@Seoul Bro - I thought the exact same thing when Hardy was in that armbar. I hope someone asks GSP about it. Personally I'm kind of glad he didn't. I don't see how anyone would benefit from it.

@Keyser Soze - I can respect what you're saying, but Shotokan is not mma. Nor is wrestling, nor is boxing, nor is hockey etc.

I want to see pelligrino/maynard. Just saying...

I always find it entertaining how people can see the same fight, but view it from varying perspectives.

GSP's returning from an eight month layoff due to injury, and fought a technically sound gameplan. Taking Hardy down repeatedly and working for position and submission wasn't a question of "if he can do it". Everyone knew he could. His cardio was there, his takedowns were pretty much 100%, and he controlled the octogon and his opponent with ease, and took no damage. I would've fought the exact same fight (were I GSP), and for those that find him boring, put up or shut up.

As far as Kos vs. Fitch, if you want to fight for the title, you've got to earn it. If that means fighting a teammate, so be it. After all, the fighters are "professionals", right? If hurting a teammate ends up being an unfortunate side result, so be it. If they don't like it, they can go sell shoes or pack boxes or flip burgers, whatever.

Kos doesn't coach Fitch and vice versa, they help each other prepare, there's a big difference. To whomever said "Obviously you've never competed...." you're an idiot. Many moons ago when I fought competitvely in karate (shotokan, if it matters), our sensei had us train at a level close to full contact, to avoid the possibility of practicing with love taps in the dojo only to be KO'd by a real punch or kick in a tournament. In our dojo we had very, very few female martial artists and they really had no choice but to spar with the guys./men, and she was treated the same as everyone else.

If the rest of us took it easy on her, she and our sensei would've both been insulted and her level of improvement would have been much slower. FWIW, did I enjoy kicking a woman in the head? Not really. Was it personal? Not at all. Was it necessary? Yes.

I've fought friends and training partners many many times. I've lost fights and won fights. We're still friends, and if it ever came to the point of straining or damaging a "friendship" and camaraderie in the club, I guess it wouldn't have been all that strong to start with. Hell, I'll fight my younger brother (who outweighs me by almost sixty pounds) when things get heated or out of hand in a drunken stupor. I'll fight him out of sheer boredom if he's so inclined. Win or lose, he's still my brother. Respect and maturity go a long way in the fight game, and in life.

IMO the UFC is better off not having Kos vs. Fitch. At the rate these current champs are running through their divisions the UFC would be smart to have 2 or 3 contenders waiting in wings. As much as I want to see Cain vs. JDS the UFC now has 3 legit contenders waiting to take on Lesnar and won't have to worry about running into a situation like they did @ MW when Vitor got hurt.
Also, how long before we're having this teammate vs teammate talk about Jon Jones/Rashad Evans?

So, why not look into a team competition, someone else will have to do the homework cause I'm fairly wasted, however, for example ATTv's AKA, put forward your best man in each weight division,promote it and pump it, you could replace TUF with this style of challenge, say 3 monthly PPV's preceded by TUF style footage, whatever belts each team were holding would be on the line, and huge bragging rights for winning team.
Remainder of PPV's remain in the same format as now....just saying

Or there is something to be said for the person willing to do that. Yes, it ended badly for diego, so bad in fact he never made it to GSP and left the division beaten. So, a lot of good it did him. Making issue of the people that don't want to have to fight their friends is silly.

Make no mistake, Dana hasnt pushed the Fitch vs Kos fight because he wants to see a great fight. He hates AKA and seeing that camp destroyed would please him greatly. He's stirring this up to get support but I don'y give two shits about seeing people forced to fight out of "company policy".

I agree with KJGoulds. GSP said teamates fighting each other is something he could never do because in order to have that killer instinct, you must be fighting with no fear of hurting your opponent. When you're close to people, as teamates usually are, he said it would be impossible.

I get none of this teamates fighting teamates shit. I give a shit about seeing Kosh and Fitch fighting, Rashad and Jardine ect ect, I don't want to see anybody fighting that doesnt want to fight. Forcing friends to fight is just gotdamn creepy.

