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This is Koscheck's face immediately after his fight with Hendricks.

What do you see?

I see a pretty bruised up orbital which automatically triggers the question: Is it broken again? Koscheck's expression seem to suggest something is definitely critical about his eye. That picture was taken before the official announcement, we can't blame the judge's decision for this very concerned and devastated look on his face. To me, this picture tells me that he knows his eye socket is broken again and that he fears the consequences. A corrective operation? Several ones? Another long period of time on the sidelines? Permanent damages? Career ending injury?

I see all that in this picture. I see a whole lot of anguish. What do you see? Is there a doctor in the room?

The verbatim transcripts you are about to read reveal the intricate behind the scenes communications between Dana White and the various parties involved.

Pause.

It is all a product of my imagination. No phones were hacked, no privacy invasions were committed, I don't know any of these anonymous people, and any resemblance with actual phone conversations would be purely coincidental.

It's a waste of time to you but it's mma related and I get to put my sentence structures and grammar to test. Flag me.

Pause.

Bitches.

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In light of BJ Penn's recent behavior, I realized there had to be a reason for BJ to go after Cesar Gracie like he did. All foolish actions are suspect to me. BJ can't possibly be saying these things without reason. There is a plan behind this apparent PR disaster. I have never heard so many people put BJ down since he started this whole verbal assault on Gracie and his boy Nick. Something is up.

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I love mma. I love Frankie Edgar.

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I got asked that question recently and it really got me thinking about it. It all comes down to who we have as welterweight contenders. Who will be left out there saying GSP is running away from them to fight an easier opponent in Anderson Silva (oh yeah! you'll be hearing madness of that kind). So, who do we have?

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Carlos Condit

He has to be on top of the list for winning over  Jake Ellenberger (you may or may not agree with the decision) and for finishing his last three fights (mma fans value that shit more than anything else nowadays it seems). Problem solved as St-Pierre is fighting him this October 29 and if everything goes like the Oracle and Ulf Murphy said, Condit will get dominated on the ground resulting in another scandalous dominating decision for Georges. Le's move along.

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Jake Ellenberger.

Finishing  Jake Shields in dramatic fashion 53 seconds into the first round. Now that's our guy. I can not possibly imagine Ellenberger being happy about GSP moving up a weight class without giving him the chance to prove he's the real deal. He will whine about it and will forever claim he could have beaten GSP. I, for one, cannot live with that and I'm sure St-Pierre is not comfortable with that very idea either. I believe Ellenberger to be a massive contender that must be dealt with. GSP has to take him out of the equation or risk having him claim undeserved credit for years to come. That being established, let's move down the ladder and see what else is there.

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Nick Diaz.

Yes, that punk. I wanted to see that fight happen as much as any of you. It didn't happen because Homie is scared of crowds, or questions, or reporters, or what have you not. Most of us know Diaz didn't stand half a chance in that one. but we all still wanted to see it with our own eyes. What to do with this guy? My verdict is to hell with him. He had his chance and blew it. If in the future he is delusional enough to claim he could have beaten the great GSP (that sounds about right yes?) then we'll remind him that fools with zero sense of responsibilities should shut the fuck up. I know I will. Now, this shit goes deeper, bear with me.

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BJ Penn.

Oh boy! The thought crosses my mind, maybe I shouldn't even talk about that possibility. Or should I? If it weren't for Deuce, I'd be going on a major rant about that whinny Hawaiian little brat right now but, alas, I have grown to appreciate that MMA Mania BJ fan thus I will not offend his feelings in this piece. No sir. Not me. Talk about it amongst yourselves if you must but I will not touch the subject with a ten foot pole. Maybe Jay can step in here and show us why that would be madness to set that fight up. 

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Jon Fitch.

Even if he claims he would have beaten GSP in a rematch had he not moved to middleweight, he won't have enough credibility nor enough fan affection for it to gain any momentum. He will always be remembered as St-Pierre's inferior. Don't get me wrong though, I'd love to see that fight take place for the time they met in the octagon happens to be  my favorite fight of all time. It's just that time is running out and we can't spare precious time on another massive domination however beautiful and enjoyable it may be. There will not be an uproar over Fitch not getting his second ass whooping.

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via mmaaddicts.com

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via urdirt.com

via mmaaddicts.com

Who else is there? I see none. Johnny Hendricks? You build that case, not me. Kampmann? Haha! Hathaway? I see what you mean but still, I'm not buying it. Sanchez? I will request a break right fucking now. Story? Pierce? In better circumstances i'd say yes but as I said higher up, time is running out and Silva is aging, not getting younger. St-Pierre moving up might just be a very good news to them or so I think.

