Interesting decision by the UFC to make this an interim title fight. I guess they want a huge PPV buy for DEC 29th. I don’t think it was in GSPs’ best interest to take this fight on such short notice. I think this one definitely goes alot longer than the second one did. Hughes will not try and stand at all. Can’t quite call it. My heart says Hughes but my head says GSP.
I don’t think it will bother GSP if Hughes doesn’t want it to stand. The takedown defense he showed against Koschek was incredible. I think this one will probably go to decision, and I think GSP will take it two rounds to one. I can see Hughes getting him down and taking a round, but the rest will be all GSP.
Interesting little fact:
In trilogies, the guy who wins the second fight, almost always wins the third. I have my speculations on why that is, but there are plenty, PLENTY of fights where that is the pattern. People would be very hard pressed to think of fights where the fighter who won the second fight did not win the third.
The surprising thing is, this even applies to fights where it seems like the fighter who was beaten in the second fight should CLEARLY dominate the third. Examples: Arlovski-Sylvia, Roy Jones-Tarver, Liddell-Couture. I can think of many other trilogies where this pattern occurred, but the only examples I can think of that did not follow this pattern are: Evander Holyfield/Riddick Bowe, and Barrera/Morales.
With this interesting phenomenon, I’m definitely going with GSP to win the fight.
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
I don’t think it will bother GSP if Hughes doesn’t want it to stand. The takedown defense he showed against Koschek was incredible. I think this one will probably go to decision, and I think GSP will take it two rounds to one. I can see Hughes getting him down and taking a round, but the rest will be all GSP.[/quote]
I believe it’s 5 rounds.
Time to bring da riddum!
[quote]Jason32 wrote:
Donut62 wrote:
I don’t think it will bother GSP if Hughes doesn’t want it to stand. The takedown defense he showed against Koschek was incredible. I think this one will probably go to decision, and I think GSP will take it two rounds to one. I can see Hughes getting him down and taking a round, but the rest will be all GSP.
I believe it’s 5 rounds.[/quote]
Ah, that thought never occurred to me. Still think GSP has this, though.
Hughes does have a slight advantage going into the fight, in that he’s already been working out hard in preparation of fighting on Dec. 29. GSP just agreed to the fight 2 days ago, so he has roughly a month to get ready. Granted, I’m sure GSP keeps himself in good shape when he’s not fighting, but still, a short training camp might make this fight a lot closer than their fight last year.
I still see GSP winning, but I think Hughes will take a round or two.
If GSP wins, you’d have to wonder if we’ll ever get to see the payoff from TUF 6 as Serra would fight GSP next. That would leave Serra-Hughes for late late next year at the earliest.
i don’t really like this at all. they had serra and hughes the coaches of TUF to hype up the season and to hype up their fight. they both talked a lot of shit about each other, especially Serra, and became a fight that i wanted to watch, specifically for the bad blood and the intrigue factor surrounding it. now gsp is going to beat hughes and we have to watch another serra gsp fight that gsp will almost certainly dominate. who knows if we will even get to see serra hughes now. i don’t like it.
I don’t get it, did Serra get hurt or something, why isn’t the normally scheduled fight taking place?
[quote]bigblue244 wrote:
i don’t really like this at all. they had serra and hughes the coaches of TUF to hype up the season and to hype up their fight. they both talked a lot of shit about each other, especially Serra, and became a fight that i wanted to watch, specifically for the bad blood and the intrigue factor surrounding it. now gsp is going to beat hughes and we have to watch another serra gsp fight that gsp will almost certainly dominate. who knows if we will even get to see serra hughes now. i don’t like it.[/quote]
Dude, Serra has a herniated disc in his back. He could barely get up off the MRI table, what do you want him to do? We all wanted to see that fight, but because of unfortunate circumstances it’s going to be delayed for a while.
-dizzle
Hughes took GSP way too lightly the second fight. He won't make that mistake again and he's been training his ass off. Look for Hughes to surprise GSP this time, as it will be GSP who takes the opponent lightly in a reversal of fortune. Hughes by submission.
He's been talking about retirement etc on the show, and he wants his kids to remember their dad pummeling the shit out of opponents christian style..lol.
Seriously though, I'm going against the grain on this one guys. Call me crazy but we'll see.
ToneBone
[quote]A-Dizz wrote:
bigblue244 wrote:
i don’t really like this at all. they had serra and hughes the coaches of TUF to hype up the season and to hype up their fight. they both talked a lot of shit about each other, especially Serra, and became a fight that i wanted to watch, specifically for the bad blood and the intrigue factor surrounding it. now gsp is going to beat hughes and we have to watch another serra gsp fight that gsp will almost certainly dominate. who knows if we will even get to see serra hughes now. i don’t like it.
