Georges St-Pierre defeats Nick Diaz; Johny Hendricks defeats Carlos Condit.
It wasn’t the most exciting fight in the world, but GSP outclassed Nick Diaz en route to a clear, 50-45 unanimous decision win. GSP used his wrestling early and often to take Diaz to the ground. The Cesar Gracie BJJ black belt couldn’t do much on the ground, except defend himself. The first two rounds had GSP hitting four takedowns and clearly being dominant in both rounds.
The third round, we saw more striking as Diaz prevented three takedowns from GSP. Even though Diaz had brief success, busting GSP’s nose and defending those takedowns, it was still a round I would score for GSP. The fourth and fifth rounds were similar to the third round. GSP was able to beat Diaz in the striking realm by out-landing him and hitting three takedowns in the final two rounds. All three judges scored the fight 50-45 for GSP.
Like Kenneth Anger in 1947, Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit produced Fireworks in the co-main event. First two rounds were awesome, back and forth action. Condit used his slick, muay thai skills to try counter the heavy-handed Hendricks. Condit even took Hendricks’ back at one point. But Hendricks still shined by landing big, power punches on Condit during the first ten minutes of the bout.
In the third frame, a hurt and somewhat tired Hendricks went for takedowns repeatedly. Even though he got Condit down on numerous occasions, I still gave Condit the round based on the damage he inflicted. Another “MMA Fight of the Year Candidate” to consider at the end of the year.
I gave Hendricks Round 1 and 2, while giving Condit Round 3. First two rounds were close, but thought Hendricks’ offense was more significant. The judges scored the fight 29-28 across the board, giving Hendricks the unanimous decision victory. With this win, we will likely see Hendricks step into the cage with GSP in 2013.
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