UFC 79: Georges St-Pierre Vs. Matt Hughes III & Chuck Liddell Vs. Wanderlei Silva

mookie blaylock 10

ReleasH wrote:

+1 mooks!!

by the way, I laughed so hard I started crying at your GS MF'n P in the other thread and got a good giggle now.

i was pumped up, releash!

again, i hope you all don't mind the new thread...just wanted to change it to GSP since the change in main event.

also, i hope you've had some relaxation time on your time off!

mookie blaylock 10

ok, i just read your post in the other thread...so that answers my question about your time off...good for you!

i was kind of thinking you might be away and not get this news, then get back and go..."what the heck?!?!"

mookie blaylock 10

ACCBootlegGoddess wrote:

Aww man! I was soo looking forward to seeing Hughes kicking Serra's ass!!!
Serra's suck a wuss! (I know it realy hurts but I've seen athletes/fighters work with worse)

After Mac wins the Ultimate Fighter finals on the 8th haha.

I REALLY like Hughes and would love to see him win the belt again BUT I like St-Pierre more! I know what its like to lose a parent and I think it was really shitty that he had to fight 2 days after it happen (tho I respect him fighting regardless). I have been waiting a long time to see him show to the world how amazing a fighter he is...even tho this means IF Montreal happens he won't be on the card :(

sorry for all the anti-hughes sentiment, then, accbootleggoddess. i think you may be the only hughes fan that visits the thread, so don't let it keep you from stopping by. i'll try to bite my tongue a little more about him. it won't be an easy task...haha

as far as serra's injury goes, it is actually pretty serious so it's not really a choice for him. he simply can't train or fight.

there's still the possibilty that the montreal show will happen when serra is healthy and if (when ) georges wins on the 29th, they will most likely unify the two belts in montreal. that's what i've been hearing, anyway. ...but we've been teased with the montreal show a few too many times already, eh? :mad: they'll get here eventually. we're one of their best markets and quebec is the hot spot for mma in canada so it's only a matter of the stars aligning at the right time for us to get our show!

are you still going to the finale? i know i posted the rumour about luke cummo fighting at the finale, but it doesn't look to be the case. i've heard his name being thrown around as a possible oppnent for mike swick in january for swick's debut at WW, so i'm hoping that happens so he gets main event status and some long overdue tv time. i think he gone beyond proving himself at this point and continues to improve with each fight.

mookie blaylock 10

he is a man of few words, but here he shares a few thoughts in a short interview. good to get some news about him and i hope he is healthy to fight in january. cro cop!


Dnevnik.hr interview: Cro Cop back in January

Dnevnik.hr: Is CroCop back?

Mirko: CroCop is recovered, it will take a month to begin with sparrings again, although I have a special helmet for protection. The stripes are affecting my visibility so it's not like the real thing, but the regular sparring sessions start in about a month.
I think my next fight is going to happen in January.

You recently had a nose surgery?

Mirko: The nose problems have nothing to do with my defeats. I had trouble breathing, my nose was broken, one side was at 30%, while the other side was blocked completely.
It's important when you face such an intense efforts.

Is this the toughest period in your career after you left K1?

Mirko: Not only that, this is the toughest period of my entire career.

Did you think about ending your career?

Mirko: I did think of it the night after my last defeat, but I'm not going to end my career soon. I will have 5 or 6 fights at least. Maybe even more, who can tell. Every fight could be your last one. You can suffer from a fatal injury, you can break your leg or arm. If I'll be able to fight I'll fight, it's my life and my choice and I enjoy doing it.
I have a very strong motive, especially beacuse of number of "wise" Internet users saying that I'm done. I will prove they were wrong.

Did you ever think about taking a year off to rest and come back stronger?

Mirko: In my case that would be a very long break. Of course, I would train a lot still if it would happen. Sometime you have to end your career, in a year, 3 or 5 years, or even 10 years - look at Randy Couture, he was the champion at 44. I will always train hard, but long breaks like that are not for me.

