UFC 63: Hughes vs. St. Pierre Part Duex

[Pegasus Kid 0]

In order for Hughes to win, I think he needs to wait until Penn gasses like usual and then proceed to take him down and ground and pound. I can't see Hughes submitting or TKOing Penn, but I can see him winning a desicion.

 

The problem with Penn is his motivation, I doubt he will come into this fight for a win rather then a payday. But even so his style still is a bad matchup for Hughes.

I'd be inclined to agree here. If there's been one thing that Penn has had a problem with, it's truly conditioning his body to go the distance. The majority of his wins have come within the first round and in some cases under 1 minute when he's firing on all cylinders. Now if you look at the GSP fight, it's a completley different story. Dominating in the first round but then slowly but surely gasping for air and holding on as the fight wears on. Hughes on the other hand is a conditioning machine. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to drag the fight out into the 4th, which is unfamiliar territory for Penn. I have no doubt Hughes will be able to dismantle him in the latter 2 rounds of a title fight.

 

Hughes via KO in the 4th

[Mik 0]

I just watched the preview show and this looks like a decent show to make my inaugural UFC purchase. But just in case, do any of the veterans here want to try and talk me out of it? Or is this being regarded as a show that looks pretty good?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

You should buy it, lots of fights on the card have the potential to be great.

 

Espically Loiseau Vs. Swick.

[Mik 0]

JOE LAUZON!

 

That was awesome. So quick and so easy. Jens Pulzer really irritated me for some reason so I was loving that.

 

I'm glad I got this already.

[AmericanDragon 0]

Has Evans ever won by anything but decision?

 

His last 8 fights (including TUF2) have all ended in decisions.

[Guest]

Hughes pulled it out.

[Mik 0]

You could tell right at the beginning of the 3rd round that it was a foregone conclusion. BJ destroyed him the first two but he was cooked after that failed triangle/armbar.

 

Hughes just took a huge shot at Penn. "It's a shame he didn't have the conditioning to go 5 rounds."

 

And then GSP tops it: "Matt, I'm glad you won the fight, but I was not impressed with what you did tonight."

 

Rogan said that after the camera left that Hughes was pissed. Awesome.

[Dogbert 0]

You could tell right at the beginning of the 3rd round that it was a foregone conclusion. BJ destroyed him the first two but he was cooked after that failed triangle/armbar.

 

Hughes just took a huge shot at Penn. "It's a shame he didn't have the conditioning to go 5 rounds."

 

Well, it's true. Penn likely would've won if he had the stamina to go more than two rounds.

[randomguy 0]

Good set of fights. Matt Hughes was a total dick like always. He is the typical crybaby/bully who can dish it but can't take it. He disrespects Penn then gets his panties in a bunch when GSP does the same to him. Weak.

 

Penn really impressed for the first 2 rounds, then just totally gassed. Its a shame because up until then he was dominating Hughes.

 

The other fights were all pretty good. Rashad manhandled that other dude. Same with the fight with Melvin, he was just tossing the other guy around. To that guy's credit though he took a lot of punishment and almost pulled it out.

 

I missed the last UFC so the last one I saw was Ortiz/Shamrock. This show was 10x better.

[Lei Tong 0]

So Hughes is pretty much the best MMA fighter ever, thus far. You can argue Fedor all you want, but in terms of resume, it's nearly a blowout.

 

Other tired notes from convo with MSIA:

 

"Pulver getting smashed was tits."

 

"I hate Evans' goatee. Actually, just the point."

 

"Abaddi went the distance with Gurgel? HAHAHAHA! SPLIT?! HAHAHAHAHAHA"

 

"Why can't Guillard ever land in guard? Double leg on Melvin = sidemount. Also, can a guy have a signature move than does no damage? Guillard's lateral drop."

[Youth N Asia 0]

I really don't care for Matt Hughes personally after season 2 of TUF. He just came off like a dick. But I love watching him beat someone up.

 

I wish I could have seen the show. I expected Hughes to win, and I know Swick is for real, but I didn't think he'd win his fight

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Lei Tong, stop hyping MSIA as some kind of god. If people want to read his comments, they can easily go to Bloodyknux themselves.

 

Anyway, I don't wanna hear no more shit talking about Rashad, give him his due, he dominated a Top 10 LHW fighter in most peoples list. Looks like training with Diego Sanchez and Greg Jackson finally paid off last night. By far his most impressive UFC fight.

