Post UFC 124: GSP vs Koscheck Sunday Morning Confessional

by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 11:00 AM EST in Wrap Up

It's Sunday Morning. Time to put on our Sunday best, climb into the Oldsmobile and give thanks to Black Jebus. But first, I must give my confessions. Dub K handled the results (go here), so I can get right into confessing.

Going into this card, I was NOT looking forward to it at all. There wasn't much compelling me to make the purchase. Now, we did end up with a good night of fights, but cognitive dissonance still doesn't rationalize the hesitation to buy a "one-fight card". You can't predict how a night will turn out. The UFC is going to need to do a better job of putting better fights on cards. I'm not saying "stack" cards, but when the drop-off goes from GSP/Koscheck to Struve/McCorkle, that's ridiculous.
Might as well get this out of the way. I thought Joe Rogan was BAD tonight. Blatant favoritism in the Riddle fight. Breaking "kayfabe" TWICE (which I will touch more on later). The whole thing with the doctor that rubbed me the wrong way. Rogan usually does a pretty good job (outside of his unnecessary pushing on 10th Planet JJ terms), but tonight seemed like an off-night. Can't put my finger on it .
Doomsday. Sup with his tooth. Walks out with a Muay Thai Mongkol. I was rooting for you brotherman, but you were outclassed here. Roberts showed a lot of heart here, but there's a reason why Alves is a top five welterweight.

Speaking of Alves, I thought his night was doomed when he came out to "Big Things Poppin", but he fooled me. He was in great shape, tremendous shape. His striking was as crisp as I've seen it in years and he showed a little wrestling ability taking Doomsday down. When he was pacing back and forth at the beginning of the 3rd round, he looked like he was just as fresh as he was at the beginning. This was a great fight and a startling contrast to the opener for TUF 12 Finale as this was technical striking while Pham vs Garcia was a sloppy mess. Seems like both of these fighters got a "Come to Jesus" speech from Dana White about actually fighting in the opener.

The one thing that bothered me in this fight (besides Goldberg's incessant repeating of how Alves looked) was Yves Lavigne constantly telling them "to work" no less than 10 seconds after both men were up against the cage. I mean come on. I also loved the chants for "GSP" while Thiago was sitting in Howard's guard. I guess they were getting prepared for the main event.

Hey, it's Mac Danzig, the vegan. I can't root for a dude who doesn't eat steak. Just can't. He comes out with this hair as soon as I type that, he drops Stevenson with a punch. He literally saved his job with one punch. It was almost a given that he would be cut if he lost and he KO'd Joe while backing up. Joe "Flair Flop'd" a la Scott Smith from last week. Glass Joe against Mac. Who's next? Piston Gomi? Oh, did I mention it was Joe Stevenson's kid's birthday?

One good fight and a instant KO already and here comes my boy do Bronx. Oh, by the way, I'm o-2 for the main card, but I know Oliveira won't let me down. He's going to sub Jim Miller. I mean Jim Miller just took him down, but he'll sub him. Look at Charles going for subs, it's inevitable. Look at him get caught in a kneebar, he'll get out. He'll get out.....he'ls tapping? The fuck? This was a short fight, but I love these MMA "sprints" especially when they happen on the ground (loved Lauzon vs Rudiger). Great fight (at least in my eyes) even though I was 0-3 at that point.

Finally. A fighter gets on the mic and when asked who he wants to fight, he says someone's name. None of that Bullshit "Whoever Joe Silva wants me to fight" or anything like that. Miller wants a shot. Will he get it? No. But he wants one. And he's won 6 in a row, it's time to get him some top tier opponents. Sink or swim.

Matt Riddle vs Sean Pierson. Not much to say about it. It was one of those garbage brawls that seem to be all the rage. It got kind of sloppy once the gas set it. Nice flying knee miss by Riddle and Pierson dropped him. That's pretty much all I got to say about that.

Up next, McCorkle vs Struve. Struve is really giving Chris Horodecki a run for his money in the "Why is this little kid fighting in MMA" face trophy. So apparently these two guys have been trolling or getting "lulz" on each other with "romos" and insults on the UG working the smart marks into a frenzy. So Struve is so mad, he's gonna fight with his CAPS LOCK button on. I picked Struve here and I was looking for some satisfaction out of this night. Can a brother get a KO?

McCorkle, in his quest to make me dislike him, has chosen "Big Sexy" as his nickname. Kevin Nash was "Big Sexy (the Giant Killer". Kevin Nash you are not, my friend. Oh wait, I take that back. He gasses in the first couple minutes. That's a Kevin Nash move if I've ever seen one. McCorkle went for a kimura (just like in the Hunt fight), looking to finish, but Struve smartly uses the cage to defend it. And, much like his humor, when McCorkle's one move doesn't work, he's fades. He looked fatigued and mentally foggy, maybe he should've continued his TRT.