Are you in touch with Dana White and how does he feel about your defeats?

Mirko: We keep in touch, but you'll have to ask him about that.

So, your nose is recovering well, you are wearing a special helmet. Your return is set for January due to a medical reasons?

Mirko: Yes, because of the surgery I'm not allowed to fight sooner. My nose is not fully recovered and I still have stiches in it.

Are there any rumors about your next opponent?

Mirko: None that I'm aware of.

Who you would like to fight next? Someone with a big reputation or?

Mirko: It's up to the UFC's management. I will fight anyone who they put me against. I have never turned down any opponent.

Anything left to say?

Mirko: I'll be back (smiling).

http://www.mirko-crocop.com/?id=4&solo=80

RolandTD20Kdrummer

GSP interview on the hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQLTd6hDOkI

mookie blaylock 10

i guess it's no wonder you don't want to visit a place that you've insulted many times. hughes admits on his blog that he doesn't want to face georges in montreal. could it be because he called us cowards and weak? maybe, eh?

Report: Georges St. Pierre Asked for Fight with Matt Hughes (Updated)
November 25, 2007

A UFC 79 fight between Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre — a fight booked late last week because Matt Serra was injured and unable to fight Hughes — came about for a simple reason: St. Pierre asked for it.

In a story posted today on MMAjunkie.com’s content-partner site, Yahoo! Sports, Dave Meltzer reports that St. Pierre asked for the fight as soon as he heard of Serra’s herniated disc and subsequent withdrawal from the UFC 79 main event.

Serra’s injury put the UFC in a peculiar spot: Hughes was without an opponent, and UFC 79 was without a main event. A currently scheduled Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva bout will be a major draw for the Dec. 29 event, but with both fighters coming off back-to-back losses, it probably wouldn’t enough to carry the event and register a significant number of pay-per-view buys.

According to Meltzer, UFC executives were first interested in Jon Fitch as a replacement for Serra, but the rising welterweight — who’s 7-0 in the UFC — said he had put on too much weight and was concerned he couldn’t make the cut in a healthy way.

Other fighters were considered, as well.

From Yahoo! Sports:

St. Pierre and his management team called UFC after getting news of Serra’s injury, and asked for the match. At that point, UFC officials were looking at presenting either Josh Koscheck or Thiago Alves, with the latter having the better shot since he was coming off four straight wins. Jon Fitch, who may have been the first offered the fight, turned it down, because he had gained significant weight and felt he couldn’t make weight in a healthy fashion on short notice. His camp, San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy, suggested Koscheck, who is closer to the 170-pound weight limit, would have made an interesting opponent for Hughes. The only negative was Koscheck was coming off a loss to St. Pierre on Aug. 26.

The UFC added some “oomph” to the fight by making it a five-rounder for the title of interim welterweight champion. Doctors still haven’t given Serra a timetable for his return, so the interim title will assure the division won’t be on hold any longer. It’s already sat dormant for eight months so Serra and Hughes could appear as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter.“

The fact that St. Pierre asked for the title is telling. The popular French-Canadian fighter and former champ was already guaranteed a title shot (by defeating Koscheck at UFC 74). With all due respect to Serra, history tells us that Hughes would pose St. Pierre a greater challenge. So, he could have sat back, hoping that Serra would upset Hughes — and, in turn, give him an easier opponent when his title shot came in.

Instead, he asked for the fight — on just four weeks’ notice.

UPDATE: According to a new blog post on matt-hughes.com, Hughes states that he, in fact, requested the fight with St. Pierre — largely because he wanted to avoid their inevitable showdown from happening in St. Pierre’s native Canada.

http://mmajunkie.com/2007/11/25/report-georges-st-pierre-asked-for-fight-with-matt-hughes-updated/

mookie blaylock 10

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

GSP interview on the hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQLTd6hDOkI

georges is all class. i especially like the part where he is talking about his dad working too many hours for so many years and that he sees that as being just as crazy as what he does..."we're all crazy"

mookie blaylock 10

here is the entire, more detailed, article from yahoo sports...