@ That Guy Did you miss Silva vs Cote or Silva vs. Leites

Bens, I watched the fights with a Brazilian friend and as it happens, Palhares did not apologize. That was tactfully added to the translation by Murillo Bustamante.

Re: GSP, is it just me or does it seem like he's the only UFC champ not finishing fights? (Not counting Machida since IMO Shogun is the uncrowned champ) Fighting not to lose his belt isn't gonna win him more fans but hey, he's making that Gatorade money now so fuck 'em if they don't like it.

Diego Sanchez left Jacksons MMA when GSP arrived so he could get a shot at the title - there's something to be said for aspirations to greatness (regardless of how badly it ended for Diego) and what you're willing to do to achieve them.

@MediumRare

Fair enough, but I think they are compteting (or should be). They are the same weight and there's only one belt. If they both weren't so near the top of thier division, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but they have been and are the best approximations of contenders at that weight.

If they do continue to hold this mentality, then maybe one of them should leave the UFC. No joke...a closed door match and loser moves on to Strikeforce or whatever other organization might be out there. They could remain teammates and never worry about having to fuck each other up for a title shot.

And I'm willing to put our differences aside to agree on your last point. I don't care if those two are long lost brothers separated at birth, that fight needs to happen.

@ All dumbasses
Think of it like marriage. When you hump your wife she is actually just preparing you to fuck the shit out of other women. If she were to fuck those women you meet at the sleezy bars that would just be perverted. Hot but perverted.

The wife's job (other than cooking and cleaning) is to train you, then step back and bask in the glory of you blasting every vagina within a 10 mile radius.

You're welcome.

@MediumRare: Beating a teammate in a closed-door bout is one thing. Doing it in a room full of extra-Y chromosomal fans (notwithstanding the television audience) is a different thing entirely. How many times have we all heard some jagoff fighter say "I'd fight him for free." Uh huh. On top of that, what if the fight is in a sports arena with tens of thousands of seats filled? That sort of thing can make a fighter choke and not in a good way.

@ T_Durden
Yes, it is simple. And, yes, it does boil down to priorities. And any fighter that thinks his priorities trump those of his entire team is not going to benefit from or contribute to his team in any significant way. Btw, this is the interwebs - this is where we throw around comments based on others' character flaws. Haven't you noticed?

@Seoul Bro
Solid point. Fighters will always wonder if they can beat a training partner. But the only way to establish if you can beat a teammate is in a closed-door bout. It won't make money. It won't earn you a belt. But it will answer the question without your career on the line. And it will answer the question without compromising the trust of your teammate.

@rlh61
Answer: No, if one was the champ the other wouldn't fight for the title. You haven't heard a guy refuse to wrestle off for a position on the team because they're competing. They're not helping the other prepare for a bout. Big difference.

The teammate should step back and not contend for the title. They should take satisfaction (and % of fight purse) in their teammate's success.

Exception: Anderson Silva and Machida. They should fight simply 'cause it would be awesome. Fuck loyalty. Lol.

hardy vs alves should be a good one

I agree with Seoul Brother's first comment, i think that is exactly what happened, GSP knew he wasn't really under any pressure and enjoyed the challenge of Hardys better than expected Ju-Jitsu, knowing that he was on course for a successful defence.

If the point of the Jersey venue was to show New York what it was missing then the last thing the UFC needed was someone getting an arm snapped.

We all know that it's part of the game and it's what the fighters sign up for but the uneducated element of the public probably would have misunderstood it's significance and the boxing guys and their media would have jumped all over it.

fitch = white okami

- why the crowd was booing fitch and miller, but not booing gsp is surreal to me.
- ever since gsp was knocked out, a fear of losing his belt has outweighed his ability to deliver an exciting finish.
- gsp's ever-present apologies and/or claims to be unsatisfied with his own performances have not motivated him to improve his submissions or to risk his belt standing on his feet. (let it be known that i do not feel gsp is required to take risks, but his whining and excuse making is just as weak.)

