UFC 137: GSP VS Condit

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube;MXmLZGbmE8o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmLZGbmE8o&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[Ben]

New Poster for the event. Gotta be the 5th show in the last 6 moths that had a main event change had a run of bad luck lately :

 

[No More Sorrow]

Yeah but atleast it wasn't a total loss as Diaz is still fighting on the card as is GSP. I'd perfer them to fight each other but whatever ha.

 

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube;gKitR4BYQmA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKitR4BYQmA&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

[Ben]

And another main event bites the dust............

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has suffered a knee injury and will not fight Carlos Condit at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That's according to UFC President Dana White, who today tweeted the horrific news:

I just land in NYC and what do I always say!? I have to deal with bad shit everyday!! GSP is out with an injury!!! It's GSP'S knee. We will sit Carlos to wait for GSP. It's looking so far like he could be ready in a couple months. Still early to tell tho

Condit will not lose his opportunity to fight St. Pierre for the title and will instead be riding the pine, for however long, as the Canadian is in no "Rush" to commit to a return date.
In their absence, the welterweight scrap between Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn is now the new headliner, which is ironic, considering how everything transpired and yet Diaz is once again main-eventing the UFC 137 pay-per-view.
This is certainly a crippling blow to what was widely considered one of the most anticipated events of the year

Still Condit gets the shot once GSP is back, but it's looking like he''ll be out until February or March.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Damnit.

 

[No More Sorrow]

At this point in time it should come as no surprise that Nick Diaz doesn’t play by the rules.

This afternoon is just the most recent example of that.

Today the UFC scheduled their typical pre-fight media call and scheduled to appear was BJ Penn, Nick Diaz, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo. All fighters, except Nick Diaz, took the time out of their schedules to talk to the media and field questions about next week’s UFC 137 pay-per-view event.

With the fight just 10-days out, Nick is still up to his old antics. The next stop on the media tour will be the pre-fight press conference next Wednesday in Las Vegas. All things considered, one has to wonder if he will continue on his road of silence and missed appearances or if he will start to play the game come fight week.

With the absence of Diaz, Penn took the call over by himself and answered many questions from the media. He confirmed the UFC has not approached him about a five round fight. He stated that he thinks Nick Diaz has the best boxing in all of MMA and he had nothing but good things to say about his UFC 137 opponent.

We will have the Audio of the call hosted shortly for your listening pleasure

BJPenn.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

With the news that UFC 137 lost its original main event, the entire card has been reshuffled to accommodate the absence of GSP vs. Condit.

First on the list, was filling the main-event slot with Penn vs. Diaz and now the UFC has apparently decided on their co-headliner and it comes in the form of a heavyweight attraction between Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo.

“UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz” is set to take place on October 29th from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view event was set to feature a welterweight championship bout between George St Pierre and Carlos Condit. However GSP was forced to withdraw with a knee injury and in his place will come BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz.

Kongo was last seen in action in a first round knockout over Mitrione’s teammate, Pat Barry at last month’s UFC on Versus 4 main event. The win marked the end of a two fight losing streak to both Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir respectively.

Mitrione will look to avenge his teammate’s loss and keep his momentum going since his time on The Ultimate Fighter reality series. The undefeated heavyweight has taken out every fighter the UFC has put in front of him including, Kimbo Slice, Joey Beltran, Tim Hague and most recently Christian Morecraft.

BJPEnn.com

 

[Ben]

Diaz better not screw anymore of these media appearances up. Don't need him getting bumped off the card.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Yeah i just read another report that said he showed up, but like an hour late so idk. But yeah, agree with you one main event was already fucked. I'd hate to see this one get scrapped because of him being a prick.

 

[No More Sorrow]

And just now thinking about it, The GSP/Condit fight was going to be great. But the card is still pretty decent with out that fight, we're still getting, Penn/Diaz, Kongo/Mitrone and Big Country Roy Nelson and Cro Cop and a few others, so it's not a total loss here.

