UFC Title Fight-GSP or Bisping?

[TideRide]

I'm going with GSP. He has great coaches/strategy/fight IQ, World class strength and conditioning, and excellent footwork/defense. He's very strong (you couldn't manhandle a bad ass wrestler like Matt Hughes or Josh Koscheck or World class BJJ grappler like Matt Serra if you weren't strong). Johnny Hendricks was probably the closest guy to ever closing him out (ever since his 2 early career losses when he was very inexperienced) but he somehow survived that onslaught. Back in the day I was expecting Koschek (top notch wrestler, brutal puncher,lb for lb strong, excellent cardio, mean as a rattlesnake) to take him out but he didn't. GSP is clever and handles pressure very well. His quality Karate (decent Karate that you can use to fight with that's full contact not belt mill bs) background mixed with all his Muay Thai knowledge (because GSP has sought new knowledge from every corner of the Planet in his career throughout his career) make him very hard to hit and very unfamiliar to conventional styles much like a Lyoto Machida type of fighter. He also has this knack about him where it's like he almost always finds a way to win. I've been a fan of his for his whole career-I mean ever since he started ascending the ranks way before he was ever a Champion.

Bisping has evolved a lot from his early days and has a few good years left in him (probably 3 or 4 max IF he doesn't get a bad concussion from a brutal KO/lose his "Chin"). Despite his gift of gab and good sense of humor- Bisping is merciless like a Mercenary that's running low on ammo and whose helicopter crashed behind enemy lines so, if he can bust GSPs face open until he blacks out under the arena lights I know he will. Bisping is fast but I think GSP is faster and you know what they say- speed kills. Bisping has good cardio and footwork but my instincts are telling me GSPs are slightly better. GSP is the better grappler but it almost seems predetermined that both of these guys desire to keep this one standing and go for the KO. To Bispings credit he has more career KOs and a better killer instinct (GSP is a master strategist and likes to win fights by points or decision while Bisping will try to KO the whole fight and has a about 55% odds of doing so). This ones a very close matchup overall. Bisping doesn't want to grapple with GSP and GSP doesn't want to eat a KO knee shot (or a big elbow hook or uppercut in transition after a sprawl like Bisping likes to do) while shooting in for the takedown. Bispings an idiot if he tries to grapple with GSP and Bisping is not an idiot so that won't happen. I think footwork and defense are going to play more of a role in the final result of this one than people realize. It will also be interesting to see how much harder GSP can hit while moving up a weight class. At the end of the day, I really like Tristars coaching and think that is the X factor because they've always seemed to find a way to win even when there appeared to be none. Time will tell...

[Hicks]

Some points for you to consider:

-GSP's first fight in 4 years
-GSP's first ever fight at MW
-Zahabi tends to be overrated as a coach, Bisping's camp has prouduced more high level fighters recently
-Neither fighter has 3/4 years left, I would be surprised if either guys fights 4 more times in their career
-GSP won't try to stand the whole time. He will definitely look to wrestle, he'll almost definitely get TD's, but only Tim Kennedy ever managed to control Bisping on the ground before.
-GSP will likely lose some speed with an added 15lb of muscle
-Bisping's first fight since surgery on both knees
-GSP hasn't finished anybody in 10 years

For me it's a fight with too many unknowns to make any bold predictions on. I think it'll be close either way, or maybe GSP will fade and Bisping can get a late finish. Odds wise it should be roughly a cointoss.

The more interesting fight for analysis is Garbrandt-Dillashaw. I think that will be an amazing fight on what's looking like a stacked card.

[PlanetOzzy]

Not really knowledgable about UFC but I am a part of Bisping's fantasy site that he opened last month.

Free money! It's playline.com

[TideRide]

Hicks,
Who's your pick in Garbrandt v. Dillashaw?

I think Garbrandt is younger and hits harder. Dillashaw is better on the ground. I'm going w/ Garbrandt because if he's trained with a legend with a strong wrestling pedigree like Uriah Faber you know he knows how to stop takedowns and maneuver his body out of the guard and back to standing.

I didn't know Bisping had knee surgery- if it was a major one that's bad news for him and those who are playing odds on him IMO. I agree with everything you said except Zahabi being overrated- Zahabis athletes aren't all on GSPs level in their weight classes (i.e. Nate Marquardt). GSP is an exception to the run of the mill athlete so it's easier for his coach to look good. Zahabis done pretty damn good to not come from a major fight town (like Vegas, LA, NYC, or Miami) with tons of opportunity to be a support coach (and learn his trade inside and out in order to develop into a top level head coach) for the big name camps in boxing and MMA. For a self-taught guy Zahabis a genius. Matt Hume is another favorite coach of mine-I love how he strategies with DJ and they work a lot of angles and footwork to maximize the effectiveness of the kickboxing given Humes background as a Champion Kickboxer turned martial arts gym owner and head coach.

In Thug Rose V. JJ-I see JJ having better odds but Rose may surprise us all with a late fight submission because she seems better than JJ at that and her stand up isn't junky but it's defintiely not as good as JJs. I think Rose has more of a killer instinct about her than other past opponents of JJs like Karolina Kowalkevich. Rose just has an X factor about her IMO BUT all of that may not be enough to beat JJ. Of all the fights-I'm most confident in Garbrandt over Dillashaw.

[Hicks]

I think Cody-TJ is close to a coinflip, but as such TJ is my biggest bet on the card. I bet him at 2.75 and if he goes much higher I may add more.