Struve with a basic sweep from the bottom and starts unloading and the ref steps in. This was much better than I thought it would be. A decent fight on both fighter's accounts. McCorkle had Struve in trouble, Stefan weathered it and then beat him.

And then we reach the point where I got a little angry. So they hug after (which it totally understandable as fighting a man and stepping into the cage earns you that respect) and I'm cool with it, but then Joe gets on the mic and is like "You guys were just talking trash, it's all good". I think this is stupid. When fighters admit to talking shit to just "build fights" and it not being genuine, you're telling the audience the hype is FAKE. This is like when Vince McMahon told the world that the WWF was fake. Of course, but don't tell them. It got WORSE later on.

Bocek vs Hazlett. Man. this was a nice squash match. Bocek subs him with the mount triangle, one of my favorite subs. It's so pretty. One thing, Bocek lets the triangle go after he taps but before the ref steps in. That's a no-no. Bocek shows a pair and calls out George the Australian. Yeah, that's not happening.

Finally, it's main event time. Not going to waste your time with a recap. There are several different ways to look at this fight. From the "pure sport" view, GSP put on a masterful performance, using his jab to keep Koscheck outside his range. From the entertainment aspect, people were excited to see GSP fight and see Koscheck get beat. I'm like this. It was a great strategy. Perfect. Now, George can say he planned to stand all along, but the truth is Koscheck jumped right up from the takedown and stuffed most of the rest, forcing GSP to stand. He wanted to take Koscheck down. Thank goodness for Koscheck's takedown defense or we would've seen another typical GSP fight. So what does GSP do? He finds ANOTHER strategy that manages to bore me. Rounds 1-3 were great. Wasn't not disinterested at all. I was marveled at GSP's boxing (especially after watching the Khan fight). If his boxing has improved that much after a few months with Freddie, he might be (even more0 unstoppable in a year. However, enough was enough. Rounds 4 and 5, can we get a finish? Can we try harder for a finish? Koscheck's eye was swollen shut for twenty minutes and his lead leg was fucked. I mean where's GSP's killer instinct? People point to the Penn stoppage, but GSP was happy to ride out a decision and BJ quit. It was a great fight, very technical. Just not that exciting. But that kind of doesn't matter for GSP because he's a draw and fans want "stars", then they want "exciting fights". A star can put on "boring" fights and still get love.

Rogan was KILLING me here with the kayfabe-breaking. "Koscheck's not really an asshole" and he mentions PPV buys and more cash. C'mon Joe. I mean are they trying to rehab his image? Doesn't he know there's more money as a "bad guy" for him. He sucks as a "good guy". I'll give Chael this, he's committed. He didn't dicktuck and back off his statements. Even after Anderson made him tap, he was at the press conference talking. I abhor this. Then what the fuck is the point of all the bullshit talking. They don't do this in boxing. There's a difference between fight hyping (like Mayweather/Mosley) and trying to make it seem like two guys hate each other like they did here (which is some pro wrestling bullshit). Koscheck is like "I hate him" blah blah, I mean he can just come out and talk up the fight, but don't make it so personal if you're going to dicktuck at the end. And I'm a Koscheck fan, but that left a bad taste. And Koscheck, who are you fooling? We saw you on TUF 1. Were you acting then? I mean I was on your side during the whole Leben thing, but you were a bit of an ass there. My thoughts on this are jumbled.

Oh, another thing I didn't like that my boy orcus pointed out during the live thread. Joe Rogan talks about Koscheck's moving his jaw around after getting it rocked and then we can all see Josh's eye is swollen shut. Now, Rogan's always talkinga bout how MMA is safe and it's all about the fighter's safety. So why would tell the doctor to get out of the cage? I mean, I know why I said it. Because I'm a fan and not a commentator. I just felt it was out of place for a commentator to say. Especially when you could clearly hear the doctor say "He cannot see out of his right eye". That said "Get that Kris Kringle guy out of there" was funny.

Koscheck bent over and ripped off his toenail. That's badass.

Rogan says "No one has ever used their jab this effectively in MMA". Tim Sylvia is somewhere frowning. He made a living on the jab.

Koscheck's wrestling impressed me, he definitely improved it. Striking? Not so much.

GSP was being a little cheater in there. Fence grabs, a knee to the groin and short grabs. LOL.

The "Fuck you Koscheck" chants were hilarious as well. That's heat. That's HEAT.

