Matt Hughes: GSP Will Beat Diaz and Silva

Koscheck Asks to Move to 185 lbs and For Chris Leben

On Thursday afternoon, Koscheck was asked by his clothing sponsor, Dethrone Royalty, who he was interested in making his comeback fight against. While most assumed he was eyeballing the Octagon’s debut in San Jose this coming winter, the controversial wrestler also decided to drop the 185-pound bomb on the Twitter universe.

Nick Diaz Vacates Strikeforce Belt

According to UFC President Dana White, Nick Diaz is now a UFC fighter and has vacated his Strikeforce welterweight belt to get a shot at UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.

MMA, Not Just For Guys Anymore

GSP, Eye is 100%

Ben Askren, Continuing Stereotypes

Ben Askren is running his mouth once again, although this time it's about the current and reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.

GSP Was Looking For Finish

Georges St. Pierre and camp confirm that they decided to employ weird game plan for the night.

GSP Stops Attacker LOL

GSP's 1st Post-Fight Eye Pic

Via Arianny's Twitter

GSP in Lackluster Decision Win

In the first minute of the first round, Shields caught a St. Pierre kick and briefly appeared to be in position for a takedown, but GSP managed to hop around on one foot and get himself free. From there St. Pierre showed how superior his striking is than Shields' repeatedly landing jabs that backed Shields up, and getting creative by going for some spinning back kicks. It was clear through the first round that St. Pierre had a big advantage standing up.

In the second round, St. Pierre made frequent use of overhand right hands, and Shields didn't have much of an answer for them. None of St. Pierre's punches knocked Shields down, but several of them landed hard, and Shields was clearly affected. Shields did almost nothing to St. Pierre, as the fight continued to be fought just on the feet, exactly where St. Pierre wanted it.

The third round was more of the same until the final 30 seconds, when St. Pierre surprised Shields by going for a takedown of his own and knocking Shields on his back. That was a surprise, as Shields' only hope of a victory was pulling off a submission on the ground, but it showed just how comfortable St. Pierre was feeling.


Full Article & Source: MMA Fighting

GSP Set To Be 192 or 193 LBS on Saturday Night

"Georges has been getting better at cutting weight. He’s walking around at 194 (pounds). There was a time when he used to walk around at 180 to make 170. He cuts weight so easily we added more muscle ... Now he’s on a protein and vegetable diet. Right now his exercise is significantly cut, but he’s going to shed water. It’s only temporary weight loss. It’s not real weight loss. You’re not dropping fat. (The final weight-cut) lasts about six days . . . By Friday he’ll have six or seven pounds left and we’ll put him in the sauna. I don’t recommend this to anybody, even professional athletes. This is somebody who’s very seasoned. As soon as the weigh-in is done (Friday afternoon) we’ll give him a recovery drink. We’ll even give him Prime (a workout supplement by Gatorade, which sponsors St-Pierre) because he needs the carbohydrates that much more . . . he’ll enter the ring at 192 or 193 pounds."

Source: The Star

Anderson Silva, I Will Not Fight Jones

Anderson Silva in a recent interview discussed the possibility of super fights in the future. Recently Silva has been touted as the greatest modern day fighter. An undefeated streak as the light heavyweight champion and a perfect record inside the Octagon does nothing but only help cement his position as best pound for pound fighter on the planet.

Now, with the rise of two opponents near Silva's weight have proved that they may need new challenges. Those two are Georges St. Pierre and the newest champion, Jon Jones. Although, not without scrutiny can they be considered the Anderson Silva of their weight division. St. Pierre must still face a very tough opponent in Shields and Jones must defends his title.

As Silva heads to face Yushin Okami at UFC Rio, that last win will have him officially cleaning out the middleweight division. And as he has expressed in past interviews, Silva plans on retiring a undefeated fighter in the very near future. So it comes as no surprise that he said this:

On fighting Jones:

"No chance, he’s in a different weight class, we are friends and we won’t fight each other."

On fighting GSP:

"There is a chance there, everything will depend on our results. It depends on him winning at UFC 129 and me winning in August (against Yushin Okami). And from there, who knows, this fight could take place."

Source: Esportes R7

UFC 127: Penn V Fitch

The main event down under this weekend will be against the former Lightweight champion of the world, BJ Penn and one of the best welterweights mixed martial arts has ever seen, Jon Fitch.

Recently jumping up into the 170 lbs division, BJ Penn saw his first win since inside the Welterweight category after falling victim to Geroges St. Pierre in January of 2009. The recent jump was made after losing two straight to the current defending Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. The first fight in Abu Dhabi, Penn showed a timidness unlike anything he has exhibited before. Failing to land strikes and successfully landing a takedown, Frankie Edgar began to expose the weaknesses of the once great Lightweight. After the bell rang and Edgar walked away with the title an immediate re-match was given and the same result flurried after five rounds of dominance for the new champion several months later.

After a sit-down with Dana White, Penn moved up to 170 lbs in rubber match against UFC standout Matt Hughes. This match would determine the fate of Penn inside the Octagon and his legacy in future months to come. It only took 21 seconds to dispose of Hughes when Penn landed a right hand that dropped the All-American Division I collegiate wrestler before hammering out a win on the ground. Penn pre-fight interview with Fitch stated, 'I had all that adrenaline built up, and then it went 21 seconds, so I had to let it out, it still has to come out somehow.' in regards to his latest fight.

Penn has been interviewed and is exhibiting signs of happiness and content coming into this bout. The day before boarding the plane to Australia, Penn vlogged himself eating Dim Sum with the family, happily stuffing his face. He in the past has discussed how the cut to 155 lbs can be difficult at times and drain him of a lot of energy. The cut for a lot of atheletes can be draining and questions then naturally arise, what if they just fought, natural (weight). This is the case for Penn, he will be fighting at his natural weight.

Penn also has his problems, several bad outings at 170 lbs shows his biggest flaw. Cardio has been his achilles heel. Only winning one out four of his most recent wins at 170, with the one win coming in 21 seconds to Hughes, the question still lingers, can he hang with the bigger boys?

Fitch on the other hand will be right at home. Accumulating a record of 23-3 over his illustrious career, Jon Fitch has established himself as one of the greatest Welterweight fighters of all time. Fitch is riding a five-fight win streak, coming off wins of Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce, Ben Saunders, and Thiago Alves all via Unanimous Decision. Which raises an interesting question, can Penn hang with the likes of a grinder like Fitch?

Jon Fitch last saw a defeat against a common foe, Georges St. Pierre, losing in a decision. Prior to this loss his last defeat came in December of 2002 against Wilson Gouviea. 'My energy levels are through the roof, I feel like I'm 20 again.' Fitch stated in a recent interview with the UFC.

Current odds have Fitch (-200) over Penn (+160), and this is surprising. Granted the odds change due to fluctuation in where the money is going but, there is no reason that this fight should be as close as it is. After watching the last three fights Penn is going to have to prove more. Several bad fights in 170 have left Penn with a bad taste in his mouth and with a 21 second taste-test of the 'new' BJ, he will have have to prove he is more than a 'one-hit-wonder'. He still has to prove his endurance in the upper weight class.

There is no question that Fitch can beat Penn but will he be able to finish him?

My Prediction: Fitch via decision