Fitch got pwned by Dana White. You gotta watch that little exchange via post fight presser. Fitch didnt smile, nor move a facial muscle for the remainder of the presser. Fitch reaction looked liek a little kid that was told to sit in the corner.

I can see where Fitch stands...but enough is enough. If Fitch REALLY wanted that title then he is gonna have to fight Koscheck, plain and simple. That is unless he wants to wait another year or 2. And during that year or 2, he has to continue winning, hope that Kos keeps winning and gets his title shot, then if all that happens, Fitcfh may see titel shot. Or, he and Kos could fight and the winner would be fighting for title before the end of year

I think that teammates' refusal to fight one another reflects on the more or less sociopathic "zone" a fighter has to be willing to go to be a successful professional fighter. GSP talked about it in terms of whether or not he was willing to induce facial scarring and give his opponent brain damage with elbows from the mounted position, and how he could do that to an opponent, but not if that opponent was his teammate. You have to be willing pull a Cantwell v Al-Asad on your opponent. It's probably a pretty disturbing experience to fight a personal friend.

Chael Sonnen claims that he only wants to beat his opponent, and not injure him. I think this is a dishonest thing for Sonnen to say. It would be more accurate for Sonnen to say that he is a bad striker with no submission skills, so he rarely has an opportunity to injure his opponent simply through positional control. If he wasn't a wrestling-based fighter, it would be much clearer that in most cases, you are trying to injure your opponent. At the very least, you're trying to hurt the guy. You don't necessarily want to kill your opponent, but you want to fuck him up, you want to make him give-up in front of thousands of spectators.

In other words, it's a violent sport. There are less personal considerations for brutalizing strangers.

dw gives kos a warmup and then gsp, fitch has to sit and watch, inactive and presumably crying into a pillow as gsp pounds kos into a puddle.

aka doesn't understand that to fight each other will give one of them a chance at the belt. once they win the belt (HA!) they will be able to have a couple of fights and if he ends up losing the belt, the other aka teammate is waiting in the wings to take it back -- thereby keeping it in aka hands.

they don't realize it's in their own team's interest to fight each other?

that fight, btw is going to be a boring saggy ballsack of a fight, i hope you know. i don't understand why anybody wants it besides the fight-lines style conclusion of a "clear" contender who will be drubbed anyway...

MediumRare

I've wrestled for a long time. There have always been a number of guys on my team at the same weight class, but only one guy gets to compete in duals and tournaments and that's the guy that wins the wrestle-off. Every day at practice we push each other as much as possible. Never in all my years of wrestling have I heard a guy say "No, I can't wrestle-off with this guy because he's my teammate." Wrestling is far more a team sport than MMA, yet teammates are pitted against each other all the time and the guy that performs best on wrestle-off day gets to compete when it counts.

I'll concede that MMA is different because you aren't just trying to out-point or pin your opponent...you are going to have to punch him in face and try to hurt him. That being said, these guys are adults and paid-professionals and it's expected that they will do what they have to do to reach the top of their sport.

Saying that those of that feel this way are 'tards, have never competed, are annoying and stupid says a lot about what you really know about this sport or any other.

My question to you is simple...based on your mentality, if Kos or Fitch was the champ and the other was the number one contender, do they not fight each other?

@KidDinomite How can you say GSP has little stand up skill? I may not be right here but besides the punch from Serra the last time that I remember GSP getting out-struck was the first round of the first fight with BJ. Yes he do spend most of the time on top of opponents but there are always times in fights when the fights are standing and nobody has out-struck him in a long time. People like you need to stop listening to everything Dana White says to hype fights. It's like saying Anderson Silva has no ground game.

UFC needs a champion's grand prix, pride style multiple fights in one night no weight classes. Winner gets a BMF tat on their forehead. I hate how tedious the ranking and title shot selection has gotten. The system isn't working if these guys are hanging to belts this long and only fighting once or twice a year.