This is when I hate Goldberg. He finds a term or a phrase and latches on. And repeats it ad nauseum. Remember Brock/Mir II? He kept saying "chest-on-chest". He said it a good 10 times. Tonight's phrase was jab. Jab. Jab. Jab. Double jab. I expected him to go into Jim Lampley "Bang BANG BANGBANGBANG" territory.

I love how GSP said Koscheck talked so much shit, so GSP put another mouth on Koscheck's face, so he could talk twice the shit. Koscheck's eye looked like a vacuum-pumped pussy. I loved when the crowd popped HARD when they showed Koscheck's eye at the end of the first.

It was a good night overall. Much better than it looked on paper. Dana had the fans voting for Fight of the Night and the main event won. No shit. I would recommend this show.

Oh I forgot the best part. They chanted "Nah-Nah NAH NAH, Nah-Nah NAH NAH, Hey hey hey, good bye" to Koscheck in the 5th round. That's HEAT.

Oh and I forgot the crowd BOOING the hell out of GSP for telling them to be nice to Koscheck. "Ee was just 'ypin de fight".

SBN coverage of UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck

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Comments

I have no clue how someone can praise Alves’s performance tonight and then rag on GSP for being boring. If anything, GSP did pretty much the same thing as Alves, except for 25 minutes and against a much much much better opponent. The only valid complaint against GSP tonight was that he didn’t finish it, but this was about as far as possible from being a boring fight.

For someone who admits he disliked swing-and-a-miss-brawls like Riddle vs. Pierson tonight, how can you not appreciate the technically excellent fights that GSP constantly puts on? It doesn’t compute.

by Shnak on Dec 12, 2010 11:39 AM EST reply actions

Alves was going for a finish, but Howard wasn't letting him

He hit Howard with hard POWER shots, not jabs.

Howard’s eye wasn’t swollen shut either.

Did you read? I said I loved it as a technical exhibition, it just wasn’t exciting. After the 3rd round, it was the same shit over and over. It was like Silva/Maia. I loved the first 3 rounds, but then I was like “Anderson, finish this guy”.

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by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 12:22 PM EST up reply actions

I said the same thing about GSP

How can you make striking boring?
He didn’t once capitalize after he hurt Kosh mutiple times per round.

Great write up.

John
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by Ionnes on Dec 12, 2010 12:05 PM EST reply actions

Ha!

Glass Joe against Mac.

"God bless....God."
Semper Fi'
Pain don't hurt...

by RolloTomasi on Dec 12, 2010 1:33 PM EST reply actions

Amen, I thought that fight kinda sucked.

. It was one of those garbage brawls that seem to be all the rage.

Riddle threw a TON of strikes that hit air.

"God bless....God."
Semper Fi'
Pain don't hurt...

by RolloTomasi on Dec 12, 2010 1:34 PM EST up reply actions

People point to the Penn stoppage, but GSP was happy to ride out a decision and BJ quit

I don’t agree with this. GSP was going for the finish, and he wasn’t happy to ride out a decision. I think at the end of the third or forth round (?) GSP punched the fence in frustration that he didn’t finish the fight before the whistle blew.

Anyway, that’s nitpicking. I totally agree with you on the first three rounds, then the latter two I thought the same thing. “Please let there be a finish!” It was better than the Hardy fight by a mile, but at the end, I just turned to my girlfriend, shrugged, and said, “Another decision. Whatever. At least GSP won dominantly.” I didn’t find any of it boring, but it was like watching this movie where it has a great beginning and middle, but the ending is crappy.

by pud333 on Dec 12, 2010 1:35 PM EST reply actions

GSP cemented his legacy

As one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.

Top fighter? Thats a bit iffy though.

by Lunatic-Fridge on Dec 12, 2010 2:40 PM EST reply actions

Nice write up.

Just a few things though:
-In your third bullet point you referred to Doomsday as Roberts, not Howard.
-What’s with the McCorkle TRT comment? Is there a source backing up your accustation?
-I used to be a huge GSP fan, but his sport/business mentallity overshadowing the fact that it’s still a fight kills me. Seriously, you can’t finish a guy with one eye and limited standup?

by Norm78 on Dec 12, 2010 2:47 PM EST reply actions

I get my blacks mixed up.

Yes. I’ve always got sources and citations. McCorkle admitted it himself. I’ll have a write-up for that later.

Yes. He’s a businessman. He’s looking out for self and I can’t hate that as a businessman myself. But as a FIGHT fan, he isn’t fighting.

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by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 2:51 PM EST up reply actions

I know!

Everyone Finishes Koscheck, what’s GSPs problem?

