Tag: Georges St. Pierre (Page 7 of 11)

      UFC 129 Picks & Predictions

      April 30, 2011 /

      nullUFC 129 takes place tonight from the Rogers Centre in Toronto featuring a very exciting card with two title fights.

      Here are my picks for each of the five main-card bouts. The PPV begins at 9PM ET.

      UFC Welterweight Championship – Georges St. Pierre (21-2) vs. Jake Shields (26-4-1) – Shields may be the toughest opponent St. Pierre has faced in a while, but I still see the champion running through him. Shields’ striking is miles behind GSP and Shields’ takedown ability is nothing St. Pierre hasn’t seen before. I see St. Pierre keeping the fight standing and picking Shields apart before finishing him in the fourth round by TKO.

      UFC Featherweight Champion – Jose Aldo (18-1) vs. Mark Hominick (20-8) – Aldo is an absolute beast and seems unstoppable. Hominick has very quick and powerful hands, but he has not had to deal with someone that has the leg kicks of Aldo. I see Aldo landing a few leg kicks in the first and throwing Hominick off his strategy. From there, look for the champion to pounce and eventually knock the challenger out in the second round.

      Light Heavyweight Bout – Randy Couture (19-10) vs. Lyoto Machida (16-2) – My heart says Couture, but my head says Machida. I think Couture will have a good strategy and look to leave it all in the cage, but Machida has some solid grappling ability and will be too elusive in the striking to allow Couture to really implement his game plan. Give me Machida by decision in Couture’s retirement fight.

      Lightweight Bout – Mark Bocek (9-3) vs. Ben Henderson (12-2) – Henderson is making his UFC debut and looking to make a statement against Bocek. I see Henderson controlling the fight on his feet and on the ground as he will be too strong for Bocek in both areas. Henderson is smart enough to stay out of submission attempts by Bocek, and that is all the Canadian really has to offer. Give me Benson by decision.

      Light Heavyweight Bout – Vladimir Matyushenko (25-5) vs. Jason Brilz (18-3-1) – This fight should be competitive, but I like Brilz to win by decision. He has a good chin and he is relentless with his pursuit to grapple. I suspect once Brilz gets a hold of Matyushenko, he will be able to consistently get him to the ground and get the win in the judges’ eyes.

      Events, Fighters, UFC

      UFC 129 Weigh-In Results: All but one make weight

      April 29, 2011 /

      nullThe weigh-ins for UFC 129 took place on Friday and all 24 fighters made weight, with the exception of lightweight Ben Henderson.

      Henderson weighed in at 156.5 pounds, which is ½ a pound over the limit the athletic commission allows a fighter for a non-title lightweight bout. Henderson will be taking on Mark Bocek on the PPV card Saturday night. If Henderson is unable to make weight after two hours from when he originally weighed in, he must surrender a percentage of his purse to the athletic commission and Bocek. Henderson, a former WEC champion, is making his UFC debut against Bocek.

      In the main event, both Georges St. Pierre (169.5) and Jake Shields (169) came in under the 170-pound limit for their welterweight championship bout. GSP received a big ovation from the Toronto crowd while Shields tried to milk up the bad guy role.

      Same can be said for the co-main event as Jose Aldo (145) was the villain to local Mark Hominick (145) as both hit their weigh-in marks for their featherweight championship contest.

      For complete weigh-in results for UFC 129, check out the jump.

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      Events, Fighters, News, UFC

      Updated UFC 129 Odds: Shields closing the gap on GSP

      April 29, 2011 /

      nullUFC 129 takes place from the Rogers Centre in Toronto and all 12 bouts now have betting odds.

      I gave the early money lines last week, and now Sportsbook.com has posted the latest odds for all the fights for tomorrow night.

      In the main event, Georges St. Pierre opened as the clear favorite against Jake Shields with a money line of -500, but now that line has fallen back all the way to -350. Shields opened with a line of +300 and that is now down to +275. Perhaps betters are starting the believe the hype that this fight is the toughest of GSP’s career.

      In the co-main event, UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo opened with odds of -500 but that money line keeps climbing, and is now up to -575. The challenger, Mark Hominick has a money line of +375 after opening at +300. Aldo appears to be unbeatable in the division, which is why his money line just keeps growing.

      In one of the other featured bouts, Hall of Famer Randy Couture (+240) is an underdog against former champion, Lyoto Machida (-300).  “The Natural” opened with odds of +250 and is now starting to close the gap on Machida, who opened with odds of -325. Knowing this may be his last fighter, betters are expecting Couture to put on one of his best performances to date.

      Click on the jump to find all the odds for UFC 129.

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      Events, Fighters, News, UFC

      Top 10 Welterweight Rankings

      April 27, 2011 /

      nullThis week I turn my rankings to the welterweight division.

      Like my middleweight rankings, the No. 1 spot is quite obvious and everyone else isn’t really all that close.

      Still, here is my take. If you need to go back and find my pound-for-pound, heavyweight, or light heavyweight rankings, click on the links.

      1. Georges St. Pierre (21-2) – GSP is the clear leader of this group and close to being the best fighter in any weight class. I would argue that St. Pierre is the most complete fighter in all of MMA as he exhibits diverse striking, superior wrestling, and solid submission skills. The beauty of GSP is, he is always looking for ways to evolve and stay ahead of the game and I am curious to see how he attacks his UFC 129 fight with Jake Shields this Saturday.

      2. Jon Fitch (23-3-1) – Fitch is the fighter that can do no right. All he does is win, for the most part, but he isn’t able to do it in a flashy fashion, so he is often overlooked. He dominated B.J. Penn in the third round of their fight in February, but a slow start forced a draw and unfinished business. If St. Pierre is to beat Shields and move up to middleweight, I would suspect that Fitch is the favorite to become the new 170-pound champion in the UFC.

      3. Jake Shields (26-4-1) – I am still a little unsure of what to think about Shields. He has some impressive wins, but I think he is kidding himself if he thinks getting St. Pierre to the ground is going to be a walk in the park. He is a world-class grappler, but I would dare say he is one of the worst strikers in the division. You would think a guy of his talents would really work at striking to become a complete fighter, but he still clerly lacks in that department. A win over St. Pierre on Saturday would be an upset, but it would surely catapult him to the top of my rankings.

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      Fighters, Strikeforce, UFC

      A look back: GSP’s first MMA bout

      April 27, 2011 /

      As Georges St. Pierre preps for what could be his final bout at welterweight this Saturday at UFC 129 against Jake Shields, I found the current UFC champion’s first MMA contest.

      GSP stepped onto the scene on Jan. 25, 2002 when he took on Ivan Menjivar at UCC 7.

      While St. Pierre wasn’t crisp in all areas, he still showed the promise to become the great champion he is today.

      Even for a first-time fighter he showed a rare combination of diverse strikes and solid takedown defense. Typically a debut fighter is strong in one area and lacking in the other.

      Unfortunately, the fight ended with a bit of controversy, but GSP was still clearly winning the fight and it was the beginning of a historic career.

      Events, Fighters, UFC, Videos

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