"UFC calls on St. Pierre"

By Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports
November 25, 2007

Just a few days ago, if you were to pick one word to describe the Ultimate Fighting Championships in 2007, it would be "cursed."

Welterweight champion Matt Serra suffered a herniated disc in his lower back this past week, and on Thanksgiving he told UFC officials he couldn't defend his title in what would have been the biggest match of his career. The loss of the Serra-Matt Hughes Dec. 29 title bout appeared to cripple UFC 79, an event that president Dana White had predicted would break company pay-per-view records.

But on Saturday night, former champion Georges St. Pierre, Hughes and UFC officials agreed to an interesting replacement fight: a five-round match for the newly created interim welterweight championship that will be in play until Serra returns and meets whoever holds the title.

"I'm so excited to get this fight," St. Pierre told UFC.com. "I'm fighting Matt Hughes for the interim title right now, and then after that, I'm going to go after Serra. I've wanted that rematch against Serra, and this is the best scenario that can happen."

St. Pierre generally is considered the most talented fighter in the welterweight division. He's ranked No. 4 in the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings, ahead of Hughes (No. 9) and Serra, the division's champion, who is not in the top 10. Hughes, the dominant force in the division from 2001-2006, generally is considered its all-time greatest champion.

But St. Pierre took Hughes apart on Nov. 18, 2006, in Sacramento, Calif., in winning the welterweight championship. Hughes, a two-time All-American collegiate wrestler, submitted St. Pierre with an armbar two years earlier. In the 2006 bout, he couldn't take St. Pierre down. Standing, St. Pierre was quicker, and knocked him out with a high kick.

On April 7, Serra stopped St. Pierre after landing a hard punch to the temple in the opening seconds, and St. Pierre never recovered, being pounded out quickly on the ground. Most considered Serra's win the MMA equivalent of a hole-in-one. Hughes had publicly stated that he didn't think Serra was in the top 10 in the weight class.

St. Pierre and his management team called UFC after getting news of Serra's injury, and asked for the match. At that point, UFC officials were looking at presenting either Josh Koscheck or Thiago Alves, with the latter having the better shot since he was coming off four straight wins. Jon Fitch, who may have been the first offered the fight, turned it down, because he had gained significant weight and felt he couldn't make weight in a healthy fashion on short notice. His camp, San Jose's American Kickboxing Academy, suggested Koscheck, who is closer to the 170-pound weight limit, would have made an interesting opponent for Hughes. The only negative was Koscheck was coming off a loss to St. Pierre on Aug. 26.

St. Pierre was thought off limits. He already had a guaranteed title shot in April, with his home city of Montreal close to locked up as the location. But with seven months between fights, St. Pierre was getting antsy for competition. He had even talked of competing in amateur wrestling at the Canadian national level. St. Pierre, with no competitive wrestling background, outwrestled Koscheck in his win.

While St. Pierre asked for the fight, even though he'd only have four weeks of intensive training, about half of a normal top-level fighters camp, it was still up to Hughes to agree.

"I'm going to fight Georges St. Pierre on Dec. 29," Hughes wrote on matt-hughes.com. "I've got a couple reasons why I've made this decision and I will share those at a later time. I've asked for this to be for an interim title and if Matt Serra can't fight in a year, then this would be just the title fight."

UFC agreed to make it an interim championship match, which means five rounds. Hughes is already in training, and had he beaten Serra, as he was favored to do, he'd have had to face St. Pierre next anyway.

When Serra is healthy, he would face whoever holds the interim title as soon as possible. Serra's doctors have yet to give him a timetable as to when he can fight, another reason UFC agreed to the interim title idea.

Serra, who respects St. Pierre and has publicly shown disdain for Hughes, is in the weird position of hoping for a Hughes win.

"I can't believe the position this puts me in," Serra said on UFC.com. "I'm actually rooting for Matt Hughes so I can beat his ass."