Jon Jones LHW Champion 2011
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by ShaiZ on Dec 12, 2010 7:22 PM EST up reply actions

The problem is

GSP had Kos 1 eyed and leg gimp’d, yet refused to extend and push the pace for a decisive stoppage victory.
That’s why people are bitching, it’s a pattern. Fight safe get the W, but never really go balls out.
It’s too bad, because he’s truly one of the elite MMA fighters of all time, I’d love to see him act mean in a fight.

"God bless....God."
Semper Fi'
Pain don't hurt...

by RolloTomasi on Dec 12, 2010 7:38 PM EST up reply actions

I’ll take issue with your taking issue with Rogan and co breaking kayfabe. It does the UFC Universe (formerly known as MMA fans) a disservice to expect them to believe that Sean McCorkle saying he’s going to father Stefan Struve is 100% for realz. Or that Josh Koscheck didn’t play into the character that’s been working for him. We know better, especially with McCorkle, and the commentary team should not take it upon themselves to maintain it at the cost of their credibility (such as it is).

Joe Rogan otherwise was not good tonight but Goldie just gets consistently worse. I wish they’d get him out of there but it’s not sa if I could name a better replacement. Play by play guys are not my favourite people.

Do Bronx basically conceding that kneebar had me yelling at my monitor. It seems like he gets caught in the moment and this “Attack! Attack!” mentality (that I love him for). Props to Miller for handling business but do Bronx needs a better go-to move for leglock defense than hammerfists to the side and calmly watching it unfold (and twist and pop). He looks like a 145lber with that frame though. Does he cut weight at all to make 155?

The Riddle-Pierson fight was pretty good but Matt Riddle (who I will eternally confuse with Rick Story) was heavily outclassed on the feet and winged shots at where Pierson used to be standing for the whole fifteen. Pierson deserves praise for his all-night right-hand jab keeping Riddle from getting any serious game going.

"One thing I will never do is I will never say never." -Dana White

by Symbul on Dec 12, 2010 3:35 PM EST reply actions

There is no lost credibility if you don't acknowledge that McCorkle was just shittalking.

Koscheck did more than say “he was just fight building”, he basically said I’ve been a fake and a fraud for the past year.

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by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah

Who cares about ‘kayfabe’, this isn’t fucking wrestling no matter how much Michaelson wants it to be.

Jon Jones LHW Champion 2011
Gray and Pray LW Champion 2011

by ShaiZ on Dec 12, 2010 7:28 PM EST up reply actions

"Now fuck off, I got work to do!" -Cyrus

by Greenbeard on Dec 12, 2010 4:00 PM EST reply actions

"Wasn't not disinterested at all."

?? Still trying to figure that one out.

by J_Maddux on Dec 12, 2010 4:37 PM EST reply actions

Me too

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by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 5:27 PM EST up reply actions

Embarrassed for you...

Get off Rogan’s nuts already man… Its very unbecoming. Seems like you will go to any extreme to find a way to one up him. Even bringing up the safety of MMA?!

by StickinUrChick on Dec 12, 2010 5:56 PM EST reply actions

Uh, every event Rogan is always talking about fighter safety and whatnot

Well here’s a doctor whose job is to protect the fighters from themselves and he’s tellng him to get out.

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by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 7:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Rogan was way way off that night

On a lot of points.

by dank7 on Dec 13, 2010 8:49 AM EST up reply actions

Why not just say

I hate GSP and it doesn’t matter what he does I’m not going to like him.

I’d respect that.

Jon Jones LHW Champion 2011
Gray and Pray LW Champion 2011

by ShaiZ on Dec 12, 2010 7:29 PM EST reply actions

Because it 's not true.

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by S.C. Michaelson on Dec 12, 2010 8:48 PM EST up reply actions

to the guy who said that everyone finishes koshcheck

koshcheck only has two loses duh and there both to gsp so no one finishes koshcheck gsp is the only one to beat him duh check your stats before making a dumb comment

by Nick Matusek on Dec 13, 2010 1:31 PM EST reply actions

...

he lost to Alves and Paulo Thiago btw
since his last loss

by dank7 on Dec 14, 2010 1:32 PM EST up reply actions

WTF?

Kos has 5 losses.

"God bless....God."
Semper Fi'
Pain don't hurt...

by RolloTomasi on Dec 14, 2010 2:11 PM EST up reply actions

AND I HATE KOSHCHECK

HES A BUM he aint on gsps level all that shit talking and he couldnt get it done just like the way he train his fighters on the ultimate fighter couldnt get and win and went after a medic and that medic would beat his ass i dont care if hhe is i paids fighter that would of been a street fight and koshcheck wouldve got his ass beat there to cause he is a bum