UFC 79: Nemesis has come and gone, and overall I’d say it was a pretty good event. If it hadn’t been for the lackluster Eddie Sanchez and Sao Palelei fight, the event would’ve been an entire success. The event drew the largest gate for any North American MMA show at $4.9 million, and I’m sure it was also a huge pay-per-view success. After the event was over, I had a chance to reflect on 5 things I learned from the event.
GSP is the best welterweight in the world.
And, he may be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He absolutely demolished Matt Hughes, and is on entirely different level than any fighter at 170lbs. He has proved that he is the total package, and I really feel sorry for Matt Serra. St. Pierre was able to outwrestle the wrestler. We saw it before in his fight with Koscheck, but I figured Hughes would give him a little bit more credit. He didn’t. St. Pierre was obviously the stronger of the two, and he was able to utilize his entire skill set to beat Hughes. He used his striking to setup his takedowns, and then he used his ground-and-pound to set up the submission victory.
St. Pierre can and will be a superstar in this sport. He has an amazing set of skills, and he is working harder than ever to improve. His wrestling has come a long way, and as long as he keeps improving his stand-up, he will be a force to reckon with for many years to come.
However, he can be beat. As dynamic as a fighter as he is; there are some holes in his game. First, his stand-up needs some work. He tends to throw very straight one-two combinations down the middle. He doesn’t use many hooks or uppercuts, but his kicks are good when he uses them. Sometimes he gets lazy with his jab, and he’s open for a counter left hook. Also, his jiu-jitsu isn’t what it could be. He almost submitted Koscheck with a kimura, which seems to be a go to move for him, and he choked out Frank Trigg with a rear naked choke (who hasn’t?).
The type of fighter that can beat St. Pierre is a fighter with a good wrestling base, or great takedown defense, a good submission game, and good striking. As of right now, I think there are only two welterweight fighters in the UFC that present this problem: Jon Fitch and B.J. Penn. Fitch is a former Division I wrestler with decent striking and a good ground game. It would be a great fight, but I think GSP would still take it. Although B.J. Penn’s next fight is at lightweight, he has made it very clear that he wants to step up to welterweight and hold both belts at the same time. B.J. Penn and GSP have already battled once at UFC 59: USA vs. Canada. Many people (including myself) feel that B.J. won this fight, but St. Pierre was awarded a narrow split-decision victory. B.J. has the style to present problems to almost anyone. He has unbelievable dexterity, and can avoid takedowns because of it. We all know about his slick jiu-jitsu, but he also has good striking and heavy hands. He also has the ability to take a shot. I’m hoping that we get to see this rematch in the very near future.
Matt Hughes should hang them up after one more fight.
Matt Hughes is the greatest welterweight champion there has ever been in the UFC. He has accomplished so much in the sport, but he’s stuck in a similar situation as Rich Franklin. He is without a doubt the number two welterweight in the world but he can’t beat the champion. What is there left for him to prove? To me, there isn’t anything left. I would like to see him fight one more time and I would like that fight to be against Matt Serra. The storyline is already there; they have built it up with an entire season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and both guys want the fight.
If Hughes sticks around, it not only destroys his legacy, but he can never be champion again, unless lightning strikes twice and Serra defeats GSP. I would love to see Hughes win his last fight with Serra and walk away from the sport on top. Although he still has a few fights left in him, he should walk away for a while and see what happens in the division. If a year or two passes and GSP is still the champ, then he’ll know he made the right decision. If not, maybe he comes out of retirement and makes a comeback. B.J. Penn versus Matt Hughes III, anyone?
Lyoto Machida is for real.
For anyone who doubted Lyoto Machida’s skills; those doubts should be erased after Saturday night. Machida used his elusive counter-striking style to avoid the heavy-handed Sokoudjou. He took him to the ground and was able to secure an arm-triangle choke for the submission victory in the second round. Sokoudjou really had no answer for Machida’s style, and once the fight hit the mat, Sokoudjou was outclassed. Machida should be moving closer to a title shot, and he presents a ton of problems for anyone.
I think the UFC will be very careful with who they align Machida up with next. He doesn’t always have the most exciting fights, but he has shown that he can be more aggressive in his last few fights. I don’t think there is anyone in the UFC that he wouldn’t give problems too, including champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Could there be a fight with Jardine on the horizon?
Wanderlei Silva has the heart of a champion.
Wanderlei Silva proved to me that he will not quit unless you make him quit. He took some absolute bombs from Liddell and not only kept standing, but also fired back with some wild shots of his own. Silva is an animal, and I admire the effort he put forth in the Octagon.
He does need to work on his game a little more. He still has absolutely no takedown defense, and his wild striking style needs to be a bit more refined. Liddell had an obvious reach advantage on Silva, and used it to throw straight shots down the middle. Silva’s best opportunities in the fight came when he was hurt and Liddell closed the gap to try to finish. It was admirable to see Silva backed up against the fence, barely standing, and throwing looping hooks at Liddell, daring him to try and knock Silva out. Regardless of what is next for Silva; I can tell you this…I’ll be watching.
Chuck Liddell proved a lot of people wrong.
Many MMA insiders, including myself, thought that Wanderlei was going to win this fight, and that he would finish it by knockout. I am not ashamed to admit I was wrong. Liddell used his long reach and his patience to work Silva from the outside. Although he took a few too many shots, he still held on to secure the victory.
One thing that Liddell did, that surprised nearly everyone, was shoot for a takedown. I think Liddell had it in his head that he would’ve won the Jardine fight if he would’ve tried to utilize his wrestling skill more. Liddell has a decent ground game, but has only used it to get up after being taken down. You could tell that he was only doing it to score points, because he really didn’t do anything once he got Silva down. Basically, he took him down, and stood back up.
Chuck also showed that he has that strong chin back. After being dropped in consecutive fights, one where he was knocked out cold, Liddell managed to take some of Silva’s hardest shots to the chin. He did get knocked down once, but it was more of an off balance shot. I also liked how Liddell moved his feet and utilized more feints than normal. The shot on Silva also helped his game plan. Not only did Silva have to worry about Liddell’s striking, he also had to worry about being taken down. It was a perfect game plan put together by Liddell’s team.
Chuck is going to need one more fight before they put him into contention, and I just don’t know who it could be. Machida is definitely deserving of a shot, but I don’t think the UFC would put that fight together. There is the possibility of Chuck taking on Thiago Silva, or possibly Rashad Evans. Remember this though, Liddell likes to avenge his losses, and there are only 2 people left: Jardine and Rampage. A rematch with Jardine to settle the score could very well happen, especially considering that fight was ruled a split-decision.
Closing Comments
Overall, I felt UFC 79: Nemesis was a great card. Wanderlei and Chuck stole the show, and GSP proved why he’s arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Machida is making it hard to ignore him, and a title shot could be in line for him after Forrest and Rampage get finished with “The Ultimate Fighter.” What were your impressions of UFC 79? How do you think the match making was? Who would you give to Machida next? What about Liddell?