Is GSP still an elite fighter?
MMAPlayground.com »
MMA General »
MMA Lounge »
Is GSP still an elite fighter?
gamez0932
8/18/07 8:32:47PM
After his first loss against hughes.st. pierre rapidly climbed the ladder to beat Sean Sherk, Matt Hughes, Bj Penn, Frank Trigg, and Jason Miller. Did his loss to Matt Serra set him back, or does he still have what it takes to be a champion?
TOMMYAYO05
8/18/07 8:35:44PM
Who is this guy???haha gsp is defenitley an elite fighter.Matt serra got very lucky,although i do believe he will suffer his second straight loss to Josh"KOS"Koscheck.
backalley101
8/18/07 8:58:08PM
yes
three_days_of_grey
8/18/07 10:08:03PM
Is GSP still an elite fighter? Despite current losses, arent Liddell and Cro-Cop still considered elite? Of course they are and so is GSP. Big Nog was damn near KO'd and only indecisiveness on Herring's part and a slow Yves Lavigne prevented that, yet Big Nog's status is not being questioned.
Does the loss to Matt Serra set him back? Yes and No. Obviously since he lost the belt he has to fight back for a title shot, however I think the loss has made him hungrier. He has even changed trainers/management in order to get back to form.
Does he still have what it takes to be champion? Absolutely. GSP totally dominated Matt Hughes in their last fight. From what I saw of GSP/Serra is that GSP got clocked in the back of the head whilst ducking punches and he never recovered from that. I am of the opinion that since it was an illegal punch (inadvertant, yet still illegal) GSP should have been given some time to recover, much like fighters are for an inadvertant groin shot.
It is also vexing to me that simply for marketing purposes, Hughes was thrown Lytle in order to get another shot at the belt. He should have at least fought Karo or Diego. Although I think Kos is a good fighter and eventually becoming great, I don't think he is ready for GSP. He has yet to fight anyone on GSPs level.
-OUT-
Does the loss to Matt Serra set him back? Yes and No. Obviously since he lost the belt he has to fight back for a title shot, however I think the loss has made him hungrier. He has even changed trainers/management in order to get back to form.
Does he still have what it takes to be champion? Absolutely. GSP totally dominated Matt Hughes in their last fight. From what I saw of GSP/Serra is that GSP got clocked in the back of the head whilst ducking punches and he never recovered from that. I am of the opinion that since it was an illegal punch (inadvertant, yet still illegal) GSP should have been given some time to recover, much like fighters are for an inadvertant groin shot.
It is also vexing to me that simply for marketing purposes, Hughes was thrown Lytle in order to get another shot at the belt. He should have at least fought Karo or Diego. Although I think Kos is a good fighter and eventually becoming great, I don't think he is ready for GSP. He has yet to fight anyone on GSPs level.
-OUT-
gamez0932
8/18/07 10:27:08PM
Posted by three_days_of_grey
Is GSP still an elite fighter? Despite current losses, arent Liddell and Cro-Cop still considered elite? Of course they are and so is GSP. Big Nog was damn near KO'd and only indecisiveness on Herring's part and a slow Yves Lavigne prevented that, yet Big Nog's status is not being questioned.
Does the loss to Matt Serra set him back? Yes and No. Obviously since he lost the belt he has to fight back for a title shot, however I think the loss has made him hungrier. He has even changed trainers/management in order to get back to form.
Does he still have what it takes to be champion? Absolutely. GSP totally dominated Matt Hughes in their last fight. From what I saw of GSP/Serra is that GSP got clocked in the back of the head whilst ducking punches and he never recovered from that. I am of the opinion that since it was an illegal punch (inadvertant, yet still illegal) GSP should have been given some time to recover, much like fighters are for an inadvertant groin shot.
It is also vexing to me that simply for marketing purposes, Hughes was thrown Lytle in order to get another shot at the belt. He should have at least fought Karo or Diego. Although I think Kos is a good fighter and eventually becoming great, I don't think he is ready for GSP. He has yet to fight anyone on GSPs level.
-OUT-
Your right on everything you said..haha.. but koscheck is coming off a big win for him and GSP is coming off a bad loss. i would think the pressure is on GSP to prove that hes still got it, and try to fight off a hungrier, younger fighter who has the momentum on his side might be difficult.
three_days_of_grey
8/19/07 1:17:06AM
Good retort, gamez.
I think both fighters will have tremendous amounts of pressure on them for different reasons. 3 out of Koschecks last 4 fights have been by decision, I don't find that to be considerable momentum. Bias aside, do you? I do agree that this will be a difficult fight and GSP had better not take the hungrier, older Kos lightly. Win or lose, Kos will be better off for it and I would actually like to see him go to Canada and train with GSP for a few months.
-OUT-
I think both fighters will have tremendous amounts of pressure on them for different reasons. 3 out of Koschecks last 4 fights have been by decision, I don't find that to be considerable momentum. Bias aside, do you? I do agree that this will be a difficult fight and GSP had better not take the hungrier, older Kos lightly. Win or lose, Kos will be better off for it and I would actually like to see him go to Canada and train with GSP for a few months.
-OUT-
cmill21
8/19/07 3:10:27AM
Kos' big win came against a very sick diego. Of course GSP is still elite, probly the best 170 in the world, maybe best p4p.
UBTossinasalad
8/19/07 5:06:06AM
Man, Diego keeps getting sicker and sicker in peoples reasoning for why he lost. Pretty soon he will have only lost because he was actually fighting dead. (which could be said about both guys that night)
Not only does GSP have what it takes to be elite again, he still is elite now. Things might be a tad different had GSP been dominated for a full fight by Serra instead of a flash TKO. Also if he had looked bad in previous fights it would be a sign of slowing down.