@MediumRare: I totally understand what you're saying, dude. There's the school of thought that says to prepare someone for a fight, you have to do whatever it takes to make that fighter the best there is not "the best there is unless I fight him." That's a crock of shit, and I certainly wouldn't want that sort of asshole behind me.

There's also the perspective that suggests that while fighters prepare not only to improve upon themselves in general but for specific opponents as well. This tells me that it is possible to fight a teammate even if you were n their corner for ages. If Fitch squared off against Koscheck, they could put their friendship aside for the 3 or 5 rounds it would take to determine who was the better fighter. The question has to come up every now and then if you could beat the guy you're training with.

@MediumRare: Don't throw comments like "obviously you've never competed...". You really don't ever know who's behind these posts. It makes you sound retarded especially when you're trying to comment on other people's character flaws. But it sounds like you have at least half a brain so I'll engage you.

You would agree that the main goal and driving force for pro fighters would be to have a successful career as a professional, right?. Fighters don't get into MMA to, as you said, 'improve a teammate's ability". So when there's a conflict between these two motives then the duties as a professional would supersede the duties of a sparring partner. It's simple, it boils down to priorities.

Godammit stupid people are annoying!

Teammates don't want to fight one another for a very good reason. When a real teammate helps someone prepare for a fight they do everything they can to improve that fighter's ability. In order to do that one has to decide they'll never fight that person. If a teammate considers another teammate a potential rival they'll censor and limit the help and coaching they offer in order to improve their own future chances.

Anyone that thinks MMA is an individual sport has obviously never competed in it or anything like it.

Dana has a product to sell. He has an excuse for pushing Fitch to fight his teammate. All the 'tards commenting here don't have the same excuse.

Being stupid is not an excuse. It's a character flaw.

You all know you were chuckling at the start of the Hamman / Wallace fight in sheer pity for this poor stockbroker looking white dude that was about to get prison raped by the rock hard Wallace....and you all know you were chuckling at the end of the fight in sheer pity for Wallace who was faced with the unpleasant task of 'splaining to his boyz how in the hell that white dude clearly whooped his ass for three rounds straight. Just goes to show you that you can't judge a fight on appearances.
Hardy is ultra dangerous - and aint going away anytime soon.
GSP is still the man - even if his margin of victory isn't as huge as it once was
Mir got what he deserved and will get it again from Dos Santos or Velasquez soon.
Palhares also has some bad karma headed his way - DW will see to it that his next fight will be much more likley to result in him getting some sleep.

It is some major bullshit that White is being a prick because Fitch won't fight a teammate of his. In my humble opinion, not fighting a teammate is understandable. White just wants to bathe in more money than he already makes and has, that greedy scalawag. Fitch should have another title shot, especially since White told Saunders that if he was victorious against Fitch, he would get a title shot. Fuck Dana White

I just had a really disturbing thought. What if GSP could have snapped Hardy's arm/leg/body, but didn't because he realizes that's probably one of the last things the uninitiated needs to see or hear about in an MMA fight? All it takes is one angry old fucker like John McCain or Bob Arum to talk smack about MMA, and other dumb fuckers will sit up and listen.

There's a difference between the one-sided brutality of the BJ Penn/Diego Sanchez fight and the potential of seeing GSP snap Hardy's arm in a kimura. We all know that's an occupational hazard in the octagon, and some of us would love to see that, but when MMA is currently being sanctioned state-by-state, I don't think lawmakers would like to see that on SportsCenter.

ColinL I disagree, GSP was putting some effort on those subs, I think he actually did make some technical mistakes. But look at a replay and you can see his face, if he coulda snapped that arm off he woulda. I mean, if it was just Hardy not tapping then you would have noticed how useless his arms were after escaping but he seemed ok.

I think Dana just wants to see Fitch finish an opponent or maybe (god forbid) two before he gets another shot.

I really didn't expect Hardy to last the full 5 rounds (in your face BJ Penn) but he was absolutely ouclassed there. I expected him to be taken down in the first 10-30 seconds, beaten up and then finished at some point in the 2nd or 3rd. Fair play to him for surviving 25 minutes.