In conclusion, Carlos Condit is a problem that is being taken care of as I write these lines, Ellenberger must be dealt with right after. Fuck Diaz, he should have been wiser. You decide if he must rematch BJ Penn, not me. Fitch and the rest can take a hike for all I care. 

Since Anderson Silva is dominating the middleweight division with ease, I think he can sit tight until Ellenberger (and maybe BJ Penn) is shot down in flames before that super fight takes place. 

What say you?

I've often thought of kickboxing as the forerunner discipline of mixed martial arts. A combination of boxing and karate, it was the real deal to me before the Gracies took it a few steps further later on. 

I grew up in the 80's and got into karate at an early age where I quickly found out who Jean-Yves Theriault was. In fact, I was no less a fan of his back then than I am of GSP today if that means anything to you. I believe Theriault's career can be an inspiration to anyone training and competing in mma today. I also think anyone interested in combat sport history should at least have a minimal knowledge of what that man has accomplished in his career. 

I've put off doing this fanpost for a long time now, today is the day, I hope you enjoy it.

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RINGSIDE MMA 10 was held Saturday night (April 9, 2011) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The main event featured a battle between two former UFC fighters, Patrick Cote and Kalib Starnes. It was the first fight for "The Predator" since being released from the UFC in Nov. 2010 following his third consecutive loss inside the Octagon.

After losing the first round, Cote unleashed punches and kicks, as well as a late takedown to win rounds two and three en route to a unanimous decision victory over "The Running Man."

It marked the first win for the Montreal striker since 2008, which clearly felt good ... and different:

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Red Carpet Premiere- The Striking Truth (via KahL1One)

I came across this tonight and I thought some of you fine maniacs might be interested. I think the very end of this video will make some of you laugh. I actually suspect this guy to be a regular on MMA Mania. If I had never met OJR, I would have sworn this was actually him there asking a question. It's a long video so if you have no interest in the movie The Striking Truth that is coming out soon, skip it. I ,for one, can't wait to see this movie. I have tried to keep my expectations to a bare minimum but after watching this, I just know it's gonna be awesome. How about you? Are you looking forward to it?

In a n interview with Ariel Helwani, welterweight champion Georges Rush St-Pierre revealed bits of information that indicates the pressure from the fans is getting to him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWa25Z2Dygk&feature=recentu

via tylerenglishblog.com

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I had a discussion the other day with Montrealers about the possibility of Koscheck setting up the ground for yet again another long night of violence on Ste-Catherine's Street. Maybe it's a very far-fetched idea but not so much when you consider the past. 

Here's a very brief History of Riots in the streets of Montreal.

The 1849 Montreal Riot:

A new government is formed by the Reformers, The Tories and their partisans, relegated to the role of opposition and who feel threatened by the new political influence French population now has on government take to the streets of Montreal and burn down the parliament. 

The 1955 Montreal Riot:

Montreal Canadiens hockey superstar and pride of a nation Maurice Richard is suspended for the rest of the season and the man behind the decision and NHL president, Clarence Campbell  feels he has to attend the Canadiens' next home game against the Red Wings. At the end of the first period, a tear gas bomb was set off inside the Forum, not far from where Campbell was sitting. The Forum is evacuated and a destructive and violent riot ensues in the streets of Montreal throughout the night. Hundreds of stores were looted and vandalized within a 15-block radius of the Forum. Twelve policemen and 25 civilians were injured. 

The 1992 Montreal Riot:

James Hetfield is injured by a piece of show pyrotechnics early in Metallica's Olympic Stadium concert. The crowd has to settle with Guns and Roses to make it worth the wait and ticket price. Axel Rose comes up short and calls it quit for unclear reasons and leaves the stage setting up another monstrous riot.

The 1993 Montreal Riot:

The Montreal Canadiens hockey team wins the Stanley Cup = stores are looted and police cruisers are set ablaze. The riots causes $2.5 million dollars in damage. At the high point of the riot 980 officers were dispatched.

The 2008 Montreal Riot:

The Montreal Canadiens win a playoff round = What else? 16 police cars and 10 downtown building vandalized.

The 2010 Montreal Riot:

the Montreal Canadiens win another playoff round =  Mayhem in the streets. Police in riot gear hurls tear gas and uses batons to disperse the crowd. At least two-dozen people were arrested and two officers are hurt. Point of interest: throughout the evening in the Bell Center messages were broadcast featuring mixed-martial arts fighter Georges St-Pierre urging fans to celebrate with respect and dignity.

