Silva Still Wants to Compete/Possible Super Fight with Georges

According to Anderson Silva's manager, Ed Soares, Anderson Silva is doing better than expected in his recovery.  At UFC 168, Silva was competing to get his UFC Middleweight title back from Chris Weidman, the man who took it back at UFC 162.  In the second round of their fight, Silva threw a leg kick at Weidman, who checked the kick, which caused it to break.  Silva went into surgery that same night to repair the broken leg and the surgery was a success.  Soares has stated that Silva is able to walk with crutches and able to move the toes of his broken leg.

Soares stated that Silva is still in fighting spirits and could possibly be back training as early as six to nine months.  Silva's camp already has an opponent in mind for his return and that man would be former UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre.  GSP announced a leave of absence from the sport not long after his title defense at UFC 167 in November against Johny Hendricks.

This wouldn't be the first time that a fight between the two of former champions has been spoken of.  For years the two dominant champions had been mentioned in the same sentence as the words 'super fight.'  Both men had practically cleared out their entire weight classes before GSP's leave of absence and Silva's injury.  It is very likely that GSP will return and Silva has already shown his interest in still competing, so this match is completely doable especially considering that at one time Anderson Silva fought as small at 168 lbs and 174 lbs.  Silva and GSP could meet at one of their respectful weights or in a catchweight bout somewhere in between.  I think that it would be an amazing crowd-pleaser and put the two most dominant champs in the cage with each other.   It is very unlikely that Silva will be fighting for the UFC Middleweight Championship and GSP will probably have to win a few fights before he gets another crack at his title that he vacated, so why not have them return against each other as long as GSP and the UFC complies.  When asked about a fight with Silva not long before announcing his temporary leave from the sport, GSP stated that he would prefer to continue his legacy in the welterweight division  and defending his belt.

It is a fight that I wouldn't mind seeing and I think that it would be a big money fight for the UFC and a bigger super fight than some that have come before it.  It would be a good fight at 180 lb catchweight.

Would you like to see a fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre upon their returns?

Yes

No

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GSP's Announcement and it's Effects

Today GSP held a press conference today to announce his future place in the UFC.  Georges "Rush" St-Pierre announced today that he will be stepping down as the UFC's Welterweight Champion and taking some much needed time off from the sport.  He is not retiring and does plan on coming back to the UFC.  With the title being vacated, the UFC has decided to let Johny Hendricks square off with Robbie Lawler to decide the next champion at UFC 171.  The UFC has moved the 205 lb title fight between Jones and Teixeira to UFC 172.  What are your thoughts on the announcements?

The Future of GSP to Be Announced this Friday

Georges "Rush" St-Pierre also known as GSP has announced that he will be holding a press conference in Montreal this Friday to fill in everyone on his plans in the UFC.

GSP has been a force to be reckoned since he began his MMA career.  His very first pro fight was against tough MMA veteran Ivan Menjivar back in 2002.  Two years later he made his UFC debut against Judo expert Karo Parysian at UFC 46 in 2004.  He won that fight and then followed up with a TKO victory over Jay Hieron at UFC 48.

After successfully rolling past his first two opponents in the UFC, GSP was granted a title fight at UFC 50 with the reigning bad man at 170 lbs at the time, Matt Hughes.  When we watched that fight we learned that the young man that was challenging for the title was going to be the future of the UFC's welterweight division, but it was not to happen on that night.  St-Pierre was submitted at the 4:59 mark of the first round with an armbar that he tapped to immediately.

After losing to Hughes at UFC 50 he made his return at UFC 52 against Jason "Mayhem" Miller and won a pretty clear cut decision over Miller.  That fight was followed by another challenge that GSP concurred, a match with Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg who was at that time the most recent opponent that Hughes had defended his title against. GSP was able to submit Trigg with the same choke that Hughes had finished him with.  With another successful victory in the books, Sean Sherk was the next man that the UFC put in front of the red-hot rising star from Canada.  GSP was able to finish Sherk in the second round via TKO due to strikes.  Next up for St-Pierre was a hungry Penn who was looking to make a successful return to the UFC since he won the UFC Welterweight title two years earlier.  St-Pierre went on to win a successful split decision victory over Penn.

With a win over BJ Penn GSP was able to gain a second title shot against Matt Hughes in November 2006 at UFC 65.  St-Pierre would go on to take the title from Matt Hughes on that very night as he stunned Hughes in the second round to gain a TKO victory over the the UFC's most dominant Welterweight Champion.

This fight would begin GSP's first UFC title reign.  For St-Pierre the title reign would be he short-lived as he has a hungry challenger waiting to snatch the title up from underneath him.  His first title defense would be against the TUF 4 winner Matt Serra.  Serra caught "Rush" in the first round and went on to earn a TKO victory in the first round.

