The a**hole side of Matt Hughes has reared its asinine head again. Check out what he wrote in his blog about the UFC 87 Main Event, featuring Georges St. Pierre (the guy who throttled him twice) vs. Jon Fitch:
Georges didn’t look as big as he has before and he seemed like he had gotten tired from the first round. Fitch had the game plan of countering Georges and you just can’t do that. You can’t counter a quicker fighter. To be honest, halfway in the third round I got up and walked out of the arena and went to my hotel. The fight wasn’t the most exciting and I wanted to get out of there before everyone else was getting up to leave.
The fight was awarded Fight of the Night honors. As well, Fitch said himself he wasn’t countering St. Pierre, but that the Canadian was just too damn fast.
Now I remember why Hughes is the guy I love to hate. After his tough losses to Georges St. Pierre and then Thiago Alves, it seemed as though a sombre, respectful Matt Hughes was considering retirement…then he pops off and makes me post the above photo again. Sheesh. Good to have the antagonistic Hughes back I suppose.
UFC 87 was this past Saturday, and there were a couple of super impressive performances, notably Georges St. Pierre and Brock Lesnar.
St. Pierre silenced (or should have at this point) his critics by systematically dismantling the top contender to his 170lb crown, Jon Fitch. Fitch never seemed to really threaten St. Pierre, and was dropped about 4-5 times in the fight from punches and knees…that can’t be good for Fitch’s noodle, but he hung in there, and he was true to his word, he’s a “blood and guts” type of guy. He fights and claws for everything he gets. In the end though, he was simply outclassed by a better fighter. St. Pierre imposed his will and the only thing he couldn’t do, was put his gi on after the fight.
Now that St. Pierre has dominated the guy who dominated everyone else, who else is there?
BJ Penn. More on that later.
Brock Lesnar showed great improvement in his second trip in the cage, dominating the very tough Heath Herring over three rounds. Unlike his spastic-like offense against Frank Mir in his debut, Lesnar paced himself and didn’t blow his wad. Next up on Lesnar’s to-do list is submissions.
Kenny Florian defeated home town boy Roger Huerta by sticking to his system and not getting caught up in an emotional brawl. Each time Kenny rocked Roger, Roger would get riled up, but unlike past opponents, Kenny found a way to suppress Huerta’s rage until it passed. Look for Kenny to get a title shot, after BJ Penn’s foray back to 170lbs.
In my near-favorite bout of the night, Rob Emerson scored a surprising TKO victory over Manny Gamburyan twelve seconds into the fight. I dislike Gamburyan for a few reasons, his attitude and his cheap shot on Jeff Cox. Surely one of the more satisfying smashings I’ve ever seen.
In the televised opening bout, Damian Maia wore down a very game and scrappy Canadian Jason MacDonald and scored a 3rd round choke out. MacDonald came right at Maia and took him to the ground, which surely must have surprised Maia.
Oh, and Cheik Kongo won by TKO over Dan Evenson…Kongo is one scary dude, but not a great interview
All in all, an excellent night of fights. The rest of the results are listed below.
Check out Fitch’s face!! Like he had been through a meat grinder…and the guy keeps on fighting. I feel bad for his next opponent.
UFC 87 RESULTS:
Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44)
Brock Lesnar def. Heath Herring by unanimous decision (30-26 on all cards)
Rob Emerson def. Manny Gamburyan by KO at :12, R1
Kenny Florian def. Roger Huerta by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards)
Demian Maia def. Jason MacDonald by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:44, R3
Tamdan McCrory def. Luke Cummo by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Cheick Kongo def. Dan Evensen by TKO (strikes on the ground) at 4:55, R1
Jon Jones def. Andre Gusmao by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Chris Wilson def. Steve Bruno by Unanimous Decision (30-27) on all judges score cards
Ben Saunders def. Ryan Thomas by submission (armbar) at 2:28, R2
