Who's excited for UFC 137?

I have to say, I'm extremely excited for UFC 137. I'm glad to see Hioki finally make his way to the UFC and add some depth to the featherweight division. Carlos Condit being on the card also excites me because every one of his fights are exciting.

Here's my breakdown of the main card. Let me know what you think:

Hatsu Hioki vs George Roop - (My favorite fight of the card)
Hatsu Hioki
Strengths: Probably the most active and dangerous guard in MMA today and jiu jitsu is off the charts. Good striking. Good greco style take downs. Fantastic top game. Long reach.
Weaknesses: take down defense is not his strong suit. Sometimes his striking style leaves him open for counters. Not a very good wrestler. Victim of bad game planning.
Notable Wins: Mark Hominick x2, Jeff Curran, Omigawa, Marlon Sandro
George Roop
Strengths: Long reach, good hands and feet, good guard. Decent take downs. Long reach and a pretty big featherweight.
Weaknesses: Take down defense. Pretty significant weight cut to make 145. Not the fastest featherweight.
Notable Wins: Chan Sung Jung, Josh Grispi, Leonard Garcia (Draw)

Fight Analysis: I see this fight being mostly standup against the cage for the most part. Hioki wanting to take it to the ground and Roop wanting to stay standing. I see the standup being close but Roop getting the better of the standup. I see Roop getting taken down finally after many attempts by Hioki then being dominated by Hioki. He will be submitted early in the 3rd round.

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Roy Nelson - (Must win for both guys)
Mirko Cro Cop
Strengths: Great striking when on his game. Devastating kicks. Good take down defense. Good power
Weaknesses: Been knocked out a lot recently. Jiu jitsu and take downs are sub par.
Notable Wins: Pat Barry, Wanderlei Silva, Josh Barnett, Sakuraba.
Roy Nelson
Strengths: Good power. Good Striking. Good take downs. Very good jiu jitsu. Usually has a weight advantage. Unbelievable heart. Good chin.
Weaknesses: Striking defense could use some work. Easily overwhelmed on the feet by better strikers.
Notable Wins: Brendan Schaub, Stefan Struve, Brad Imes.

Fight Analysis: I see this being a mostly standup fight with both guys being fairly even in the standup due to cro cop being tentative. Late in the second round Roy starts putting Cro Cop agianst the cage and grinding on him. He uses dirty boxing to start softening Cro Cop up then unleashes a barrage of punches upon breaking away TKOing Cro Cop for the win.

BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz - (Another great war)
BJ Penn
Strengths: Great boxer and striker. One of the best jiu jitsu fighters. Good take downs as shown against Jon Fitch. Great take down defense. Extremely flexible. Very athletically gifted. Great chin.
Weaknesses: Work ethic. Known for having questionable motivation. cadio.
Notable Wins: Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Matt Serra, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hughes X2, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez.
Nick Diaz
Strengths: Never ending cardio. Great boxer and an extreme volume puncher. Fantastic guard and jiu jitsu. Extremely aggressive. Unbelievable chin. Hard worker.
Weaknesses: Wrestling. Take down defense had been poor. His wreckless volume punching leaves his chin open sometimes.
Notable Wins: Paul Daley, Evangelista Santos, KJ Noons, Hayato Sakarai, Josh Neer, Gleison Tibau, Robbie Lawler.

