George Sotiropoulos Drops Knowledge On All The Ultimate Kickboxing Fans

He blogs about fans booing fights on the ground and fighters complaining about being taken down and only wanting to stand up and bang.  Must read stuff:

It is a mixed sport and there is more than just one way to win a fight. After all, isn't that why everybody loves the sport? It's unpredictable, unique and offers its competitors various different ways to fight and gain success. Despite all this, some top fighters have recently come under criticism for the manner in which they have utilised one set skill to dominate an overmatched opponent.

Last week at UFC 113 Josh Koscheck made a good point in saying it wasn't his problem that Paul Daley couldn't get up off his back in their UFC 113 match. Koscheck relied on his far superior wrestling and ground game to win a lopsided unanimous decision. Daley's inability to get up off of his back was his problem and issue, not Koscheck's.

If Daley was more knowledgeable on the ground or had something to offer off of his back, maybe he could have submitted Koscheck or at least swept him into a different position. Koscheck then would have been forced to be more wary of what was coming back at him and might not have been able to control Daley with the ease at which he did. Daley could have kept Koscheck guessing and then maybe returned the fight to its feet. It was Daley's job to get the fight to where he wanted it – nobody else's.

....

I actually work a lot on preventing my fights stalling and becoming dull. I train hard to work my way out of stalling positions and practice against guys who are there to hold up the action. I then have to keep changing position and make the fight active again. I don't want to get to the night of a fight and then find myself continually being stood up because I can't stop my opponent from laying on me. If I go to the ground in a fight, I'll be working hard to make something happen down there. The less interference there is from the referee, the truer the fight.

I'd like to think that fans would find it hard to criticise me for my activity.

I'm always looking to make things happen, whether on my feet or on the ground. The freedom and purity of the sport are the two things that really attracted me to it in the first place. I like experimenting with styles and being in a position to win a fight in any number of ways. The sport is called mixed martial arts for a reason, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Check out the whole thing at the link below.  Also, be sure to watch George Sotiropoulos at UFC 116 in July as he'll be taking on Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino in what should be a very entertaining fight.

HT: au.sports.yahoo.com