I don't really think GSP needs to defend that performance, he's been off for 8 months and put in a dominant showing, and I think his next fight will be more of the same, if not better.

The only jiu-jitsu mistake GSP made is lacking the will to break Hardy's arm. Hardy did not escape either hold, he refused to tap and was let free.

There is precedent. Gracie wouldn't tap, and Hughes absolutely could have broken his arm.

Its happened with others as well. GSP knew he was going to win and he would rather take a boring decision than be one of those "barbarians" that broke someone's arm. I don't think GSP or his mainstream brand sponsors would like him being in highlight reels breaking Hardy's arm.

@ Yves Latrine:

Exactly. I was somewhat disappointed with GSP's style last night after all his talk about improving his striking and such, but if he had finished Hardy with either that armbar or kimura, everyone would be singing his praises right now.

The difference between GSP and Fitch is that while GSP had two VERY close sub attempts, I don't think Fitch even tried for a single one. GSP's ground work has an intended endgame, he's actually trying to finish, while Fitch doesn't... with Fitch, "the grind" IS the endgame.

Seriously, if you watch St. Pierre's fights, there's one technique every one of his opponents needs to learn if they ever want to beat him - Sprawl. Either that or a knee to the face every time he goes in to shoot for the takedown. How come no one has exploited this? St. Pierre has little standup skill, other than a body kick, a few jabs, and a Superman Punch. The winner of Daley/Koscheck or any future no. 1 contender really needs to implement sprawls into their repertoire if they're ever gonna stand a chance beating St. Pierre.

The difference between GSP's performance and Fitch's was that GSP was constantly going for the submission, and with someone less tough, probably would've gotten it. Fitch was just as dominant, but he seemed to be relying on ground and pound that wasn't that effective at creating damage AND never came close to a sub.

If the AKA fights do happen, don't be surprised if they suck.

@CUNTS

Because GSP is humble and apologetic. If you have a top performing employee who is humble and apologetic, what good would it do to verbally bash them?

He will also kill Fitch or Koscheck, and Dana knows that as well.

@CUNTS... +100 for any Point Break reference.

"I knew you wouldn't miss the fifty year storm Body. It's too bad,... finally get ur waves and it's totally closed out!"

I like Fitch, but he hasn't shown anything to prove he should get another shot at GSP. I would have liked to have seen him finish Saunders...

Right or wrong, ball's in Fitch's court. White has zero desire to give him a title shot, and by not fighting Koscheck, Fitch is giving White a perfect excuse. And yeah, f this teammate business -- it's a tough business, but fighters use the teammate excuse to sidestep number one contender matches. If the number 2 and 3 guys are at the same camp, they have to fight.

Unentertaining Fitch vs. Ugly Mut Koscheck, behind closed doors sound good to me. Is there a way to lock that door from the outside..!?

Why does Dana White defend the unentertaining GSP for a boring fight, but when Anderson's opponents don't engage him its horrible, disappointing and he is embarrassed?

Utah....get me 2

@ cecils_pupils - you might have been talking shit about Fitch while he was fighting, but I was taking a shit while he was fighting. My Car Craft magazine and undigested corn tracer rounds in the bowl were more exciting to watch than the Fitch lay and pray fest.

@ Get Off Me - I agree 100% - Fitch needs to be on the dark portion of the card from here on out.

Let's not ever compare GSP and Fitch again please. GSP put on a clinic last night, almost broke all of Hardy's limbs.... In his fight with Fitch, GSP stood and knocked Fitch down once per round by my count.
I'm glad Thiago did not fight Fitch, I am convinced that Fitch is not capable of having an exciting fight any longer, let him fight but don't do it on the fans time anymore.......The Fitch v. Saunders(he's too blame as well) really took the steam out of the PPV last night and I would appreciate no longer seeing his fights on the main card.

Based on their relationship I certainly won't be surprised if we see Fitch bound for Strikeforce after his current contract is up.

I'm a Fitch fan but I don't understand the constant refusal to fight another AKA fighter. I guess he could just sit by and watch Koscheck fight for the belt again....or the ongoing refusals could easily cause DW to skip over both of them and relegate them to fighting nobodies on the prelim card.....