Fight Analysis: Back and forth war with both guys getting their licks in. If there are any take downs they are initiated by BJ Penn. Nick Diaz' face gets busted early and he bleed everywhere. I see the fight going the distance with back and forth non stop action. BJ Penn wins split decision.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit
Georges St. Pierre
Strengths: Fantastic cardio. Great recovery time. Very good and evolving boxer. Great kicks. The best MMA wrestler. Smothering top game. Very good jiu jitsu. Very well rounded.
Weaknesses: None really!!! The guy is just so well rounded. I had a hell of a time coming up with with anything for this. I think that he is not the most mentally strong fighter. Hates getting hit and fights conservative. His chin is in question.
Notable Wins: Jake Shields, Josh Koscheck, Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn x2, Matt Hughes, Jason Miller, Frank Trigg
Carlos Condit
Strengths: Good Striking. Active guard. Good top game. Good jiu jitsu. Unpredictable and unorthodox striking. Fantastic chin. Mentally strong. Hard working. Very aggressive
Weaknesses: wrestling. Leaves some openings when striking.
Notable Wins: Rory MacDonald, Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Jake Ellenberger, Frank Trigg.

Fight Analysis: I have two outlooks on this fight. I see Condit coming out guns a blazin'. Using knee kicks and unorthodox striking to try and confuse GSP. Feeling uncomfortable I see GSP taking the fight to the ground. Condit uses his guard to again make GSP feel uncomfortable and resort to a stalling method. The ref will stand it up. GSP will hold most of the rounds due to take downs and landing some jabs that Condit will eat all day long. Bloody and on the verge of losing, Condit attacks hitting GSP with some hard shots and puts him down via TKO round 4 or 5. (A guy can dream right?)
On the other hand i see this fight being a turning point for GSP's career. Condit comes out guns a blazin'. GSP feels uncomfortable and puts Condit on the mat and uses a stalling method for the first round or two. Midway through the fight Condit finally lands a hard shot and GSP is rocked, he keeps his composure and weathers the storm to the end of the round. GSP loses a round for the first time in a long time. They come out again and Condit lands another really hard shot. GSP is stunned but returns the favor with his own hard shot. He puts a stunned Condit down with a take down and finishes him with savage ground and pound reminiscent of old GSP.

So what do you guys think? I really like this card because it has some very interesting outcomes. The winner of Roop vs. Hioki will probably fight Aldo for the title next. Nelson vs. Cro Cop is a fight for their very jobs. If Nick Diaz wins he will probably get his title shot back and if Penn wins there is a chance he may get one last chance at GSP if he wins. Condit has a chance to pull one of the biggest upsets in MMA history and if GSP wins he further cements his place in MMA history a one of the greatests of all time.

 

Unfortunately I think you and I are the only ones who truly care about mma here. That was a hell of a long post though.

GSP, Penn, Nelson, Roop, Mitrone

 

You're probably right. Just sucks because all of the MMA forums and sites are just really bad. You can't have a half way intellegent converstion without fighter bashing.

 

I follow MMA, but never pay for a pay-per-view and just wait for them to eventually air them free. By then I usually forgot about the outcomes so it seems like a new fight.

 

No no...I'm excited too. Not gonna lie, GSP is the man. I met BJ Penn in Honolulu in Aug and seemed like a pretty decent guy too and of course a good fighter. Good card expectations. Don't know where I'll be in the world for this fight, but you can bet I will be watching.

 

I think BJ is washed up. I like GSP,but wouldn't mind seeing him get crushed. Dude is to good.

 

BJ might be done, but he was one of the greatest fighters. When I met him he was humble and appreciative when I told him I was a fan. It is good to see a short guys kick some ass. I however would not like to see GSP get crushed. When Matt Serra knocked him out a while back I was shocked along with the rest of the world (to include Matt Serra). The rematch led to GSP continually kneeing Serra in the ribs untill the ref called the fight. When Joe Rogan asked Serra what was different between this fight and the last with GSP, Matt Serra said, "I got my ass kicked this time." Ha ha. GSP is human and humble. Anderson Silva on the other hand...Not so sure he is human since he has never bled.

 

GSP....I am not impressed with your performance! He is no longer exciting he doesnt finish fights. He fights for points and not to lose. Nothing wrong with that but it makes it less exciting than his fights early in his career. I am hoping Condit takes it. I really wanted to see him fight Diaz cuz I dont think GSP could fight conservative with him.