After that defeat, St-Pierre would have to fight his way back to a title shot with Serra.  He then met TUF 1 alumni, Josh Koscheck. He defeated Koscheck via unanimous decision.  His next test would be his third meeting with Former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes.  He defeated Hughes with the same move that Hughes beat him with in their first bout.

After defeating Hughes by submission in the second round, it was time for GSP to face off with Serra again.  In that fight St-Pierre showed up with a a new found fire in his eyes that led him to TKO Serra with a vicious series of knees to the body that caused the referee to end the fight and GSP to gain his title back.  St-Pierre was scheduled to face Jon Fitch as his first challenger since getting the title back.  St. Pierre went on to earn a decision victory over Fitch earning his first successful title defense.  While St-Pierre was making his mark in the UFC's Welterweight division, former UFC Welterweight Champion, BJ had won the UFC Lightweight Championship.  The UFC put on it's first super fight as St-Pierre was placed against Penn in a fight for the UFC Welterweight title.  GSP went on to win a TKO victory when Penn couldn't answer the bell at the beginning of the fifth round at UFC 94.

After his victory over Penn, the challengers continued to pile up and GSP began to knock them down. Thiago Alves at UFC 100, Dan Hardy at UFC 111, Josh Koscheck at UFC 124, Jake Shields at UFC 129, Carlos Condit and UFC 154 and Nate Diaz at UFC 158.  All of those men suffered the same fate at the hands of Georges "Rush" St-Pierre.  It wasn't until UFC 167 that we would see GSP struggle with an opponent in a fight.  To put it as simple as possible, GSP got beat up.  He even admitted it himself.He went on to win a split decision that many experts have disputed and thought belonged to his challenger, Johnny Hendricks.

After the fight, a flustered St-Pierre stated that he needed to take some time off from the sport to deal with some personal issues.  Since then we have had no confirmation of whether or not he was going to retire or give Hendricks a rematch for the title.  This Friday we will find out if we have seen the las of GSP in the Octagon.

Should UFC Champ Georges St-Pierre retire this Friday?--Rough Spar MMA

Yes - He should go out on top

Yes - He has nothing left in him

No - He still owes Hendricks a rematch

No - He still has many years ahead of him

Other

Please Specify:

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Ben Askren Meeting with Lorenzo Fertitta

On Monday, Bellator Welterweight Champion,  Ben Askren,  will be meeting with the UFC's CEO and Chairman, Lorenzo Fertitta to discuss a possible future in the UFC's Welterweight Division.  Dana White insists that he is still not interested in signing Ben Askren despite Bellator not fighting for Askren.

Recently Ben Askren has called out UFC Welterweight Champion, GSP and his training partner Rory MacDonald stating that he would fight them and if he lost would not collect pay for losing.  Askren is a confident welterweight that the UFC should at least take a chance on despite his 'boring' style.  He has a smothering wrestling style that seems to overwhelm all of his opponents.  GSP has been criticized many times for laying and praying, while Askren still advances his positions while on the ground.  If Askren were to further develop his striking I think that he would be a dangerous opponent to any welterweight in the UFC, even the current dominant champ St-Pierre.

Should the UFC sign Askren?

Yes

No

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UFC 167 Recap w/ Prediction Results

Last night was  a very entertaining night of fights that ended with a very controversial split decision win for the UFC Welterweight title.

We will begin with the headlining fight of the prelims. Donald Cerrone who was on a two-fight losing streak coming into his fight with Evan Dunham and he desperately needed a win last night and he got it.  He was able to out-strike and out-grapple Dunham and eventually finish him on the ground with a beautiful triangle choke in the second round.  The question now becomes what should Donald Cerrone do now after his win?  Should he continue to fight at 155 or should he make the move to 145 as he had stated he would do win, lose or draw?

The first fight on the main card was a fast-paced fight between Tim Elliot and Ali Bagautinov. It was an interesting fight in which both men participated in excellent striking exchanges which involved Tim Elliot landing more volumes of strikes and Bagautinov landing the more devastating strikes.  It was a match in which I had Bagautinov winning rounds 1 ad 3, but felt the fight could go either way depending on what the judges saw was more important, volume or clean, power strikes. In that fight the judges chose accurate, clean, power strikes.  The question for this match up would be how many wins would Bagautinov be away from a title fight and who will he face next?

The next fight was the first of three fights at 170 lbs on the main card. Tyron Woodley faced Josh Koscheck in a match that ended in the first round by way of TKO.  Koscheck hurt Woodley early in the round with a straight right hand that made Woodley begin to step backwards, but Woodley survived that and some impressive grappling from Koscheck in order to rock Koscheck with a right hand and send him flat on his back.  The question I have is how would Woodley perform is he is given a top ten opponent for his next fight?