WHY UFC 79 WAS IN PERIL

Serra's injury came on the heels of major upsets, injuries, contract signing issues and disputed drug test results, all of which have hurt big-money fights. The problems have also led to several makeshift main events, and a likely dip in last year's estimated $223 million pay-per-view numbers.

For the final major show of the year, in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva was the headline "dream" match. It pitted UFC's most famous star against Pride's 205-pound weight class legend, who held the company's middleweight title (the 205 class was called middleweight in that company) for six years. White had been trying to make the match for five years.

Even though Silva was coming off two straight knockout losses – to Mirko Cro Cop (a heavyweight in an open-weight tournament) and Dan Henderson (on Feb. 14 in Las Vegas in a title loss) – only a small percentage of UFC fans were aware of those matches.

Liddell lost to Jackson twice but still was the country's most famous MMA fighter. It was almost a perfect scenario. Whoever won would move into a title match with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Had Liddell won, he'd have beaten a legitimate future Hall of Fame fighter, and a Liddell-Jackson rematch had a chance to threaten the UFC pay-per-view record of more than one million buys.

But Liddell's stock took a tremendous hit on Sept. 22 when he lost to Keith Jardine. Even with an impressive win over Silva, another title shot is at least another win or two away. It's still a big match, and on paper, looks to be an exciting match. But it's not the bout it was hyped up to be.

As for the Hughes-Serra fight, filming was already completed for The Ultimate Fighter season, which would air for three months before the championship fight. Serra and Hughes didn't like each other to begin with. The TV show captured that dynamic weekly.

Based on styles, there was no guarantee this would be a great fight, but it had every element that makes people pay to see a fight.

Serra's injury, at least temporarily, ruined the payoff of a season of television.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=Al4I95fu4e2Ind2o.OImklQ9Eo14?slug=dm-stpierre112507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

mookie blaylock 10

sorry about all the articles everyone...just a lot of news to share with the new developments...plus i wanted to boost my post count.

the yahoo article was actually pretty well done. it's good to see the coverage of MMA getting a little more widespread and professional.

mookie blaylock 10

ACCBootlegGoddess wrote:

Aww man! I was soo looking forward to seeing Hughes kicking Serra's ass!!!
Serra's suck a wuss! (I know it realy hurts but I've seen athletes/fighters work with worse)

After Mac wins the Ultimate Fighter finals on the 8th haha.

I REALLY like Hughes and would love to see him win the belt again BUT I like St-Pierre more! I know what its like to lose a parent and I think it was really shitty that he had to fight 2 days after it happen (tho I respect him fighting regardless). I have been waiting a long time to see him show to the world how amazing a fighter he is...even tho this means IF Montreal happens he won't be on the card :(

i just saw your thread about going to vegas, so i guess that answers my question about you going to the finale. again, have a blast and enjoy huerta vs. guida...still jealous in any thread...:D

civ_eng_girl

hahahha... omg... i just found this video of Hughes' reaction to Serra's win over GSP.... :mad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SN82Dh_ts

mookie blaylock 10

civ_eng_girl wrote:

hahahha... omg... i just found this video of Hughes' reaction to Serra's win over GSP.... :mad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06SN82Dh_ts

nice work by whoever did the edit on that one. "i am being a dick"...in hughes' own words...i love it!

he says he was just happy to see serra win so that he could fight him, but sean sherk was there with his little giggles too...looked quite different from when georges was breaking his nose with elbows.

thanks, ceg. that was good for a laugh.

i remember georges being questioned about what he thought about hughes and sherk's reaction to his loss and he would only say that he would "keep it in his mind" the next time they faced each other. fuel to the fire, as they say....

georges won't need to do any trash talking going into this one...not that he usually does, but he'll do his talking in the octagon. one of the funnier comments from randy couture came during georges' entrance for the fight with matt serra...they were talking about how georges didn't put hughes down prior to their fight, and randy says "well, he may not have put him down with his words, but he certainly put him down with his left shin!"

mookie blaylock 10

just a bit ago i said in a post that luke cummo's name had been mentioned as a possible opponent for mike swick...just found out that is wrong. looks like he'll be facing josh burkman at UFC fight night 12. sounds like an outstanding card so far.