I don't think Fitch and Kos should have to fight each other. They know each other too well, one would have to train elsewhere, and I don't like fighting my friends.


Besides all that, DW should just say F Fitch. He's boring and ugly. Kos and Daley should be the #1 contender match and Fitch should have to finish someone before he's even considered.

Pretty sure everyone would rather see Kos or Daley v. GSP. They're the kind of guys you love or hate. You either want to see them win or lose, and they always make the fight exciting as opposed to Fitch who nobody even wants to watch.

@MF Joel agreed.
Fitch is not gonna win with another title shot anyway... then WTF will he do? Fitch's best bet is to wait it out and hope that GSP vacates the WW belt and moves up to MW. Dana doesn't sound excited about that option, though.

@KJGould....Well, ignoring an obvious fight to declare a unanimous #1 contender would cause even more damage and as you said cause 'dying fan interest'. Match ups like this don't need Joe Silva's intervention. This fight simply makes sense.

What the fuck is going on at AKA - Brokeback Mountain? rlh61 & Plagues said is best. You fight whomever the boss tells you to fight. If the fight makes sense and if there's dough to be made, what's the goddamn problem? You have to question how much you want a belt if it means you have to fight through teammates to get it.

Fitch doesn't deserve a title shot until he can prove he has something to offer GSP, hes still the same song and dance end of story

DW is so out of line (sarcasm).

Would the NFL be okay with the Manning brothers deciding not play each other and saying that it would only happen in Archie's backyard with noone watching? Of course not, I hate this fucking mindset that AKA has. This is the way you decided to make a fucking living. Punching your fucking boyfriend in the face isn't going to be the end of your friendship if you look at it as a job.

@cecils_pupils, Yeah but the obvious difference was that GSP was ignoring his corner's instructions by relentlessly trying to finish with a sub, while I don't think I saw Fitch try anything that would have finished the fight even once. He barely even tried to improve his position. Don't know why he wants another title shot - he'll lose, and there'll be nowhere to go for him. Just be content to duff up three strikers a year for $20k a time.

Friends fighting Friends is one thing. Friends from the same camp who know how the other guys reacts from years of sparring and training together is another.

Dana doesn't realise that likely spells a recipe for a 3 or 5 round stalemate.

Pearson vs Winner is what happens when friends and training partners fight: A clinchfest against the fence where nothing happens except the dying of fan interest.

AKA fighting each other isn't commercially worth it.

C'mon CP. That was a bullshit comment at the end.

I ain't no virgin!

Oooooh, 90 Days Suspension! That must be crushing to a guy that'll fight on average 3-4 times a year at most.

I've been saying the same thing about AKA for a long time, I'm glad DW is finaling coming to this realization. In that little exchange between fitch and DW you could tell that DW is completely bored with Fitch and his boring ways, note to fitch you will never get a title shot if you show no improvement from the last time you got your ass kicked by the champ.

Only virgins wouldn't fight one another.

Fitch won with his usual unentertaining bread-and-butter wrestling skills - I found myself talking shit about him during his fight.

Yet, I was perfectly content when GSP basically did the same thing - wining the fight via intelligent gameplan of avoiding your opponents strengths and capitalizing on their weaknesses.

For awhile I was feeling hypocritical, but when I really think about it (read - now I am sober) it is as simple as this: GSP is defending his title while Fitch is desperately seeking another title shot.

Bottom line - if you are on the way up as a fighter then you need to not only win, but win decisively and impress Dana and the fans.

I agree with Dana - to determine a true #1 contender Fitch needs to fight Koscheck. Otherwise, just give the next shot to Paul Daley after his dispatches of Koscheck.

Fuck Fitch. You want the title, you fight anyone you have to.

Sorry,but DW is right. I get not wanting to fight a teammate, but come-on guys...this is an individual sport. Sooner or later, you are going to have to fight a teammate. My question to Fitch is, if Kos had the title would Fitch pass on a title shot??