The 2010 Josh Koscheck Montreal Riot (possible scenario) :

After getting poked in the eye by Josh Koscheck, Georges St-Pierre can't see the the big right hand coming and gets knocked unconscious. The crowd who saw everything on the giant screen yells it's anger at the referee for not stopping the fight in time. Koscheck gives the crowd the finger and says: "What now Montreal? Where's your hero now?" What follows is unclear. Someone attempts a flying knee on Dana White and misses, the knee lands on Bruce Buffer who was hiding behind the president. Joe Rogan can't help but marvel at the technique employed until he himself gets caught in a rear naked choke and goes to sleep. Jason Miller who's sitting rink side gets jumped by the Diaz Brothers. Fans try to rip both of Dan Hardy's arms off but unsuccessfully. Koscheck rolls on the floor faking an injury hoping no one notices him. Patrick Cote grabs the microphone and tries to calm everybody down, the mob will have none of it, he gets violently dogpiled. The violence eases for a few minutes when Arriany Celeste decides to take her top off only for it to get worse when Borck Lesnar is seen throwing running punches at fans. Lights go off. Montreal is cordoned and declared a war zone. India uses the confusion to invade Pakistan.   

Of course I don't predict any of that to happen, just having fun. 

A question for Maniacs though:

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I've been a big fan of Lookoutawhale for quite some time now but with this latest GSP highlight video http://vimeo.com/13858460, I now view him as one of the best video editors out there. I highly recommend you take a look at his other pieces of work on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/lookoutawhale. He's a pure genius. If you're not a GSP fan, look out! You just might become one!

The question is legit and I don't want to see any of you start busting my balls because you think otherwise.  I don't think a defeat at the hands of a BJJ master is so dramatic. It's no the loss that got me worried, it's his apparent poor conditioning. I understand he never was the perfect image of an athlete but, to see him so fat and out of shape makes me think maybe he's not into it as much anymore. I wish he gets to fight many more fights but I am concerned he could end his career much sooner than expected. It's all speculative and hypothetical  yeah yeah whatever shut up man. I just want to know. What's your gut feeling on that?   

via media.ufc.tv

I have to confess right off the bat that I enjoyed that fight very much and was impressed by Kampmann's performance. Every instant of the fight reminded me of another great fight: St-Pierre vs Hardy. Many here on Mania (let's not name them) did not hesitate one second to describe GSP's last performance as boring, cowardly and disappointing because it was mostly a ground game and went to a decision. If you're a regular on this site, you know all too well who I'm talking about here. Now all I want is to hear them say the same about Kampmann's last performance. Nothing more, nothing less and here is why:

Kampmann did against Thiago everything GSP did against Hardy.

But before I go any further in my demonstration, I will say this before anyone else feels the need to say it: Both performances, albeit very similar as I will expose, were not purely identical mainly because of these facts:

1. The Kampmann-Thiago fight was not a championship fight which means that it was a three round fight as opposed to the five rounder fight of GSP-Hardy. A big difference because their cardio and conditioning were not tested equally and because Kampmann had two less rounds to finish Thiago. 

2. A larger percentage of the kampmann-Thiago fight was on the feet, 35% for Kampman and 16% for GSP-Hardy. You might think that's a big difference but remember that it's only 75 more seconds of stand up than in GSP-Hardy fight.   

3. Contrary to Kampmann St-Pierre took absolutely zero damage from Hardy. Small difference as Kampmann took all of Thiago's big right hand strikes without flinching at all.  

4. GSP was never taken down a single time by Hardy (not to be confused with reversals). Small difference here again because Kampmann was only taken down one single time (beautifully) by Paulo.

Now that I have laid out the most noticeable differences, let's take a look at the striking similarities .

St-Pierre and Kampmann both did this:

1.  They assumed the role of the aggressor from the first second to the last of their fight, never letting up, always pushing forward.

2. They took their opponent down repeatedly and assumed control with efficient grappling.

3. They connected cleanly a few times with fast jabs and punches to the head.

4. They attempted several dangerous but unsuccessful submissions on a very resilient and tough fighter.

5. They made a few mistakes that saw them lose position and find themselves with their back on the mat but reversed the situation very quickly each single time.

6. They demonstrated flawless cardio and conditioning, never slowing down one second.

7. They dominated their opponent both positionally and on the scorecard.

8. They nullified all of their opponent's offences and were never in any danger.

9. They were fighting a strategically one-dimensional fighter who was solely looking for the big knock-out.

10. They were both going into the fight with respectable records, 16-3 for Kampmann and 19-2 for St-Pierre and they both improved on it.

