UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit

[Guest John Hancock]

Where you at Georges, where you at motherf*cker?

 

This main event has potential to be amazing. This is just going to be two guys punching each other square in the face for 25 minutes. I'm seeing, and hoping for, a Diaz win here, not just because GSP vs. Diaz is such a hotter fight than GSP vs. Condit, but also because I think I might be in love with Nick Diaz. In pro-wrestling terms, GSP vs. Diaz is straight up one of the greatest feuds possible. You've got two guys, both from shitty backgrounds in shitty towns. One pulled himself up and became a clean-cut guy who wears suits and speaks well and does adverts and shakes people's hands and upwardly mobile-ed himself out of the ghetto. Then you've got another guy who's a millionaire, yet has made absolutely no attempt to take himself out of the ghetto and still behaves like a thug maniac, talking shit in the cage, mid-fight, flipping people off, starting post match brawls, asking homies if they're scared... It's the perfect "We're both from the gutter, but only one of us is still there" feud.

 

On the other hand you have GSP vs. Condit... pff... and what? That'll be another 25 minutes of St. Pierre putting some tender loving on another man for a million dollars.

 

So, yeah; If Condit wins, we riot, and so will Diaz probably.

 

Rest of the card, eh, there's a few interesting things. Werdum back in the UFC is nice, but I can't see what he's going to do against Nelson. He's going to have a real hard time putting any BBJ on a guy that much bigger and that much heavier and that much stronger than he is. I can see Nelson by unanimous decision in a relatively boring fight here, and the death of Werdum's relevance in the heavyweight division with it.

 

It's great to see Koscheck back. After the damage to his eye, I really thought we might have seen the last of him. Pierce should be a relatively easy welcome back for him, but he's been off a LONG time, and we just don't know how healed that eye really is. If Koscheck has real trouble here, it might be time for him to think about finishing up. I hope that's not the case though, Koscheck's a lot of fun. That said, he was a lot more fun before GSP punched him so hard he made him break kayfabe and apologise to Montreal like a bitch.

 

Pay-Per-View Card

 

Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit - Interim Welterweight Title

Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum

Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce

Renan Barão vs. Scott Jorgensen

Ed Herman vs. Clifford Starks

 

FX Card

 

Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway

Matthew Riddle vs. Jorge Lopez

Alex Caceres vs. Edwin Figueroa

Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope

Rafael Natal vs. Michael Kuiper

[Chris2K 176]

I know it's wrong for me to want Condit to destroy Diaz, but I really do dislike him that much. It'll destroy the Diaz/GSP title fight I know, but I'd give anything for Diaz to be knocked out very quickly. Then hopefully his brother will come in and Condit can knock him out too.

 

I'm also predicting Nelson vs. Werdum will be the most boring fight in the history of a UFC main card.

[BRM 220]

ESPN in the UK are having a free weekend this weekend for all Sky, BT Vision and Freeview customers.

 

Of course this includes this weekend UFC show.

 

http://www.talkwrestlingonline.com/forum/showthread.php?56453-ESPN-free-weekend&p=1159406#post1159406

Edited February 1, 2012 by BRM

[Guest Frank Botch]

One of the GOAT hype/whatever videos

 

[video=youtube;I8RjeykTmzE]

 

Diaz=greatness

[Guest John Hancock]

Has anyone seen the Primetimes leading up to this? The last ten minutes of the first one were absolutely amazing, it reminded me of that series of interviews between Mankind and Jim Ross or something, except WAY more beautifully, tragically subtle. Interviewing his teacher, masterpiece.

 

Skip to 1:09, f*cking brilliant. That very last shot, that's how you make a superstar.

 

[video=youtube;ihxcdvF7F8U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihxcdvF7F8U

 

Giants for the SuperBowl, Diaz for the title. It's going to be a good weekend.

 

Stockton m*ther****er.

Edited February 1, 2012 by John Hancock

[dsrchris 190]

I've watched these vids and they're fantastic. I can't believe how hyped I got for this fight just through watching Primetime. Wrestling needs to take note of how this is done.