[Lei Tong 0]

Lei Tong, stop hyping MSIA as some kind of god. If people want to read his comments, they can easily go to Bloodyknux themselves.

 

Those were my comments to MSIA. Now stop being such a whiny fag before I continue the long tradition of shitty grapplers embarassing shitty boxers.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Lei Tong, stop hyping MSIA as some kind of god. If people want to read his comments, they can easily go to Bloodyknux themselves.

Those were my comments to MSIA. Now stop being such a whiny fag before I continue the long tradition of shitty grapplers embarassing shitty boxers.

 

:D

[Pegasus Kid 0]

Fun show last night.

 

- Punch to the gut = best punch of the night.

 

- So much for the big plans for Pulver

 

- Am I the only one who thought maybe they asked Loiseau and Swick to draw out their match because they were so ahead of schedule? The only round that looked "right" was the 3rd.

 

- I had that main event scouted almost to a tee. It went exactly like I figured except it was a TKO in the 3rd rather than KO in the 4th.

[randomguy 0]

Good for Melvin seeing an opening and hitting it not once but twice. The Crow had a chance to do something similar to Swick when he had him against the wall and was going for elbows to the face but didn't do it. In general UFC guys don't seem very good at mixing up body blows, head shots and uppercuts. A lot of UFC guys block punches by putting their hands near their ears, which protects the head pretty well but leaves the body totally open.

 

Loiseau looked really tentative in the first two rounds, maybe after-effects of his last fight. He looked good in the 3rd but then again he was well-rested and Swick had been more active in the first 2 rounds.

 

I don't buy into any conspiracy theories. Why would a fighter choose to lose the first two rounds to slow the fight down? At least if they were going to slow it down they would split.

 

It was a great show overall. No heavyweights = good night.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Best UFC in a long time. Big props to Hughes and Penn, Hughes for weathering the storm and not embarassing himself again, and Penn for stepping up to the plate on 3 weeks notice and making a fight of it.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Best UFC in a long time. Big props to Hughes and Penn, Hughes for weathering the storm and not embarassing himself again, and Penn for stepping up to the plate on 3 weeks notice and making a fight of it.

 

It was actually 6 weeks.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Thanks, I wasn't for sure if it was three or not.

 

In that case, Penn has no excuse for gassing after two rounds. I'd like to believe he got a sperated rib, but that seems kind of unlikely considering the same thing happened in his fight against GSP.

[I like Forums 0]

I rewatched the fight, I highly doubt BJ seperated his rib. In the third round Hughes hit him with a good body punch and BJ didn't even really wince. Sounds like a made up excuse.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I rewatched the fight, I highly doubt BJ seperated his rib. In the third round Hughes hit him with a good body punch and BJ didn't even really wince. Sounds like a made up excuse.

 

BJ is a grad from the Ken Shamrock School of Excuses for Losing a Fight

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Hungover as a ma'fucka yesterday, didn't feel like posting. THOUGHTS.

 

- Poor Jens. Goddamnit that was heartbreaking to watch. I imagine now we'll be seeing Lauzon vs the winner of Sherk/Florian for the LW Title in December.

 

- Rashad shows that he's actually worth a damn. Fantastic wrestling and positioning and the bar we were at exploded when he got mount and started raining down punches. Rashad vs Forrest in November for the first crack at the winner of Tito/Chuck makes the most sense at this point.

 

- Griffin is a fucking beast. Jesus.

 

- Melvin entertains us by throwing bombs and almost soccer-kicking Gabe in his head but hammers home the message that anybody with good boxing and/or conditioning would murder him. Melvin vs Stout or Hominick would be an awesome throwdown.

 

- Penn/Hughes was a ton of fun to watch at the bar as most of our table was split down the centre on who to cheer for. Rudo was going for Penn, I wanted Hughes to take it. I thought Hughes was done when Penn got the triangle on him. Third round shows why BJ is BJ and Hughes is Hughes. If Penn isn't finishing you in the first round he's not winning the fight, bottom line.

 

Fun as hell show, 64 has a lot to live up to but I think they can do it.

[starvenger 0]

- Penn/Hughes was a ton of fun to watch at the bar as most of our table was split down the centre on who to cheer for. Rudo was going for Penn, I wanted Hughes to take it. I thought Hughes was done when Penn got the triangle on him. Third round shows why BJ is BJ and Hughes is Hughes. If Penn isn't finishing you in the first round he's not winning the fight, bottom line.

