UFC 129 Headlining Bouts

UFC 129 will be taking place at the Rogers Centre at Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 11, 2011.  As of today, the only official fights are the headliners, Canada's own George St. Pierre against his challenger, Cesar Gracie product Jake Shields.  The other headlining fight will put two former light heavyweight champions against each other.  Randy Couture will be facing Lyoto Machida.

The welterweight champion George St. Pierre will finally facing Jake Shields.  Shields has been fighting in many other places besides the UFC, now he will be pitted against his toughest test to date.  Jake Shield's base has been in his ground game and will probably try to get the champion to his greatest strength.  The concern I have with Jake Shields, is if he'll pull off the same stupid stunt he did against Martin Kampman.  Shields had trouble making weight and it showed during the fight because his cardio looked really bad, gassing out.

George St. Pierre, coming off a dominating performance against his nemesis Josh Koscheck.  GSP used his stand up to neutralize Koscheck, by jabbing his eye shut.  Thus, making Koscheck basically fighting with one eye for 3-4 rounds.  As in his last fight, it took place in his home country of Canada.  It was sold out very fast.  So, I'm expecting that this will sell out quick too. 

Randy Couture finally got what he asked for, he'll finally be facing Lyoto Machida.  The 47 year old Couture will take a shot at the karate master. 

Also, if featherweight Mark Hominick gets past George Roop at UFC Fight for the Troops, he will be getting a title shot against Brazilian striker Jose Aldo.  There has been speculations that if that fight were to take place, it would happen at UFC 129.

George St. Pierre vs Jake Shields= Not exciting?

GSP just got off his one sided jabfest of Koscheck's right eye. He shut him down so easily, that Koscheck couldn't even see or even react to GSP's jab. That one sided domination, brings an argument for St. Pierre for cleaning out everyone in that division. The only relevant person for him to fight is Jake Shields. After that, its a clean sweep. Personally, that fight could potentially be the most boring fight in MMA history. It would be a takedown marathon I would think for Jake Shields, maybe that might be St. Pierre's weakness, fighting someone who can bore him to death more than he bores other people to death.

I'm not trying to diss them, they are amazing fighters but they give very lackluster performances. GSP doesn't take any risk and makes sure he gets the win and doesn't take the risk to go all in and finish the fight. He used to finish fights when he was younger, but he'd rather take the safe approach and win. Which doesn't always translate into an exciting fight for the fans.

Jake Shields, don't get me wrong hes a good fighter but, I never seen him in an exciting fight. He comes to wrestle and grapple. He puts the fight into his greatest strength which is a smart game plan. But he also does the lay and pray technique at times. Which many people labeled him to a boring fighter. The most exciting moment I've ever seen him in a fight is when Hendo almost knocked him out. That was the best.

Do you guys think this will be an exciting fight?

UFC 124 Main Card

It was a good night for the UFC with its much anticipated event in Montreal, Canada. The poster boy of the welterweight division, champion, George St. Pierre's defended his title against the American Kickboxing Academy product Josh Koscheck. The event drew many fans of the champion and many Koscheck haters.

The first fight of the main card was a stand up battle between Muay Thai strikers John Howard and Thiago Alves. This match up was a stand up battle. Alves looked very good in this bout and made weight unlike prior events. He had been working with Mike Dolche on his diet. The battle was the classic battle of power vs technique. Alves technical approach, kept Howard guessing with the occasional leg kick to his lead leg. Howard could not land the 1 shot knock out on Alves, due to Alves's high guard with his hands and in and out approach. Alves battered Howards lead leg and at the end of it , Alves won the decision.

The next fight was a lightweight affair between Ultimate Fighter Winners Joe Stevenson and Mac Danzig. The fight was only seen standing and did not hit the floor until Joe Stevenson fell face first. They were exchanging punches and kicks until Joe Stevenson mounted an attack. While backing up, Danzig throws a perfect left hook and floors Stevenson immediately. The hammerfists at the end were just an added bonus to keep him down. Danzig pockete the $100k knockout of the night bonus.

The next fight was a lightweight battle between underrated Jim Miller and up and coming Charles Olivera. As soon as the fight hit the ground the prospect Olivera was already working his active guard to catch Miller in a submissions. Miller avoided all the submission attempts by the young Olivera. Miller tried his own submission of his own, he attempted attack his opponents leg with a what it seemed to be a straight ankle lock and quickly changed it to a kneebar. Olivera tried to fight through it with punches to Miller's body but gave up. Miller pocketed the $100k Submission of the Night Bonus.

The co-main event tilt between heavyweight prospects Stefan Struve and Sean McCorkle. There was a lot of animosity between the 2 fighters due to McCorkle's rants about Struve. It ended very quick. Struve worked a kimura sweep from guard and ended up pounding out McCorkle till it was stopped.

The main event was very anticipate by the hometown fans. The roar of the crowd when the champion George St. Pierre came out, must have gave GSP some advantage. But, on to the fight. Basically to save you from watching 25mins of your time, I can summarize it pretty easily. St. Pierre basically jabs Koscheck to death. And every now and then he would throw a superman punch/leg kick combo in succession. Koscheck ate many, many jabs. Due to that, Koscheck's eye swelled up closed and he was very tentative about letting his hands go. It let GSP dominate him easily with his precision striking. GSP retains the title with a 25min decision.

Fights I Hope to See

GSP vs Jake Shields

Only because Shields should be the contender but this should be an easy picking for the champ, because honestly i think GSP would pick Shields part on the feet, just like against Koscheck.

Stefan Struve vs Jon Madsen

This would be a test for Struve due to Madsen's wrestling pedigree.

Jim Miller vs any top 10 ranked lighweight

He needs to prove hes able to compete against the upper tier fighters.

Thiago Alves vs Another Striker (Anthony Rumble Johnson or Dan Hardy)

I think this fight would make fireworks