 

I feel kinda bad for wanting to see Condit get messed up because he seems like a decent enough family orientated guy. He's just not Nick Diaz.

[Chris2K 176]

Primetime always makes me feel slightly weird as the music sounds INDENTICAL to Chris Benoit's.

 

And sorry, I still hate Nick Diaz. I'd hate him if he was an architect, a doctor, a chicken farmer, Lord Mayor of London, whatever. He's just the sort of person that makes me angry.

 

Please knock him out Carlos.

[Guest John Hancock]

Nick Diaz is probably my favourite MMA fighter in the world right now. I want to be his friend.

 

I've just been watching episode two, I know it's a little bit late, but, if anyone else missed them too;

 

[video=youtube;KoRxqZpb890]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoRxqZpb890

 

[video=youtube;rHrzL0a0ilI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHrzL0a0ilI

[dsrchris 190]

I HATE YOU GSP!!

 

Seriously, f*ck this guy. I just can't stand his face. I hope Diaz beats Condit, then wrecks George.

 

And I'd also like to be Nick Diaz's friend. It looks like it'd be fun hanging out with him and Nate.

[Guest John Hancock]

I love the Diaz Brothers more than my parents, but Nate Diaz talks and looks like he's proper brain damaged.

[Chris2K 176]

http://mmaweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/UFC120_ConditHardy_176.jpeg

 

I hope Condit delivers one of these to Nick, then waits for Nate to come in and whacks him as well. Hell, he can do the same to Cesar Gracie for all I care.

 

Also, during the Primetime show they said that "Nick's a fighter because that's the only thing he can do". Yes, because if anyone behaved as unprofessionally as he does in any job they would be fired immediately.

[Guest Jack]

That Primetime episode was pretty good. I liked the part with GSP and it's excellent build for a future fight with Diaz. It's funny though. Even though we're talking about world class fighters, the technique showed by Diaz at the end was horrible. I don't care whether it's boxing or MMA, you can't swing like that and leave yourself so wide open without consequences. What is his trainer telling him? It's ridiculous that I can see basic and obvious flaws in such an elite fighter.

 

But anyway, that was a random tangent. I'll probably check the Diaz/Condit fight out. I'd prefer Condit to win but I want to see GSP be the one to humble Diaz instead.

[Guest John Hancock]

Yeah, Diaz's boxing is really, really weird. His guard is madness, it looks like he's trying to hold something imaginary over his head. Works though, so I don't know.

 

If anywhere here enjoyed the Primetime episodes, Nick Diaz didn't. Nor did he enjoy this interview by the sound of it;

 

http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/2/1/2765231/nick-diaz-not-happy-with-the-way-hes-been-edited-online

 

I enjoyed his little kid's backpack though.

[Guest Dusty Finish]

YAAAAAY to PPV, in that it's not Fox or any of it's 912 crappy subsiduries with their dogshit formats.

 

Tremendous card- a shame Eric Koch pulled out, as Poirier deserves a big fight at 145.

 

Condit will need to mix his strikes up- there's no-one that works in kicks & knees better in the division. That will be his key to victory, as I imagine this will go past the third, and Diaz will be as fresh in the fifth as in the second. That said, I reckon Diaz pushes the pace throughout, takes a whackload of shots in the early rounds, and outworks Condit across the duration, throwing more and landing more as Condit tires, winning possibly a decision.

 

Nelson seems to be the big favourite in a lot of places. That's crazy. Anyway, everyone knows Jorgensen-Barao is the real semi-main. I'll go for Barao, simply because I'm interested in what he could against Cruz or Faber, whereas with "Young Guns" there are no secrets.

 

A couple of intriguing debutants on the prelims too, in Michael Kuiper & Stephen Thompson.

[Guest The Beltster]

I love the Diaz Brothers more than my parents, but Nate Diaz talks and looks like he's proper brain damaged.

First time I heard Nate talk was after a fight and I thought he had a mouth piece still in, second time he talked I thought he was chewing tobacco, third time I realized he just sounds like a spaz.