Tell Rudo to quit his boycott and get back to TSM so he can comment on The Amazing Race. I KNOW he's got something to say about the blondes...

[randomguy 0]

Rashad still has a way to go. He had the other guy's back a couple of times and couldn't really do anything with it, not even put his hooks in which any wrestler should do on instinct. I understand not going for the choke but do *something.*

 

That said the guy is amazingly athletic. He just tossed his opponent around and his takedowns are fast as fuck. He would destroy Griffin.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I was going to make a comment about Forrest stuffing 90% of Tito's takedowns until I remembered that Tito was injured for that fight.

 

Now that I've said that I'm interested in seeing Tito/Rashad.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I was going to make a comment about Forrest stuffing 90% of Tito's takedowns until I remembered that Tito was injured for that fight.

 

Now that I've said that I'm interested in seeing Tito/Rashad.

 

I know this might come as a shock but Rashad is a better wrestler then Tito, and is much more accomplished as an amatuer wrestler then Tito ever was.

 

Most people don't know that Rashad beat one of the best wrestlers of this decade, in an NCAA tournment.

 

I could see Rashad outwrestle Tito.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Rashad's boxing is also way better then Tito's. Fast hands and good accuracy.

[Lei Tong 0]

I was going to make a comment about Forrest stuffing 90% of Tito's takedowns until I remembered that Tito was injured for that fight.

 

Now that I've said that I'm interested in seeing Tito/Rashad.

 

I know this might come as a shock but Rashad is a better wrestler then Tito, and is much more accomplished as an amatuer wrestler then Tito ever was.

 

Most people don't know that Rashad beat one of the best wrestlers of this decade, in an NCAA tournment.

 

I could see Rashad outwrestle Tito.

 

Much of the same could be said about Matyushenko.

 

Of course, that being said, I'd be hard pressed to pick a winner.

[Guest Dimmona]

I'm sure everybody saw this already, but apparently BJ really did suffer a broken rib and didn't gas like we all assumed he had. Still, a very classy interview (taken from bjpenn.com)

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

 

"When he went for a big elbow, he missed and I capitalized and started going for his back," Penn said in the interview. "At this moment, when I was making the turn towards his back, I felt my ribs seperate on my right side."

 

Despite the apparent injury, Penn nearly finished Hughes via submission late in the second round. "When I got up to walk to my corner," he said, "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to talk about it with my corner. I wanted to be the champ. I wanted to keep fighting." Yet when the five-round championship contest moved into the third, Penn appeared listless. Hughes, who had a difficult time with his challenger in the first 10 minutes, scored with punches and kicks as Penn stood in front of him.

 

"I kept going because I honestly believed it was destiny," Penn said. "When me and Matt were boxing I felt like I couldn't breathe and had no mobility in my core. But I kept thinking something good is going to happen. When Matt started dominating the stand-up I tried for a takedown. I had nothing and pulled to guard. I felt like I couldn't do anything on the ground. But I was still positive. Matt hit me in the ribs from half-guard. The pain was so excruciating I had to use my far hand to block it. I would rather Matt pass my guard and punch my face the hit my ribs."

 

Eventually, Hughes secured side-control and trapped Penn's arms before wailing on his foe's unprotected head. Referee John McCarthy stopped the contest at 3:53 of the third.

 

"'Big' John gave me plenty of time," said Penn, who expects to be out of action for at least two months while his ribs heal. "I practiced defending against that position with flexibility, but I had none with my core. Even when 'Big' John stopped the fight, I was still so positive I thought I escaped. Congratulations to Matt, he is a great fighter. It's not his fault that that happened, he fought like the champion he is. He deserved the victory."

[randomguy 0]

I know this might come as a shock but Rashad is a better wrestler then Tito, and is much more accomplished as an amatuer wrestler then Tito ever was.

 

In college Tito was not of note at all really. Liddell is more accomplished than Tito.

 

Tito would certainly have the edge in experience but Rashad is the better wrestler. The question with Rashad is can he capitalize on his wrestling. As I said before, in his last fight he has the guy's back and didn't know what to do with it.

 

I would take Rashad by decision. Although it's hard to say how good Rashad's takedown defense is or his game from the bottom.