jump on his bicycle, then when Diego was resetting Kos would fly in with his own strikes. This is probably the most basic fundamental rule about fighting from a striking point of view. BORING my azzz, Kos did what he had to do to win the fight and thats exactly what happened.
Well, this is arguably not the first time the ESPN empire has acknowledged the existence of mixed martial arts. There have been a couple of segments talking to Dana or the fighters on ESPN 2 and ESPN News. But to be covered on Sportscenter is definitely a new thing and a step up for our sport.
I have to say that this was a UFC that I hated, but will never forget. GSP is my all time #2 favorite fighter and I’m sick over his lose.
Some of you say this is what MMA is all about, but do you think it kinda hurts the sport a little?? I’ll explain…
I don’t think Dana White should have EVER made these fights. For me, it shows that ANYONE could possibly beat the champs. I want to know that the Champ is just that…a champion that would and could and will be hard to push off the mountain. That god for people like Chuck Liddell and (even though he’s title-less) Matt Hughes. They show that there is an extra level to MMA. A level that few could and will EVER reach.
In closing. I want a champ that runs over people like Matt Sera. Someone who shows that THEY are in another league. I thought GSP was that guy. I still think he is, but some people in Sera’s camp will tell you otherwise…
I guess everyone’s figured it out by now. MATT HUGHES vs MATT SERA.
Then HUGHES vs GSP…which gets more PPV sales than any previous UFC shows. Dana White and ZUFFA will smile all the way to the bank.
That’s how I see it…
@Brian
Having a protectionist system where only certain people get a title shot and an average joe never does is what has killed boxing. Everyone loves “Rocky” but in real life, politics and money would never let that happen. In MMA it has. You know, a lot of people could have beaten Tyson in his day I am sure, but we never saw it because of politics. If you want a God, go to Church or Synagog. If you want to see more great fighting, stay tuned this year has just begun, and as far as GSP being in another league ect ect, look at Matt Serra’s training regime and what he has done already in Martial Arts: Pan Am Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gold Medalist – 1999, Worlds Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion – 1999, Abu Dhabi Qualifier Winner – 2000, Runner up Abu Dhabi Championships – 2001: My point is, GSP got beaten by a professional fighter in professional MMA, and Matt Serra, (although not the sharpest tack in the box), is nothing to sneeze at. Good for Matt Sera, and yes, this brings the title back to Matt Hughes for sure…. although, it would be funny as heck to see the “Terra” beat Hughes too, that would put the squeeze on Dana .. lol.
One more thing I’d like to add….
When you have a setup like this where “average Joes” get title shots, that gives even more credibility to legends like Matt Hughes, who, like I predicted the same night GSP took the title, that Matt will take it back first shot he gets.
If the champ “TRULY” takes on “all comers” and defends the title, not once or twice, but ten, twenty, thirty or more times, he has proven that his really is the champion, and deserves the belt.
This is what legends are made of.
Go LUKE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VMk_oLjzpU
The ICEMAN………….punk’d
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvGY9nif97E
GOOD GOD!!
THIS IS A JOKE… IM STARTING TO THINK THAT SOME OF THESE GUYS SELL OUT FOR THE GREEN.. THERE IS NO WAY THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED…..DID GSP EVEN TRAIN FOR THIS FIGHT WHAT THE FU CK!!!!!?????
I sure hope that they haven’t started that “sell out” **** yet…. like boxing.
Chuck will NOT lose!……….BV, shame on you…… heresy!
O YEA DENNIS I BET HE SOLD OUT FOR THE CASH… I WOULD NOT BUY A PPV IF SERRA IF FIGHTING UFC WILL LOSE ALOT OF MONEY CUZ OF THAT BULL SHI T FIGHT
I just couldnt believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok i have heard that matt serra had heavy hands, but that didnt even look hard when he hit him. That looked like one of them chuck liddell punches that looks off balance but does the damage, and i guess that is what happened. But it looked to me that GSP just had a tunnel vision strategy rather than a wide ranged gameplan. And that was leg kicks to the head. He didnt take advantage of his reach or any advantages that he had. Serra shouldnt have even got off that shot to the back of the head like that. He looked like he was just in there fighting to fight that is it, not to win. Matt didnt try to take him down so i dont know was GSP was thinking, he shouldave torn him apart from the standup. I was so mad i broke my remote and didnt go out that night.
Sanchez vs Kos
O.K. that fight to me did not look technical at all by kos. He looked as timid to go after diego just as diego. Yea his standup looks good but he just stumbled on that right hand that he hit diego with and he kept using it which in the second part of the fight didnt work because diego obviously caught on to it, which then led kos to land that jab. But i dont think that kos deserves a title shot yet if anything i think diego does, and if not diego give him a rematch with kos and give matt a rematch with GSP and the winner of that fight should then fight the winner of diego and kos, then the title shot should come after that.
But it looked liked he wanted to hold diegos hand the whole fight. Neither one of them showed me or anyone anything,they both looked timid and scared to make the first move. But i knew from the first 2 minutes the fight was gonna go to whoever made the first move, i wouldave called it a draw because neither one did anything.
@Patrick
I think that Rush has more integrity than that. Diego however…..?
Yea i just watched that fight again, that punch was some bull!!!@,maybe im saying this because i didnt want gsp to lose but when he threw that punch he wasnt even looking. But i guess every one gets lucky. Did you guys see how happy matt was, what a buzzard, he was yelling out “i love this” like, why would you be happy to see somebidy loose who is such a nice person like gsp.
