GSP - Legacy? or Hype?
by theworldsoldestsport on Jul 7, 2009 11:16 PM EDT
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GSP - A Closer Look
like many of you, i excitedly tuned into the UFC 100 preview/hype show, whatever you call it. something hit my hear, GSP "is coming off of his 2nd title defense"....something immediately came to mind about how in MMA we truly overuse the P4P title....how can you be the pound for pound, whatever in your weight class if you've defended your strap 2x.....
The breakdown -
Beat BJ Penn 2x - the fights minus the 1st round of the first fight are nearly identical - BJ gasses and gets manhandled.
Matt Hughes 3x - oh wait, Hughes beat him one of the 3.
he out-wrestled Koscheck (decision)
he out-wrestled Karo Parisiyan (decision)
he beat Sean Sherk (truly should be a 155'er as should BJ)/
3 of his wins are against guys that are nat'l 155'ers.
and before that it's a laundry list of semi-legit, some pretty legit (Hieron) guys he got through...I'm not saying GSP's not great, I just don't think he's as dominating as everyone seems to think. Minus the submission loss, Alves has been devastating in all of his fights. Period.
Flame away......
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some validity there
I think most of it hinges on the way he beat Hughes the last two times…I mean he absolutely destroyed him….which essentially put an end to one of the best runs any fighter has had as champion in the UFC
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Thats 3 wins against natural 155’ers and one more against Serra who is very small for WW…..not to mention his loss to Serra.
I think GSP is a great fighter but I agree that the whole pound ofr pound thing is being blown wayy out of proportion.
Fedor hasn’t really lost a fight in his entire career. Anderson Silva hasn’t lost for a long long time now. Besides they have fought and beaten the whos who while GSP’s list looks pale in comparison.
I do think GSP could be top 5 or 10 pound for pound if he defends his belt couple of more times. At this point though, theres wayy too much hype.
by cauliflower_ears on Jul 8, 2009 11:43 PM EDT reply actions
i think with his wrestling, it is GSP’s fight to lose, and the fact that alves cuts so much weight has me concerned about his durability in a 5 round fight where the weight cutting really becomes a factor down the stretch…..i just think GSP is not the legend he’s made out to be – serra – 1 of 2, hughes – 2 of 3, bj penn – 2 for 2…….hardly a record like that of fedor or someone like Randy Couture etc. title defenses (consecutive) are what has historically made champions: GSP has beaten BJ Penn to defend his belt last…..spare me.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
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by theworldsoldestsport on Jul 9, 2009 2:13 AM EDT reply actions
i agree with the post
i think the concept of p4p is stupid and impossible to actually calulate. GSP is the best WW, but lets look at his record in comparison to other belt holders in all the weight classes. he is lacking to say the least. GSP is an amazing fighter and athlete, but greatest in comparison to every other fighter in the world? no way.
good luck in life!
What might be good is to do a “strength of schedule” type analysis with some of the best pound for pound guys in the sport and see who has faced the tougher overall competition in their weight class, while also taking into account which weight classes have the deeper overall talent pool. That would be interesting.
good point slickrick. GSP’s hardly had a strong schedule, it’s been a near revolving door of the same guys. i truly hope alves gets the upset.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Jul 10, 2009 12:18 AM EDT reply actions
forreal
he’s had a hellacious schedule. hughes, fitch, bj and now alves have all been ranked in the top 10 p4p by alot of sites(not to mention, sans bj, they have all been the #1 ranked contender in the ww division). it’s not that long ago that the ufc’s ww division was by far the deepest and most talented weight class in all of mma. take gsp out of the ww division and it’s LOADED. he’s just made those guys look like paper mache. the fedorians hate the p4p concept b/c it could have people some people thinking their precious fedor isn’t the best mma fighter in the world. “hardly a hard schedule”? that’s just a redonk statement.
Fedor is a monster, no doubt. GSP being great doesn’t take away from that. Personally, I’d put St. Pierre’s resume up against anybody’s.
Thing is
He beat the then #2 WW in the world(Fitch…who’s beaten the current #2 Alves) into a pulp…
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this was mentioned in the post...
but i’m going to put it in a better perspective.1 can’t discount the guys he beat to get a title shot. fighters like karo, mayhem miller, jay heiron, frank trigg, bj (who beat hughes for the ww title when it still meant something to beat hughes) and kos (for the 2nd chance). it’s not like those fights don’t count. he’s lost twice. so what? he’s avenged both of those losses with ease.
Yea
I think the angle you guys were trying to use about GSP fighting smaller guys is no more…lol.
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