You may want to give things enough time for him to fight again at least 1 time before you start to wonder about his future. Give his past track record of how he reacts to a loss (1 time as you mentioned above), all you can figure is he will be fine.
Not only does GSP have what it takes to be elite again, he still is elite now. Things might be a tad different had GSP been dominated for a full fight by Serra instead of a flash TKO. Also if he had looked bad in previous fights it would be a sign of slowing down.
You may want to give things enough time for him to fight again at least 1 time before you start to wonder about his future. Give his past track record of how he reacts to a loss (1 time as you mentioned above), all you can figure is he will be fine.
grappler0000
8/19/07 7:51:12AM
I find it funny that people are able to forget a fighter's accomplishments after one punch. The man has dominated a who's who of MMA in his short career. Even though he was inexperienced, he was doing extremely well against Hughes in their first fight...until he got caught. Aside from that, the only other person to give him a real test so far has been BJ. GSP dominated Matt Hughes, whom most people consider the best WW of all time, in their second fight. He walked through Twinkletoes and Mayhem. He was one of only two people to ever beat Sherk...and the only one to actually stop him.
Whether you want to call Serra's punch lucky or not is up to you, but it was only one punch(indirectly) that ended the fight. Anyone can get rocked or even KO'd from a punch at anytime in this sport. Does this mean that he isn't an elite fighter any longer? No, it just means that he is human.
Whether you want to call Serra's punch lucky or not is up to you, but it was only one punch(indirectly) that ended the fight. Anyone can get rocked or even KO'd from a punch at anytime in this sport. Does this mean that he isn't an elite fighter any longer? No, it just means that he is human.
postman
8/19/07 5:37:18PM
GSP is going to pound KOS then he will agian be in line to get the title back. Not only is he still elite he is Top 3 in the world p4p.
TOMMYAYO05
8/19/07 5:41:37PM
Yeah i agree he did beat penn in a very close decision,but penn is argubly the top pound 4 pound in the world so that is a great accomplishment.He did smash Sherk with ease,and Trigg too and these guys are both ranked in my top ten.Then like you said went on to smash Hughes who is with out a doubt the best ww ever in the Ufc history.Although im giving him all these praises im going to have to say he is going to have a tough time gainst a very hungary Kos.
Posted by grappler0000
I find it funny that people are able to forget a fighter's accomplishments after one punch. The man has dominated a who's who of MMA in his short career. Even though he was inexperienced, he was doing extremely well against Hughes in their first fight...until he got caught. Aside from that, the only other person to give him a real test so far has been BJ. GSP dominated Matt Hughes, whom most people consider the best WW of all time, in their second fight. He walked through Twinkletoes and Mayhem. He was one of only two people to ever beat Sherk...and the only one to actually stop him.
Whether you want to call Serra's punch lucky or not is up to you, but it was only one punch(indirectly) that ended the fight. Anyone can get rocked or even KO'd from a punch at anytime in this sport. Does this mean that he isn't an elite fighter any longer? No, it just means that he is human.
loonytnt
8/19/07 6:29:51PM
haha gsp is a elite fighter for sure and you askin if his not bc he lost to matt sir. ? matt is a great fighter anyway, and matt was coming into that fight with NOTHING to lose. idk if you are a fighter but fightin a guy that has nothing to lose is hard.
GSP=one of the best if not the best
GSP=one of the best if not the best
SicJits
8/20/07 3:55:52PM
kos may be hungry, but he showed too much fear/respect for Diego, and vice versa. the only thing Kos showed me in the Diego fight, is that he doesn't have the heart of a champion yet. GSP is still elite, one punch doesn't erase everything else he HAS done. If Kos is not agressive in this fight i see no way he can win, and he was very tenitive to be aggressive against Diego.
TOMMYAYO05
8/20/07 4:14:30PM
Kos dominated diego he picked him apart,but he never had him hurt.Then at the end of the first he just picked him up and slammed him with ease and i see him doing the same to gsp as i believe he is the best wrestler in the game today.
Posted by SicJits
kos may be hungry, but he showed too much fear/respect for Diego, and vice versa. the only thing Kos showed me in the Diego fight, is that he doesn't have the heart of a champion yet. GSP is still elite, one punch doesn't erase everything else he HAS done. If Kos is not agressive in this fight i see no way he can win, and he was very tenitive to be aggressive against Diego.
SicJits
8/20/07 10:45:14PM
Posted by TOMMYAYO05Kos dominated diego he picked him apart,but he never had him hurt.Then at the end of the first he just picked him up and slammed him with ease and i see him doing the same to gsp as i believe he is the best wrestler in the game today.
Posted by SicJits
kos may be hungry, but he showed too much fear/respect for Diego, and vice versa. the only thing Kos showed me in the Diego fight, is that he doesn't have the heart of a champion yet. GSP is still elite, one punch doesn't erase everything else he HAS done. If Kos is not agressive in this fight i see no way he can win, and he was very tenitive to be aggressive against Diego.
dominated!? they barely fought! every mma columnist has said the same thing about that fight "lackluster". Kos might have the best wrestling, but he has fought one decent opponet in Diego, and the fight was boring. Neither guy REALLY commited to doing much of anything to the other. And if Kos has the best wrestling and his takedowns are such a huge part of his game, then why did he only attempt one takedown on Diego? = no heart to get hit if it didn't work out. gsp will hit him plenty or sub him when Kos goes for a takedown. His gnp is rather weak just like his striking is weak.