LOL UR RIGFHT DENNIS GSP WOULDNT DO THAT… THAT WAS A LUCKY *** PUNCH BUT DO U AGREE … WHOS GONNA WANNA SEE SERRA AS THE CHAMP… YA KNOW?? UFC GONNA LOSE DOLLARS
But all in all i have to give credit where credit is due congrats matt for your win!!!
MAN THIS SUCKS I LIKE GSP???
To me this may seem messed up, but i dont think it would be that bad him bein champ if he was taller than 5’6.
I bet RJ is heart-broken….
I would pay to see Hughes beat the crap out of Serra!
especially after Serra trashed talked on TUF.
Now Todd, it’s not nice to make fun of the “little people”…LOL
This may sure enough become a rivalry, i mean if you think about it,the matt george thing is somewhat boring like when he tried to make more of the fight than what it is when he said gsp was dissrespectful, and people were like “ok” whatever, but you have this, the big underdog matt, and the fallen champ that everybody loves, i think it could sell some dollars. But i think that the way he beat gsp will become intriguing to fans and they obviously wanna see gsp get his belt back so i think people would want to see it,and would buy. I mean i would buy it just to see gsp win his belt back and knock matt out! But i hope this isnt a trend with gsp where he has to loose in order to win, that would suck.
HEY DENNIS Y IS RJ SAD
IS THAT HIS FAV FIGHTER?
Yea i know…lol, but if you were new to mma and going to ufc.com and click on the champs link, and you were to read his profile i someone would be like 5’6….who…how did he……? Wow, this mma thing must be something different.
@ Patrick
Yea, he’s been on Rush’s nutz since day one.
LOL RUSH’S NUTS….. HOW COULD HE LOSE… HEY I WAS IMPRESSED WITH KOS KINDA IM GLAD DIEGO LOST
@ DR. J,
Heck yea, pretty soon every fight will be like a main event fight!!!!!!! No more tuff man dropouts or old retirees commin back.
DENNIS LIKE IM ALWAYS ON ARLOVSKIS NUTS LOL?
Guys, there are so many idiots out there postuing junk all over the internet about how this fight was a fluke. A lot of people are saying GSP slipped yada yada yada. I’ve watched the video several times and for those who say this match was a fluke, they obviously have absolutley no knowledge of MMA whatsoever. There are always some matches and styles that make a fight go a certain way. Of course, this being their first fight it is hard to judge that but if Tito Ortiz fights Chuck Liddell 50 times…Liddell wins 49 times. That is the way it goes. Serra landed a very clean hook that made GSP wobble, and followed that up with another clean hook that floored him. When GSP was on the ground he made no effort to grapple Serra to weather the storm, which indicates that he was obviously hurt and reeling from the striking. I am a huge GSP fan but liek Serra a lot..For me this win was bitter sweet…but I give Serra all the credit in the world. SO many MMA haters out there.
TO BAD GSP
Can’t wait to see the new MMAweekly Welterweight rankings to see where they put the Terror…. who’s not even in the top 10 today….
and how far they blow up KOS.
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit)
#1 Welterweight Fighter in the World: Georges St. Pierre
2. Matt Hughes
3. BJ Penn
4. Diego Sanchez
5. Karo Parisyan
6. Jon Fitch
7. Jake Shields
8. Akira Kikuchi
9. Josh Koscheck
10. Carlos Condit
MMAWeekly Rankings last updated on April 3, 2007
Did you notice the Jens is not there either? Can’t wait to see him “Pulver-ize” BJ, to see where they list him.
YEA DENNIS I DONT THINK JENS IS GONNA WIN THAT ONE
YO WHAT THE HELL IS MATT SERRAS RECORD ANYWAY?
YO SOMEONE ON HERE TELL ME HOW CHUCK LIDDELL GOT PUNKED ????
Chuck was on the MTV show…..Punk’d.
Name Matt Serra
Nick Name The Terror
Record 9 – 4 – 0 (Win – Loss – Draw)
Wins 1 (T)KOs (11.11%)
4 Submissions (44.44%)
4 Decisions (44.44%)
Losses 1 (T)KOs (25.00%)
3 Decisions (75.00%)
BOOOOOOOO MATT SERRA
@@@@@@@@YO DENNIS OR DR J…
WOULD WE SAY THEN THAT GSP DOES NOT HAVE
A VERY STRONG CHIN THEN OR WHAT???
so i havent been on here in a day or so because i’m a little disappointed about GSP losing the title. i am glad someone like matt serra was the one to do it. he is a very humble, but worthy champ and he did a hell of a job against one of the best fighters i’ve seen in a long time. i dont think there was a whole lot st.pierre could have done to win that fight. serra fought pretty well a perfect fight and he is going to be a tough guy to beat if he fights like that all the time.
@@@@@@@@@
RJ NO … SERRA LANDED A LUCKY PUNCH
GSP WILL BE THE CHAMP AGAIN SHORTLY
Hughes will regain his title…..very easily from Serra.
if serra was to fight hughes like he did st.pierre he wouldnt stand a chance in hell.
hughes wouldnt stand a chance that is.
WHAT?
RJ mon ami, are you feeling kinda strange?
How can you say that a legend like Hughes wouldn’t stand a chance against a guy that has one TKO?
Let’s face it, Serra is a fluke that will not hold the belt for one defense.
I am willing to bet the house on Hughes against Serra……
Last time I was willing to bet the house was Chuck against Tito.
all i was saying is if serra came at hughes like he did st.pierre i think hughes would get knocked out. hughes has improved his standup but i dont think he has the chin for the power serra has. the only other way hughes could win is on the ground and serra vs. hughes on the ground is a coin toss in my mind.