Dude, Serra has a herniated disc in his back. He could barely get up off the MRI table, what do you want him to do? We all wanted to see that fight, but because of unfortunate circumstances it’s going to be delayed for a while.
-dizzle [/quote]
bro,
i’m not saying that Serra should be fighting him now. that is the last thing i am saying. what i meant was they should have had Hughes fight someone besides GSP like jon fitch, or thiago alves, or simply pull the fight. they should wait til Serra gets better and then have this fight. GSP could fight either fitch or alves as well until Hughes and Serra fight.
This way, we can still see the Serra Hughes fight in the near future and the Hughes GSP fight will be for the actual belt instead of an interim belt.
Also, from Serra’s standpoint, you got to be a little suspicious. the man got hurt, that is undeniable. why are they having an interim belt match so soon? when sherk was hurt they waited for so long until he got better. with serra, i can see him getting the shaft. i have already read somewhere that if serra doesn’t get healthy in time, the winner of the interim match will be declared the actual champion. that’s a little f’d up if you ask me, for serra at least.
I for one, quite frankly, do not give a shit if Serra-Hughes ever fight. I am glad that the UFC is being proactive and have put together a match that at the very least gives us a clear title contendor in that weight class.
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
I for one, quite frankly, do not give a shit if Serra-Hughes ever fight. I am glad that the UFC is being proactive and have put together a match that at the very least gives us a clear title contendor in that weight class.[/quote]
But Serra called him a dick!
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
I for one, quite frankly, do not give a shit if Serra-Hughes ever fight. I am glad that the UFC is being proactive and have put together a match that at the very least gives us a clear title contendor in that weight class.[/quote]
Second that.
I really want Chuck to bring it against Wande too.
I’d hate to see him fade out right now, which is most likely what will happen if he loses again. Something about his style needs to change in my opinion. Guys are just too aware of his tactics it seems now. I wish he’d use his kicks more, seems like he really left them on the back burner a long time ago now. Then he would have a better chance of catching these guys off guard with his counters.
Just my thoughts,
ToneBone
About Chuck, I really hate to level this accusation against someone who we really don’t see training and what he’s doing in the gym for every fight. But from what we see in the media and what we have seen in the ring lately, I think Chuck has quite simply fallen in love with the fighter lifestyle more than the art of fighting itself.
It really started downhill with his strung out (cold medicine my ass) appearance on that talk show. To me, he just doesn’t seem into it like he used to. Maybe he can turn that around, I don’t know.
Wanderlei on the other hand got straight up out gamed and out classed in his two losses. I still think he has that same anger that has always driven him, and he has wanted Chuck for so long that I think he will turn it on, despite what I perceive as a style mismatch that puts him at a disadvantage against a counter striker like Chuck.
Having two violent, VIOLENT wins over the reiging 205 pound champion has to really put some wind in his sails as well. What does Chuck have left in this fight? He’s pretty much locked out of the title as long as Rampage holds it.
[quote]bigblue244 wrote:
bro,
i’m not saying that Serra should be fighting him now. that is the last thing i am saying. what i meant was they should have had Hughes fight someone besides GSP like jon fitch, or thiago alves, or simply pull the fight. they should wait til Serra gets better and then have this fight. GSP could fight either fitch or alves as well until Hughes and Serra fight.
This way, we can still see the Serra Hughes fight in the near future and the Hughes GSP fight will be for the actual belt instead of an interim belt.
Also, from Serra’s standpoint, you got to be a little suspicious. the man got hurt, that is undeniable. why are they having an interim belt match so soon? when sherk was hurt they waited for so long until he got better. with serra, i can see him getting the shaft. i have already read somewhere that if serra doesn’t get healthy in time, the winner of the interim match will be declared the actual champion. that’s a little f’d up if you ask me, for serra at least.
[/quote]
I’d have to agree with bigblue, though I am still looking forward to GSP vs. Hughes 111. Too bad that Karo fought in that last card as he should have fought Hughes a while back for the title and I would’ve really enjoyed seeing them fight.
Honestly I wish they’d just postponed the match and instead had a couple of potential contenders fight for the #1 contender position (for instance Fitch vs. Alves). Then if it became apparent that Serra wasn’t going to make a come back, or was going to take years to do so, then they could have Hughes and GSP fight for the actual title.
I think this is a better fight than Serra/Hughes. I thought that GSP should have gotten an automatic rematch against Serra if he wanted it. Instead they make Hughes/Serra.
Also interim titles are stupid. We do get 5 rounds though so that is good.
Liddel/Silva should be good. I think Liddell can still punch, and his counter striking is very good. He isn’t a southpaw like Mirko so he doesn’t have the advantage of Silva running straight into his power.