UFC 111 St Pierre's return

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Saw the fights on PPV. Just wanted to comment on three of the fights.

Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders

Fitch looked very good last night. His take downs were good, his striking was on and he dominated the taller fighter, Saunders.

Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin

Very surprised Mir was taken out as quick as he was. Carwin got Mir up against the cage and after his first punch landed, he pummeled Mir relentlessly. None of Carwin's fights have gone past the second round and Brock Lesnar has good reason to be concerned. Carwin is a wrecking machine with his fists.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy

St Pierre looked totally prepared for the fight and he took down Hardy at will. The Brit had no defence for St Pierre's take downs. Once on the ground St Pierre maneuvered out of Hardy's full and/or half-guards easily. He seemed to be in side-control for just about the entire fight.

However, he couldn't finish Hardy despite an early kimura and a full-extension arm bar. I actually thought he was going to rip Hardy's arm off, it looked that brutal, but the Brit refused to throw in the towel.

Still, it seemed Hardy didn't have anything left after those submission tries.

If I could change two things about the fight. Hardy was more about himself and his image than he was about the fight. He was tough, very tough, yes ... but I think he understood after the fight that he might want to be more focused on the mission at hand and not so focused on the British Punk Rock music he used on his entrance, the multi-coloured Mohawk hair and the cameras.

As for St Pierre, I think he pretty much did what he wanted for the whole fight, but he lacked something. I'm not an expert by any means, but if I could change one thing about St Pierre last night it might be to recapture that killer instinct he had before his layoff. He should have ripped Hardy's arm right off with that full extension he had and he could have broken Hardy's forearm with that kimura. I really think those would have ended a fight if it were any fighter other than Hardy. But, he just seemed to lack that killer instinct at the end. He certainly had it against BJ Penn and Tiago Alvez. It might take him a few more fights before he gets that back but I'm hoping it's not too long.

Talk was last night that St Pierre might move up to 185 lbs after the Hardy fight. I hope he postpones that at least until he gets back in that groove that made him so successful in the past.

Cheers.

Cheers.

[habernac]

St Pierre put on a clinic. No, he didn't finish him and the fight went the distance, but Hardy was helpless to do anything. Georges manhandled him and had nary a mark on him at the end of the bout. Hardy's takedown defense worked something like 70% before this fight. It was 0% this time. I don't know who else they can throw at St Pierre in his current weight class.

Mir is finished. Carwin had no problems dismantling him.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Give St. Pierre Laraques old jersey and move this thread to HabsRus discussion.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Mar 29, 2010 12:01:18 GMT -5 habernac said:

St Pierre put on a clinic. No, he didn't finish him and the fight went the distance, but Hardy was helpless to do anything. Georges manhandled him and had nary a mark on him at the end of the bout. Hardy's takedown defense worked something like 70% before this fight. It was 0% this time. I don't know who else they can throw at St Pierre in his current weight class.

Mir is finished. Carwin had no problems dismantling him.

I could not believe how quickly Mir went down, Habernac. I honestly believe Brock Lesnar has good reason to be concerned. Absolutely devastating performance by Carwin on Mir. I think Lesnar's strength is in his grappling. He'll have to bring Carwin down in order to have a chance. I believe he simply can't compete with Carwin in a punch-out.

As for Georges, I would have liked to see him do some more damage, but like we've been talking about he took down Hardy at will. I read online that the fight went, "Hardy with a right hook, GSP with the take-down." I don't know how Hardy didn't tap on that first arm bar. His arm was fully extended, just about twisted right off and actually white in colour.

However, did you notice how Hardy looked after the fight? He was humbled, which I'm hoping might make him a better fighter. He's far too much into the act he brings into the ring as far as I'm concerned. Maybe that was his ploy to distract GSP, I really don't know, but I think he learned a lot from that fight.

There's talk GSP might move up into the Middleweight category. Well, he's put on the pounds for it and if he does move up he'll probably add on a few more as well. Middleweight is a whole new ball game.

UFC 112 is in early April. It looks like an excellent card.

Cheers.

[habernac]

Not a big Lesnar fan, but the guy is an absolute beast. He's the the best striker, but if he gets you in a vulnerable position, it's like getting hit with sledgehammers. His hands are the size of baseball mitts.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Mar 30, 2010 8:57:05 GMT -5 habernac said:

Not a big Lesnar fan, but the guy is an absolute beast. He's the the best striker, but if he gets you in a vulnerable position, it's like getting hit with sledgehammers. His hands are the size of baseball mitts.

UFC 119, Brock Lesnar vs Steven Hawking. My kid can beat up your honor student!

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Just saw a BJ Penn interview on the UFC website. He's actually quite a changed man; more humble in a whay. He's not into the trash talk these days, or so I've seen anyway, and he's actually showing some kind of respect for his opponents. I can't say for sure, but I'm almost willing to bet his last defeat at the hands of GSP had something to do with that change.

Cheers.