[Guest John Hancock]

My predictions;

 

Diaz

Nelson

Koscheck

Barao

Sparks

[Guest Frank Botch]

I got

 

Diaz

Werdum

Kos

Barao

Starks

 

This is a cool site that lets you make predictions for every MMA event and keeps track of your accuracy: http://www.tapology.com/

 

It's got pictures and everything. And also an absurd amount of lists to make. I'm on 40%... after one event. Flawless. I'm down one already tonight though. Why did I go against a man nicknamed Wonderboy? Pretty neat KO.

[Guest Magic]

2 hours to go and I can feel the tiredness creeping in. Can't decide whether to have a quick sleep or not. Thanks for posting those videos Hancock, they really helped me get up to speed with what's been going on.

 

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Chris, I like Condit, but GSP/Diaz needs to happen.

[Guest Frank Botch]

Wow that was a sick KO on Cope. So that's why only 19% of people, I'm one of those, picked him to win. I picked a dude later that only 4% have winning, there's a SHOCK coming.

 

I'm 0-4 so far, but these fights have been pretty good. And that's all that matters. I suppose.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Frank Botch

[Chris2K 176]

May as well do my live thoughts like I did last time even though I'm sure none of you care :P

 

First of all I have to say the new opening for the UFC shows is BEYOND AWESOME. If you didn't see it, the Gladiator crap and music has gone and is now a constant stream of highlights from UFC history, starting with Gracie choking out Shamrock and going all the way through to Cain finishing Brock, all of it super-imposed on top of an Octagon rising up through the ground and an arena being developed. Although for some reason I think it's Matt Serra who the last fighter shown is.

 

Apparently Nick Diaz "forgot to go to two press conferences" which is strange because I'm fairly sure he was fully aware he had to be there and was refusing to do it, including running away and hiding from Cesar Gracie. What a tool.

 

------------------------

 

That's strange, they seem to be putting a prelim fight on the PPV show at the start. Oh wait, Herman vs. Starks is an actual main card fight. TOO MANY SHOWS.

 

OK, so it was actually a pretty good fight and Herman looked good, although he seems to start bleeding in every fight after about a minute. He can take a punch though, and that was a great leg sweep.

 

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Apparently next week at 3am, LIVE on ESPN it will be UFC on FOX: Evans vs. Davis and Bisping vs. Maia. I'm sure looking forward to that.

 

Oh good, Kim Winslow is refereeing this fight. I wonder what wrong decision she'll make this time? She does always add a lottery element to every fight she's involved with.

 

Rogan and Goldberg have said the name "Jose Aldo" more times than anything that actually refers to this fight. Did you know that Aldo has good takedown defence? He also likes to strike and has a very good trainer.

 

Now they're talking about how great Barao is all the god damn time. I do hate these fights where one guy gets shoved down our throats and the other one is just ignored. Although I may as well get used to it for when Rogan's buddy Diaz fights later.

 

Hooray for Magic who's hopefully reading this! I've just checked and ESPN has at least the next four shows, so hopefully those shows that were on Premier Sports were an anomaly and they're now out of the picture. Still not sure where the new Ultimate Fighter is though. These guys aren't exactly rocking my world, neither one seems to be landing anything that significant and Barao seems to be trying to just land wacky kicks.

 

I have it 30-27 Barao but a couple of rounds could go either way, so this may end up being a surprise decision. Either way, Barao proved he's no Jose Aldo no matter how much Rogan tried to tell us. I'm not sure if Jorgensen is bleeding or his hair dye is running.

 

Hey look, Barao gets a 30-27 unanimous decision. More importantly, Kim Winslow didn't get anyone severely injured, which is nice. Time for a Portuguese interview. This translation is all wrong, he actually said "I study to be like Jose Aldo, Jose Aldo is a good fighter with strong takedown defence and he likes to strike with a very good trainer." GSP~! IS HERE. I'm so hoping for a GSP run-in to cost Diaz the fight.

 

------------------------

 

The Mandalay Bay Center is SOLD OUT. That's right, all 1,000 seats are GONE.

 

My thoughts are now being stopped due to someone else needing my laptop. Sorry Magic.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Chris2K