Thursday Edition
Womens MMA
Other MMA
Showing posts with label nick diaz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nick diaz. Show all posts
2013/04/17
2012/11/15
GSP – ACL’s and Ring Rust
GSP – ACL’s and Ring Rust
(an article by the Coffee Boy)
After
being out of action for about a year and a half, UFC Welterweight kingpin
Georges St. Pierre will be facing UFC Interim Welterweight Champion Carlos
Condit. Questions about his knee, ring rust, and his mindset come into question
and GSP is out to prove that he is back better than ever.
After
facing Jake Shields last year and successfully defending his title against him,
he was set to face the Stockton native Nick Diaz. After sustaining an ACL
injury to his right knee, he was sidelined and was replaced by Carlos Condit.
The two men would fight for the interim title and Condit came out on top.
After
finally getting the green light from his medical team, GSP has been preparing
himself for what many consider one of his toughest fights to date in Condit.
Couple that with the fact that he has been out of action for so long and has
just gone through extensive rehab for his knee, it looks like it could be an
uphill battle for the champion.
GSP
is known for being a very intelligent fighter, studying his opponents very well
and always executing near-perfect game-plans. Despite many MMA fans criticizing
him for his “safe” approach, often resulting in decision-wins, it has worked to
his advantage and has secured him as one of the elite in MMA today.
While
many have shown concern for the champions injury and how he will bounce back,
the fact of the matter is that he surrounds himself with some of the best in
the industry and I believe there should be little doubt about how he will come
back. According to GSP, he is back better than ever and often when he says
something like this, he is correct.
After
being submitted by Matt Hughes back in 2004, GSP came back and defeated him in
a rematch in dominating fashion. To settle the score, he faced him in a rubber
match and this time submitted him. A similar story lies with rivalry against
Matt Sera. He has proven that he often comes back much better than he does
previously, and I believe the same applies to his physical well-being.
Another
issue many people bring up is what is known as “ring rust”. This refers to a
fighter coming back in a match after having taken off an extended amount of
time. Several notable fighters who have suffered from ring rust have been
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Tito Ortiz, and Mark Coleman.
While
ring rust is definitely something some fighters suffer from, one wonders how
much it will affect Georges St. Pierre. Keep in mind that a huge part of his
game-planning in all of his fights is the mental aspect. Chances are he has
prepared himself for it, and has made ready the adjustments that need be done.
What
makes GSP stand out is the way he is able to force his opponents into his
world. He is able to take you down and hold you there, he is able to stuff
takedowns, and he can certainly throw a pretty heavy punch.
Am
I saying he will definitely beat Carlos Condit this weekend? No. He What I am
saying is that he certainly stands a good chance – win or lose, expect a fully
recovered, healthy, and ready GSP. Condit has his hands full this weekend – GSP
is back.
2012/10/29
Nate Diaz’s Chance to Shine
Nate Diaz’s Chance to Shine
Come December 8, Nate Diaz will have his chance
to shine bright, after spending years under the shadow of his brother.
While the TUF 5 winner has been on a tear
lately, it seems that his older brother Nick Diaz has managed to steal the
limelight, despite being on a year-long suspension after testing positive for
marijuana metabolites after his controversial fight against Carlos Condit.
Nate is only 27, and surely has a long career
ahead of him. But after years of hard work with Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu and the
Skrap Pack, he gets his chance to prove that he is one of the best lightweights
in the world.
After a rough stretch as a welterweight, losing
to Kim Dong-Hyun and Rory MacDonald, he dropped back to the 155 lb division and
won 3 fights in a row, and three bonus awards in a row (submission of the night
twice, and one fight of the night). He displayed markedly improved boxing
against Takanori Gomi before submitting him with a beautiful armbar, had a
tough back and forth fight against Donald Cerrone where he drew his opponent
into a strike-fest, and put on a true MMA-clinic against Jim Miller, finally
submitting him in the 2nd round with a guillotine choke.
While he isn’t as brash as his older brother, he
is also known for his antics both inside and out of the Octagon. On TUF 5, he
was seen getting into an argument with Rob Emerson, taking off his shirt and
wanting to throw down. And against Cerrone, he had no qualms about flipping the
finger (well two fingers) in between rounds.
Benson Henderson will have the size advantage
and almost certainly the wrestling advantage, but will Diaz be able to draw
Henderson into the kind of fight he is best at?
He managed to pull Cerrone into a boxing match
in the 1st and 3rd rounds, ultimately getting into his
head and put on a slugfest. Against Miller, his trash talking and “gestures”
got to him, and Diaz was able to pull off what Rogan called a “power
guillotine”.
Henderson, however, probably won’t be so easy to
get to. His ideal game plan would be to either throw combinations and move out
of harms way, or to take a slight risk by taking Diaz down and out-wrestling
him.
Diaz will have to either work hard to land his
shots clean on Henderson, or work very well off his back (which he is comfortable
off). There is a fair chance Diaz will be able to pull a quick submission off
at one point, and that may be his only chance at beating Henderson to become
the champion.
Either way, this will be Nate Diaz’s chance to
show the world what he can do, and Henderson will definitely push him and bring
the best out of the Stockton fighter. One hopes that Diaz takes this
opportunity to make the most of it – chances like this don’t come around too
often.
(Article by The Coffee Boy)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)