After that match was GSP's training partner, Rory MacDonald taking on Robbie Lawler in the second welterweight fight of the main card.  After promising to be more exciting than his last fight, we saw MacDonald do exactly the same thing he did in his last fight, which was boring us to death.  Robbie Lawler won a split decision after he out-struck MacDonald and kept pressure on him the entire fight.  There were moments when MacDonald did get the better of Lawler, but those moments were few and very short.  What will happen to Rory MacDonald after putting out two terrible performances?  Also will this win put Lawler in the top 5 in the UFC's Welterweight Division? Also who will Robbie Lawler face next?

The co-main event of the evening included a bout between friends and coworkers, Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen.  It was a match up in which Rashad quickly put away Chael Sonnen on the ground due to strikes.  Who will the UFC put against Evans who has recovered from his two-fight winning streak?  Does Evans still have the ability to become the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship again?

In the main event we saw a very close match in which we could have seen either man get their hand raised at the end of the fight, but Georges St-Pierre retained his title by split decision.  The fight was too close to call, but (contrary to popular belief) I did score the fight for the champ giving him rounds 1,3 and 5.  There is also controversy as to whether or not Johny Hendricks tapped out to a submission in the first round of the fight.  Video below:

I think that it is obvious to see that Hendricks didn't tap, but many people are entertaining this notion of GSP having a submission ignored.  After the fight St-Pierre hinted at possibly needing some time away to deal with some things in his personal life.  Dana White had a conversation with the champ and says that GSP will overcome his personal issues and will not be retiring.  He also stated that GSP owes Hendricks a rematch they look forward to putting that together.

Below is a prediction on how I felt that the event would play out and the actual results that occured:

Also be sure to vote for who you believed was the true winner of the main event last night at: UFC 167 Main Event Poll

UFC 167 Results

Main Card:

Georges St-Pierre def. Johny Hendricks via split decision
Rashad Evans def. Chael Sonnen via first-round TKO
Robbie Lawler def. Rory MacDonald via split decision
Tyron Woodley def. Josh Koscheck via first-round KO
Ali Bagautinov def. Tim Elliott via unanimous decision

Preliminary Card:

Donald Cerrone def. Evan Dunham via submission (triangle choke)
Thales Leites def. Ed Herman via unanimous decision
Rick Story def. Brian Ebersole via unanimous decision
Erik Perez def. Edwin Figueroa via unanimous decision
Jason High def. Anthony Lapsley via unanimous decision
Sergio Pettis def. Will Campuzano via unanimous decision
Gian Villante def. Cody Donovan via second-round TKO

UFC 167 Weigh in Results

Main Card:

Georges St-Pierre (170) vs. Johny Hendricks (170)
Rashad Evans (205) vs. Chael Sonnen (206)
Robbie Lawler (170) vs. Rory MacDonald (171)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Tyron Woodley (171)
Ali Bagautinov (126) vs. Tim Elliott (125)

Preliminary Card:

Evan Dunham (156) vs. Donald Cerrone (155)
Ed Herman (186) vs. Thales Leites (186)
Brian Ebersole (171) vs. Rick Story (170)
Edwin Figueroa (135) vs. Erik Perez (135)
Jason High (170) vs. Anthony Lapsley (170)
Sergio Pettis (135) vs. Will Campuzano (135)
Cody Donovan (205) vs. Gian Villante (205)

GSP Open to Fight With Askren

Earlier this month Bellator Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren, stated that he believes that he could out wrestle the UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre.  Bellator MMA has stated that they have chosen not to renew Ben Askren's contract with the company and encouraged him to pursuit the UFC.  If Askren was given an automatic title shot against St-Pierre, Bellator would not look to match the UFC's offer to sign Askren.

George's St-Pierre has finally responded to Askren by saying that he is willing to fight anyone and is more than happy to welcome Ben Askren into the UFC if an agreement between the UFC and Askren was reached.

Askren Wants GSP

Current Bellator Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren has went to twitter to state that he is very interested in fighting (and beating) current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.  There had been rumors of Ben Askren possibly retiring in his current free agent status, but Askren has stated that he still wants to face St. Pierre before he retires.  He feels that he could out-wrestle and control the UFC champion.  He feels that years ago St. Pierre would've been able to beat Askren, but St. Pierre is now to cautious and fights too scared.

Askren is an excellent grappler who used his grappling to maintain his Bellator Welterweight belt through four current title defenses and a 12-0 undefeated professional MMA record.  Askren does have the better documented wrestling career, but GSP uses his wrestling to decide where the fight goes.  St. Pierre I feel does have the striking advantage coming into the fight.  It would be an awesome fight to put together if Askren is able to come to a deal with the UFC. I think Askren would present a nice challenge for GSP but would not be successful on the feet with the UFC Champ.