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A fight which will always be remembered as the birth of one of the biggest names in MMA history, GSP.
Georges looked like a complete fighter in this fight. He was one of the first guys in the sport to really be solid in all facets. This was a true example of the sport evolving, and the whole grappler vs striker thing being kind of put to bed.
In the infant years of MMA, the typical thing for a fighter was for them to have one very solid discipline. Matt Hughes dominated the Welterweight division for years based off of everyone's lack of wrestling defense. His primary weapon, was something that most people could not contest with.
I feel that this fight showed and depicted the new norm for MMA at the time, that you cannot be good at one thing. One of the main reasons why Georges went on to dominate for years, he was simply too good at everything.
The fight:
Firstly, I want to state that I'm not being harsh here, but rather 100% honest.
Matt Hughes' striking was non-existent, it's been a while since I had such a lack of faith in a skillset. He seemed like he had never once learned how to defend a leg-kick and that was really the main component of him losing here.
GSP out-struck him handily in the first round, and even scored the only takedown of this fight. He rocked him and dropped him very badly with a Superman-Punch at the end of the first - it looked over from there.
Georges' gameplan was clearly to work Hughes' legs and then when he's hurting from them, come up high. It ended up winning him the fight, as he caught Matt with a beautiful head-kick and finished him with some brutal ground and pound.
I did not like the fact that Georges kicked him low 3 times in the first round, I don't think it was deliberate but it was extremely careless. If this was Jon Jones, we would all cry about it. At the end of the day, I think he always would have won, even minus the low-blows.
I've never liked Georges, but I definitely liked him a whole lot more back here. I was genuinely happy for him looking back, when he collapsed to the mat and started crying - it felt very genuine.
Great job by Georges, showed he was here to stay, and was only 25.
What do you guys remember from this fight? Reactions, predictions, thought?
Georges looked like a complete fighter in this fight. He was one of the first guys in the sport to really be solid in all facets. This was a true example of the sport evolving, and the whole grappler vs striker thing being kind of put to bed.
In the infant years of MMA, the typical thing for a fighter was for them to have one very solid discipline. Matt Hughes dominated the Welterweight division for years based off of everyone's lack of wrestling defense. His primary weapon, was something that most people could not contest with.
I feel that this fight showed and depicted the new norm for MMA at the time, that you cannot be good at one thing. One of the main reasons why Georges went on to dominate for years, he was simply too good at everything.
The fight:
Firstly, I want to state that I'm not being harsh here, but rather 100% honest.
Matt Hughes' striking was non-existent, it's been a while since I had such a lack of faith in a skillset. He seemed like he had never once learned how to defend a leg-kick and that was really the main component of him losing here.
GSP out-struck him handily in the first round, and even scored the only takedown of this fight. He rocked him and dropped him very badly with a Superman-Punch at the end of the first - it looked over from there.
Georges' gameplan was clearly to work Hughes' legs and then when he's hurting from them, come up high. It ended up winning him the fight, as he caught Matt with a beautiful head-kick and finished him with some brutal ground and pound.
I did not like the fact that Georges kicked him low 3 times in the first round, I don't think it was deliberate but it was extremely careless. If this was Jon Jones, we would all cry about it. At the end of the day, I think he always would have won, even minus the low-blows.
I've never liked Georges, but I definitely liked him a whole lot more back here. I was genuinely happy for him looking back, when he collapsed to the mat and started crying - it felt very genuine.
Great job by Georges, showed he was here to stay, and was only 25.
What do you guys remember from this fight? Reactions, predictions, thought?
