UFC 158: St-Pierre vs Diaz Pre-fight Press Conference

I give up on trying to analyse these pre-fight goings on.

Just watch as Nick Diaz takes over the show with his stream of consciousness nonsense and renders the presence of Condit, Hendricks, Marquardt and Ellenberger completely pointless.

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Here we go, fight week for UFC 158 is really kicking off now.

Here are the mandatory Countdown videos for this weekend’s mega, mega fight card.

Lest we forget with all of the press calls, talk of GSP’s ‘dark place’ and Diaz’s open workout no shows, there are also two other brilliant fights supporting the main event. The co-main event features the #2 and #3 welterweights in the world. Johny Hendricks, who deserves to fight GSP after his wrecking-ball run through the division, and Carlos Condit, who just cave the Canadian the most difficult fight of his championship reign.

Below that, Nate Marquardt vs. Jake Ellenberger. Two high level, but flawed fighters who should guarantee action.

I’m starting to get very, very exited.

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Countdown to UFC 149 video

3 videos for the new Countdown to UFC 149 video, giving fan a closer look at the fighters involved in the extended preview video from the other day.

Seeing this is a countdown, get ready for the usual overdose of  hyperbole. Renan Barao is  the best fighter in the world that doesn’t have a title? A grand statement for a fighter in a developing weight class ahead of the likes of contenders from other divisions. However, I guess the important message is that this guy is a cracking fighter, exciting, and completely deserving of the opportunity to fight Urijah Faber for the interim bantamweight title. the show does a great job of showing what a complete savage this dude is for those that may be unfamiliar with his handywork (which I would imagine there a quite a few, given that he is a Brazilian bantamweight). There’s less time devoted to Faber, but the UFC obviously still recognise that he is an essential part of hyping this fight. Charismatic, popular, exciting and a great fighter, he is worthy of taking up time on any broadcast.

The fight between Tim Boetsch and UFC newcomer Hector Lombard has the most time dedicated to it, despite the lack of footage of Lombard. I’m sure the reason behind this is that if the former Bellator 185lb champ wins in impressive fashion, the UFC brass will be inserting him straight into a title fight with Anderson Silva, and this countdown show is an ideal opportunity to introduce him to new fans. A little extra focus on ‘The Barbarian’ Boetsch is nice too, as he’s a hard working fighter who has just come off the biggest win of his career against Yushin Okami, finding himself deservedly in the spotlight for the first time. Also, we should all appreciate any opportunity to see David Heath getting  thrown onto his head like a rag-doll. One of the most awesome KOs in UFC history for sure. This should be an excellent fight.

Finally, Countdown… previews the heavyweight clash between Cheick Kongo and Shawn Jordan. I don’t have the same amount of superlatives for this fight as I do for the others, but it should be an entertaining scrap between 2 athletic, heavy-hitting heavyweights, and a chance to get an introduction to Jackson’s MMA product Jordan for the first time.

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Countdown to UFC 144

No Primetime this time around for the UFC, but there is the old style Countdown show, featuring 4 of the 7 main card fights

IF nothing else, its a great chance to catch up with highlights of the two Edgar vs. Maynard fights from last year, which are two of the best ever.

Its also nice to have some new fighters featured in the Countdown show. When big names like Rahsad, GSP, Frank Mir et al are endlessly recycled over and over these shows get stale. For the first time fans get an insight into Benson Henderson’s formative years (and Korean heritage, which I had no idea about), which proves to be quite interesting.