Now what conclusions should we pull from all that? Was Kampmann's last fight boring? Is Kampmann a dry-humping coward for choosing to expose Paulo Thiago's inferior ground skills? Should kampmann be blamed for not finishing Paulo? Should Kampmann have used a Chuck Liddell-type strategy and get knocked the crap out?  

Or

Is Kampmann a true fighter worthy of your admiration for spending a full minute and a quarter more on his feet than GSP did against Hardy?

It's your call maniacs. If any form of logic is respected by the GSP-Hardy fight bashers, they have to come forward now and and lay the same accusations on Martin Kampmann. That's a big "if" I know but I'm curious to find out if they have any consistency in their judgement. 

via sports-odds.com

We haven't seen a lot of it in his last five fights it must be granted. The problem is, he can't help sit a carelessly swinging fool down on his ass. When you have such a powerful and effective weapon, you use it and rightly so but that is another debate.

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Although we didn't see much of it, that is not to say his stand up striking  was nonexitent. We saw him drop both Fitch and Alves and seriously connect on Hardy and Penn all the while taking absolute zero damage. His footwork is almost as good as the legendary(!) Frankie Edgar. He has strong legs constantly on the move, never still. He extends his jab really far and quickly too. His superman jab appears to be a big asset in his arsenal along with the more traditional superman punch, the big right hand, the spinning kicks and punches. His one-two punch combination followed by the leg kick has been used in all of his last 5 fights. As we saw with Penn, Fitch and Hardy, GSP often goes for body shots with accuracy. You name it, he throws it. He had no problem with anybody's clinch (except maybe with Alves where he preferred to push back more). As for his chin, since that Serra punch (I'll let somebody else mention where exactly it landed) he has shrugged off everything that has been thrown at him. His chin is rock solid and reliable.

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It's fair to say St-Pierre is running a tight ship in his training. Every variable of the equation is analyzed and every systemic anomaly (this one's for you Matrix fans) is solved.

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Albeit complete and polished, GSP's stand up striking is not perfect. For one,  his head movement needs more work. He takes too many inoffensive yet unnecessary shots to the head. Secondly, his power does not kill. He smashed  Fitch, Alves and Penn and had them hanging by a thread yet they all survived (at least survived long enough to quit). Did he lose some striking power when he turned monster wrestler? Maybe. Does GSP still have the killer instinct? Maybe not, as we saw with Hardy.  If he manages to slip more punches and knock out  someone dead cold soon, we'll be ready to talk about near stand up perfection.

Finally, the best scenario would be a Shields fight. That would be a dream fight for me as we would see St-Pierre do to Shields what Henderson did except GSP would not get tired and he certainly wouldn't get taken down unwillingly. Let's all pray for Shields to make the move to the UFC because no matter who wins, Koscheck or Daley, the motherf'er will get taken down. And that will be that.

via www.cagetoday.com

What's next for the prodigy? Now that he can no longer be considered the best lightweight in MMA, I don't see him fighting anymore. A move to welterweight prehaps? I think that would be very unlikely. The BJ myth is now busted. If Penn couldn't take Edgar down, does anyone in here believe he could take Fitch, Alves or Koscheck down? The answer is a reasonding no. Does anyone still consider him in the top 5 pound for pound? After losing to Frankie Edgar? 

It's too late in his career to fix the holes in his game I believe, it's all downhill from here for Penn. he will take the easy way out and announce his retirement in the next few weeks (quitting, we all know, is not a problem for him) He had a good run, but it's all over now. What do you guys think? 

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How good are BJ's takedowns? How many has he performed in the last two years? One? Two? If he needs to, will he pull it off against edgar? i think that is a legitimate question what say you? Of course, maybe he doesn't neet any take down offence but what if he needs to? What if Edgar is faster than expected on his feet?

So maniacs, what do you think?

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Because these affirmations will continue to pop up in the threads, I think it's time we start to make an inventory and assign numbers to at least each of the most outrageous ones. Did I forget some? Let me know. Do you agree with some? Go nuts. You feel like debating one of those guys? Have fun. 

So without further ado, here are the truly unique gems of insanity I have collected over the past months

#1.    "GSP is afraid to stand and strike."

#2.    "GSP uses roids because he doesn't get fat between fights."

#3.    "GSP did not challenge himself by fighting lesser competition like Alves,Fitch and Penn."

#4.    "GSP did not finish BJ Penn at UFC 94."

#5.    "GSP is afraid to move up in wheight. He hides at 170."

#6.    "GSP is predictable."

#7.    "GSP is weak mentally."

#8.    "GSP just lays on opponents."

#9.    "GSP has a weak chin."

#10.  "GSP is boring to watch." 

One last thing, if you're a BJ Penn fan, make sure to rec (not wreck) this fan post.