I also really like Duffy to beat Vick. I see it basically being a stand up battle where Duffy has faster hands, crisper technique, and is capable of taking advantage of Vick's tall guy defence.

Other bets with good value:

Anderson - 2.5
Oleynik/Blaydes doesn't go the distance - 1.5
Borrachina Rd 1 - 3.4

[PlanetOzzy]

I didn't watch the main event but did watch the first match of the prelims: Brown vs Gall. Brown completely dominated mostly because he was on top for the majority of the time. Just pure domination.

[TideRide]

That Cody-TJ fight was crazy. If TJ had raised his head a few inches more when Cody dropped him towards then end of Rd1 then it would've been over for him as Cody was looking for the KO throwing hooks at him as he scrambled to get out of being so open after getting dropped. Cody looked so good on highlight reels the way he would just obliterate other fighters with his punches but TJ outfoxed him. I think TJ has very good odds of beating DJ too.

Brown is really good. Gall is very tough and skilled and for Brown just put him away like that shows what a bad ass he really is. I liked that fight a lot. It just shows how elite of fighters/athletes some of these people out here are when they destroy someone that tough like it's just nothing. I really liked OSPs head kick KO also. That was like something Mirko Crocop or Sage Northcott would've done to somebody. I'm glad I picked Rose. I just knew she had that "killer instinct" about her and my gut instinct was right. She is relatively young and seems to just keep getting better and better every fight for several fights now.

Bisping should call out McGregor. It would be a fun fight for the combat sports World. Those two are the absolute best trash talkers/fight hype hustlers in all of the UFC right now. Their pre fight press conferences would be legendary if that fight ever went down. They should do it at catchweight between their current sizes. I will definitely miss Bisping when he retires. I hope he sticks around for 3-4 more years and gets some big $$$ fights. He's the best at fight hype IMO.

I think GSP looks better at 170 than 185. He did ok but like he said he's just not big enough to be fighting 15lbs heavier and they hit way harder even 15lbs up. Don't really know how he will beat Whitaker because Whitaker hits HARD and could definitely be known as the one who anhilated GSP but if anyone can find a way to pull that upset off it will be Firas Zahabi. That fight will be the biggest challenge of GSPs career and that's no exaggeration. He's lucky to have a great coach like Zahabi. After that one I hope he goes back to 170 and takes Woodleys belt. GSP has that bully in the clinch and scramble that can upset Woodleys style.

[Hicks]

(11-06-2017, 06:59 PM)TideRide Wrote: I really liked OSPs head kick KO also. That was like something Mirko Crocop or Sage Northcott would've done to somebody.

Surely this part is a joke?

[PlanetOzzy]

Bisping is gonna fight again in two weeks!!!!
Dude is freaking insane!

UFC shanghai vs kelvin gastelum

[TideRide]

I hear you man but Northcutt did have some KOs at the lower levels of the pros and even in the UFC. Go watch that old episode of "Dana Whites Loking for a Fight" on the UFCs YouTube channel where they went to Texas and Dana discovered Sage at some local pro MMA fights. The kicks he threw were devastating comparable (for his weight class) to what Cro Cop does. I mean the guy would kick all of our asses like a Jean Claude Van Damme movie in a street or pub brawl so, I respect him. My cousin was a top 5 ranked pro boxer a few years back and was very close to Northcutts weight class but was such a bad ass he could beat guys at bars and in the street (even bigger ones like me) like they were nothing. These pro fighters are on an whole new level with what they are capable of in any fight (pro sport or street/self-defense). They really are walking deadly weapons.


218 will be here soon too-I'm for Overeem because I've always liked that Dutch kick boxing style like Bas Rutten and The Reem have- it's equally beautiful and destructive and is a total joy to watch. The Reem is a better fighter than Ngganou and has fought much higher caliber fighters but I know how fast boxers are and how kick boxers sometimes sloppily drop their hands while doing their attacks so I'm concerned The Reem could get sloppy and get caught with a KO shot. I think his best bet is to circle the octagon and land some good leg kicks and body shots in the 1st round to slow Ngganou down and then go for a Thai clinch style KO like what he did with Lesnar or go for a takedown and submission. Overeems are great striker but you don't want to get into a full on exchange with someone whose got one shot KO punches like Ngganou.
I was for Frankie Edgar but he got hurt so now Holloway will probably beat Aldo. I'm defintiely an Aldo fan but today's Aldo likely isn't the same KO artist we saw 3-4 years ago.



Yeah, I agree about that being crazy of Bisping. He was cut up and his face very swollen and purple. He would need two weeks at least to recover from a beating like that maybe even an entire month. Bisping has been trending hard on social media for doing that-my guess he's using all the attention as part of a plan to request a big $$$$ fight like McGregor. Bisping vs. McGregor would have amazing prefight hype/trash talk because those two are the best at it and would be interesting to see happen -given the history between England and Ireland.

I think GSP will duck out of fighting Robert Whitaker (probably the best 185er) and drop back to 170 because he said after the Bisping fight in his octagon interview that he could really feel a difference with how hard they hit at 185. Woodley will be far from a picnic for GSP and looks better (KO power,cardio, wrestling) than anyone GSP has ever fought. This one could be the fight to retire GSP for good. It will take absolutely everything GSPs got to beat Woodley. Id probably put my money on Woodley for that one.