BJ Penn is a hall of famer but he is really going to have to get up for this fight...The best performance I have seen from him was when he fought Sanchez and destroyed him...being there live was insane. BJ would not sit in between the rounds and was ready to go. It is going to take that kind of performance against Diaz.

Fat boy Nelson needs to go on a diet and drop to light heavyweight. He will never contend for the championship at heavyweight. He would get wrecked by any of the top 5 heavyweights. I hope CroCop murders this guy and goes out with a win.

Hioki or Roop. Whoever wins I do not see them finishing Aldo in their next fight.

 

I'm a fan of Bloodyelbow.com, I frequent the comments section there.

 

I don't know if BJ is washed up. I happen to think he's still in his prime. I mean he destroyed Hughes in there third match and out wrestled and fought to a draw the second best WW in the world when he fought Jon Fitch. I just think he's in a strange spot because he's in between divisions. I think he could beat any lightweight except Frankie. That dude just has his number.

Anderson is definatly beatable in my opinion. I honestly think GSP is better. I also think Sonnen may be able to beat him too. We shall see.

I agree with ya. Roop's standup just isnt there to beat Aldo and while Hioki is one of my favorite fighters I don't think he has the wrestling abilities to get Aldo down, and i don't think Aldo will want to tangle with Hioki on the ground either.

 

I've been excited about this card since they announced it. There's a great mix of solid veterans, soon-to-be-has-beens, and solid up and comers.

 

Bloody elbow is pretty good. I also like cage potato, middleeasy.com, mma news, hell i even frequent sherdog sometimes.
There are some good sites out there, don't get me wrong but MMA fans are just the worst. Once a guy looses he's a peice of shit to these so called "fans".

 

Yup! this is what i would say too.

Did anyone catch what Sonnen said last ufc?!
I almost shit a brick!!

 

Chael is trolling so hard! I can't believe people take him seriously. He's freaking hilarious. Even though he's such a peice of scum i can't help but like him. He's one of my favorite fighters.

http://www.mmaconvert.com/2011/10/0...ut-anderson-silva-in-epic-fashion-at-ufc-136/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRUgXHqJl68&feature=watch_response

 

"Anderson Silva, you absolutely SUCK!" That was hilarious. Sonnen can beat Silva, he kicked his ass for 4.5 rounds when they fought. I would love to see a rematch.
Or Anderson VS Bones.

 

This is questionable.. Anderson had cracked ribs..

 

I think if Anderson is beat Chael in this next fight (assuming he's fighting Chael) I think he needs to just fight GSP then fight Bones and retire as the greatest of all time. He's cleaned out that division. Only people left are Bisping, Stann, and Mayhem.

 

ClassiC!!!

I am a fan of Condit..probably one of my favorite right now as I haven't really watch MMA in the last 5 years(Was a big fan of Pride/UFC). I would like to see him win but I just don't see it happening

 

Sonnen has some great quotes he is a freaking quote machine.

After the Stann fight:

“Anderson Silva you absolutely SUCK!!! If I beat you, you leave the Middleweight division. If you beat me, I'll leave the UFC forever.”

Post fight conference:
“You heard what I said and my word is good and I meant it. A deal's a deal and I didn't see him stand up and accept the challenge. If the role would have been on the other foot, I'd have come over that role and shoved that microphone up his ass if he'd said that to me, but you saw what he did. He sat there and it was a good move.”

Some other quotes:

“Triangle chokes are the refuge of cowards. I only gave him that victory out of pity because I was embarrassed that he tried that.”

“Who says I was submitted? Did you see that happen? Who are you gonna believe? ME or your lyin’ eyes?”

“I want an easy fight. Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva. Either of the Silvas. Bigfoot Silva. They all suck. Gimme a Silva.”

 

UHM? Thats PATHETIC to say, Man the fuck up and say you got tapped.
Its called a SUBMISSION for a reason
I cant even believe the stupidity with this quote.