UFC Fight Night 12, January 23, 2008 - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida - Spike TV

Main Card:

Mike Swick Vs. Josh Burkman
Patrick Côté Vs. Drew McFedries
Nate Diaz Vs. Alvin Robinson
Thiago Tavares Vs. Michihiro Omigawa

Pre-lims:

Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Alberto Crane
Cole Miller Vs. Jeremy Stephens
Matt Wiman Vs. Justin Buccholz
Corey Hill Vs. TBA

december and january are both looking like good times for mma fans!

mookie blaylock 10

any thoughts on this week's match between ben and tommy? i'm thinking ben has the advantage in most areas, and i'm not sure that tommy will be able to hold him down like he did with war machine. tommy's game plan is obvious, but ben has a style that could give him problems in terms of submissions and his striking abilities on the feet. his reach will be tough for tommy to deal with too. tommy will probabaly be able to get a couple of takedowns, but i don't see ben staying down for long.

i'm thinking ben by tko early in the second, maybe?

as far as the "match" in the house goes, i guess war machine and jared will settle that one at the finale.

mookie blaylock 10

ReleasH wrote:

It hardly needs to be said but ........ VAS-Y GSP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish we could all watch together too!And I just realized that I may not be watching this event at all! :eek: I'll be taking a red eye flight back to Nashvegas that night.

how did i miss this post, releash?!!? i think my computer is acting up...it's starting to make a weird sound right now...

i hope you get to see the show! it will be a shame to miss this one. replay when you get home, i guess? stay away from the thread as there's sure to be some screaming one way or the other from most of us with the spoilers!

mookie blaylock 10

yep, weird sounds and now my fan on the hard drive is pretty much toast. going to have to go "away" for a couple of days, but i think i posted enough yesterday to fill a quota for a few days.

i'm going to be jonesin' for mma news, and i'll owe you a reply when i get it back from the shop, ceg.

why did i buy this thing an hour bus ride away!?!?!

civ_eng_girl

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

yep, weird sounds and now my fan on the hard drive is pretty much toast. going to have to go "away" for a couple of days, but i think i posted enough yesterday to fill a quota for a few days.

i'm going to be jonesin' for mma news, and i'll owe you a reply when i get it back from the shop, ceg.

why did i buy this thing an hour bus ride away!?!?!

ack!! good luck getting it fixed!! :(

i'll call you if anything exciting happens...

mookie blaylock 10

civ_eng_girl wrote:

ack!! good luck getting it fixed!! :(

i'll call you if anything exciting happens...

merci, mon amie!

yeah, i'm just waiting to shut it off for a few until the bus comes. i know it only takes a few minutes to replace, but they always claim they have stuff to do. you'd think they were running a business or something!

mookie blaylock 10

turns out i wasn't exactly feeling up to spending two hours on the bus today, so i'll try tomorrow. just turned on the "chainsaw" for a second to check back in. could me be a pit junkie? perhaps...:D mma junkie...definitely.

this can't be good for my computer...but it is funny to listen to...

p.s. GSP!

ReleasH

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

how did i miss this post, releash?!!? i think my computer is acting up...it's starting to make a weird sound right now...

i hope you get to see the show! it will be a shame to miss this one. replay when you get home, i guess? stay away from the thread as there's sure to be some screaming one way or the other from most of us with the spoilers!

I'm sorry your computer is on the fritz. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to get fixed. We'll miss you around here in the meantime.

I'm a little bummed that I'll have to miss this one, at least live. I can buy it and tivo it so I can watch the next day. But I'll have to stay away from the thread like you said :( and talking with you all is half the fun of watching. grrr!