I saw this week a video in which Dana White supposedly revealed all the behind-the-scenes reasons for the cancellation of UFC 151. All I have to say is it’s enough already about the cancelled card. It’s gone, it’s old news. People are continuing to blame other people. It’s cancelled, it’s over, let’s move on.
Having said that, it has left a bit of a lull in action in the MMA world, so there isn’t a ton of stuff to blog about. The biggest piece of news has been the potential GSP-Silva super-fight. It’s been a quiet couple weeks, so I guess people are trying to match up the fight. I just don’t think it will happen. I really don’t.
I’ll believe it when I see it, regardless of what Dana White says. We know Georges St-Pierre is a calculating guy. Obviously Silva wants the fight because it’s heavily in his favour because he’s much bigger. I know Georges walks around at about 200 pounds, but Anderson walks around at about 230 pounds, he’s just a much bigger individual. I agree with Freddie Roach who says he doesn’t think St-Pierre will take the fight because of the size difference.
I’ve said it before, if you take really good guy at 170 pounds and put him against a bum at a heavier weight, the smaller guy would win. But if you put two equally skilled guys, the bigger guy is always going to win. And that’s even assuming that GSP and Silva are equally skilled. I think Georges is a much better wrestler, but Anderson is much better standing than Georges, and being bigger it will be harder to take St-Pierre down.
I think Silva poses a lot of problems for Georges. We’ve seen Anderson knock out guys at 205 pounds. I just don’t see it being a smart fight for Georges. And I’m not sure he has a lot to gain from the fight. But I don’t know what’s going on in Georges’ mind.
The UFC of course has a ton to gain. It will be a blockbuster pay-per-view wise and attendance wise. The UFC is a business, they want to put on mega fights, which means mega dollars. Dana White loves mega dollars. But I think it will be a harder time convincing Georges and his camp.
And of course that’s all assuming that Georges comes back from his injury and beats Carlos Condit. We just don’t know what will happen. Look at Diego Sanchez. He disappeared for a while, then came back and hasn’t been as good. Sometimes layoffs haven’t been great for great fighters. Georges we know is addicted to training, as evidenced by his physique and how he’s always fit, so who knows how he’ll be when he comes back.
On the other hand, the layoff may have been good for him to refocus. I wonder if prior to the injury whether he had lost his desire to fight. Anyone doing this for as long as he has, it can happen. I know, he and I have been fighting since about the same time. As much as you enjoy fighting, after time it becomes like a job. This injury may have just recharged his batteries, reinvigorated him, and he’ll be mentally ready to fight again. We’ll have to wait to see if his body responds the same way.
But has anybody considered the possibility that he comes back after this injury and loses? What happens to him from there? What happens if he loses two fights in a row? I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but it’s something to think about. Just to be clear, I’m not on an anti-GSP kick here, I’m just playing devil’s advocate.
Aside from this, the biggest news in my MMA world this week was the passing of Wyatt Lewis, a well known jiu-jitsu instructor and mixed martial artist here in Alberta and a man I would consider a friend. He was stabbed over the weekend while protecting some buddies.
I trained with Wyatt, myself and a group of guys, him being one of them, for the better part of a couple years. I knew him long before I was in the UFC. He was a great guy. He was one of those unassuming guys who didn’t look like a fighter, didn’t act like a fighter, but he was extremely talented. He was a wealth of jiu-jitsu and MMA knowledge, a great mixed martial artist.
I had lost touch with him, but I was shocked when a mutual friend told me what had happened. He is not the type of guy who would be causing problems, but it doesn’t surprise me that this happened as a result of him sticking up for a buddy.
It’s unfortunate in our society that you can’t go to a movie for fear of being shot, or you can’t go out for a drink with friends for fear of being stabbed. It’s just tragic that husband and father goes out for a night to innocently have a good time and ends up losing his life.
There will be a memorial service for him on Friday in Calgary, but I’m sad I’m going to miss it because I’m already scheduled to fly to Toronto to teach a CrossFit seminar in Milton. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and close friends.