 

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube;XLhgKAkhcI4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLhgKAkhcI4&feature=player_embedded#![/video]

 

[Troy]

I was pumped for this card but ever since GSP vs. Condit was cancelled I am not that interested in it anymore. It feels more like a live tv special than a PPV.

Penn vs. Diaz isn't a headline fight and I think that it will be pretty one sided with Diaz winning. The two heavyweight fights should be okay but I am not expecting many fireworks especially with Nelson fighting.

 

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube;x-gGPaOdTH8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x-gGPaOdTH8[/video]

 

[No More Sorrow]

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn is too old for this you-know-what.

He's still a proud man and a fighter. But he's a father of two now, and has children to keep in check the flare-ups of emotion that would have landed him in hot water three years ago. He can't go flying off at the handle at any slight. He is measured because he is responsible.

In short, he's an adult. At 32, he ought to be.

Few of the haters that seem to follow him everywhere have undergone such transformation. Even after all these years, they still dole out criticism that attacks his motivation, his skills, his background. And it's those nice people that give him the motivation to do his best in the gym.

"I'm sure it's constructive at times, but they light a fire under my butt," Penn today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

The haters seem to have taken a break this time around for Penn's fight this weekend at UFC 137, and in no small part because of the opponent he faces. Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz seems to suck all the air out of the room in any of his current ventures, and just as much or more for his misbehavior outside the cage as inside it. His appeal is that he just doesn't give a you-know-what. He'll fight you in the octagon or the laundromat. He is street; no kids at home here.

Indeed, much of the standard publicity for the fight has been thrown out the window because of the problems that have surrounded it, Diaz or otherwise. Penn was originally scheduled to meet Condit. That went out the window when Diaz no-showed a press conference (again, sucking air). Condit got champ St-Pierre, and Penn got Diaz. After all that, St-Pierre withdrew with a knee injury, and by default, Penn and Diaz got thrust into the headliner and the spotlight – with all of a week to get the fans used to the idea.

They're just now getting used to it themselves. It's not an entirely comfortable situation, and one where the former training partners have no choice in the matter. This time around, the job overtakes the passion that might come from rivalry.

But at the same time, it might be a good thing for Penn. At the very least, he doesn't need to worry that Diaz will fight in the way that prompts a flare-up: the ground and pound, hold-you-down artist.

Penn has long championed the idea of keeping the "fight" in ultimate fighting, and it's an easy sell when, as a fan, you're forced to watch a molasses-slow positional war inside the cage. He also says there's also an economic reasoning behind his logic. It's one he might not have grasped without children in his life.

"I think at the end of the day, it's hard for me to talk about this because some fighters, that's really all they have," he said. "They cannot do anything else. They're going out there (and) they want to put food on their table and feed their families.

"So really, talking about things like this, you're talking about taking food off their tables. With the way the rules are right now, it's giving [wrestlers] a big advantage, and that's it. That's life, and we as fighters who want to finish the fight have to train extra hard and prepare more to make sure that doesn't happen."

Penn gets to take a break from that mentality, at least for now. Diaz will march straight forward and start throwing punches. A takedown might find its way into the fight, and on the mat, the two will grapple to see who is better on the ground. But whoever is on top, he won't wait it out there. Motion will follow.

Penn's critics are nowhere to be found when this happens. They don't attack him when he fights to finish and fights with passion. They attack him when he delivers anything less.

The ex-champ fights for a different reason now, and you can see that in his demeanor. There are others to fight for and other reasons to perform well. It's financial, sure, but it's also about keeping intact the spirit of his lifelong passion. It's about doing the best you can at your chosen pursuit. Having fun isn't bad, either. Diaz, simply put, offers a fun fight.

All that other noise? Save it for the young guys.

UFC 137 takes place Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Main-card action airs live on pay-per-view while preliminary fights air live on Spike TV and stream on Facebook.

MMAJunkie.com