A Grudge Ends (UFC 158 Review)
UFC 158 was a time that many fans and two fighters would finally bury the hatchet and bring an end to a long time grudge. Georges St. Pierre has been the champion for years and is widely considered one of the best fighters in the world. He is not without a few detractors though and one of the loudest was Nick Diaz who would call out the champion while St. Pierre was injured. Diaz would claim that St. Pierre was not injured and he was just scared to fight and continued to harp on that the entire time that St. Pierre was on the sidelines. When St. Pierre got back to the octagon after rehabbing his knee he wanted one fight but needed to unify the belt against Carlos Condit first. After another title defence St. Pierre would ignore the rankings and the next in line while also ignoring the fact that Diaz had hinted that he would no longer fight in the UFC. The champion would ask for the fight against Diaz to put an end to the doubt that had crept into many minds that Diaz may be the one man who could beat St. Pierre. Diaz would come out of semi-retirement to take the fight and try to show everyone that he was the better fighter. Leading up to the fight the talk was epic as Diaz continued to prove his reputation as one of the biggest trash talkers in the UFC. Diaz would challenge St. Pierre’s toughness and his athletic ability claiming that St. Pierre uses steroids. All of this was to get into the head of St. Pierre who is one of the most controlled and calm fighters in the UFC. St. Pierre’s attitude changed during the lead-up to this fight though and Diaz’s strategy seemed to work. The true test would be in the octagon though as both fighters would square off to determine who was the better fighter and who deserved to have the welterweight belt. The strategy for St. Pierre was a simple one as he would not want to stand with the brawler and risk a KO. Diaz is one of the best brawlers in the UFC and standing in front of him waiting to get hit is how Diaz wins with devastating KOs. The champion would start the fight with a takedown knowing that his best strategy was to work the mat and take away Diaz’s striking ability. While on the ground St. Pierre would show complete control preventing Diaz from getting up or getting any advantage on the mat. St. Pierre would grind out the round on the top landing good strikes and continuing to control the challenger. As the fight went on the same strategy would play out while Diaz got better every round at stopping the takedowns. Even though Diaz would do a little bit more to prevent St. Pierre’s strategy the champion would continue to fight his fight and continue to put the fight on the ground and keep control. It was yet another St. Pierre fight where the champion made a good fighter look average. Diaz would lose in a unanimous decision losing every round of the fight. After the fight Diaz would hint once again that he might retire from the UFC stating that he doesn’t have anything left and looking to be fed up with fighting. St. Pierre took the win and retained the belt but more importantly ended the doubt and the grudge that came along with Diaz. Now St. Pierre will likely fight the number 1 contender in the welterweight division, a position that was determined one fight before.
The fight between former interim champion Carlos Condit and #1 ranked welterweight Johny Hendricks in a fight that would determine the #1 contender. This fight was not the one that Hendricks wanted as he only wanted one fight and that was a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Unfortunately for Hendricks St. Pierre would request a different fight leaving Hendricks to take a different fight. Meanwhile Condit was waiting to fight Rory MacDonald in a rematch of the only loss in MacDonald’s career. That was until an injury forced MacDonald out of the fight leaving Condit without an opponent. With some rearranging the UFC would change the fight to see Carlos Condit take on Johny Hendricks in a fight that would essentially determine the #1 contender in the division. Hendricks would come out swinging for the fences and looking to finish the fight quickly. He would swing with his left hand looking to finish with his power but Condit would not back down. Condit would stay standing and continue trading with Hendricks although the former interim champion would take more damage. In the end the fight would go to Hendricks who caused more damage in the fight with that great left hand. With the win Hendricks would call for a title shot against Georges St. Pierre the fight he had been looking to for a long time. Hendricks will likely get this shot and hopes to not fall into the same tendencies as everyone else who faces the champion. Condit would take the loss but will remain a strong contender in the division as he eyes a rematch with St. Pierre.
Fight Bonuses
($50,000 each bonus)
Knockout of the Night
The welterweights took the focus on the night and one would throw his hat into the title race as Jake Ellenberger would earn the Knockout of the Night bonus for his first round KO of Nate Marquardt that put the division on notice
Fight of the Night
The main event was not the most exciting fight but the co-main event made up for that as Carlos Condit and Johny Hendricks took home a fight of the night bonus for their three round war that Hendricks would win
Fight Results
Main Event:
Georges “Rush” St. Pierre def. Nick Diaz [Welterweight Title]
(Unanimous Decision)
Main Card:
Johny “Bigg Rigg” Hendricks def. “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit
(Unanimous Decision)
Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger def. Nate “The Great” Marquardt
(KO, Rd. 1)
Chris Camozzi def. Nick “The Promise” Ring
(Split Decision)
Mike “The Martian” Ricci def. Colin “Freakshow” Fletcher
(Unanimous Decision)
Undercard:
Patrick “The Predator” Cote def. “Vicious” Bobby Voelker
(Unanimous Decision)
Darren “The Damage” Elkins def. Antonio “Pato” Carvalho
(KO, Rd. 1)
Jordan “Young Gun” Mein def. Dan Miller
(KO, Rd. 1)
John “The Bull” Makdessi def. Daron “Detroit Superstar” Cruickshank
(Unanimous Decision)
Rick “The Horror” Story def. Quinn Mulhern
(KO, Rd. 1)
TJ Dillashaw def. Issei Tamura
(KO, Rd. 2)
George Roop def. Reuben Duran
(Unanimous Decision)
Upcoming Events
UFC on Fuel TV 9: Gustafsson vs. Mousasi (Saturday April 6th; 2:00 pm ET)
– Stockholm, Sweden (Ericsson Globe Arena)
– Main Event: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi
– Notable: Ryan Couture vs. Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson
– Notable: Matt Mitrione vs. Phil “S11” De Fries
TUF Finale 17: Faber vs. Jorgensen (Saturday April 13th; 9:00 pm ET)
– Las Vegas, Nevada (Mandalay Bay Events Center)
– Main Event: Urijah “The California Kid” Faber vs. Scott “Young Guns” Jorgensen
– Notable: Fight to be announced at the conclusion of The Ultimate Fighter 17
– Notable: Miesha “Cupcake” Tate vs. Cat Zingano
UFC on Fox 7: Henderson vs. Melendez (Saturday April 20th; 8:00 pm ET)
– San Jose, California (HP Pavilion)
– Main Event: Benson “Smooth” Henderson vs. Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez [Lightweight Title]
– Notable: Frank Mir vs. Daniel “DC” Cormier
– Notable: Nate Diaz vs. Josh “The Punk” Thomson
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