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QUOTABLES: Firas Zahabi - "GSP is a very scary individual. I can't even put him in with anybody his size."
Jan 19, 2010 - 8:37:00 PM
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"It's getting scary. Georges is getting better and better, believe it or not. If I compare him to last year he is far beyond where he was. He's a very scary individual. I can't even put him in with anybody his size. I have to bring in guys who are much bigger, much stronger. I had Nate Marquardt and Rashad Evans come in last week to challenge Georges. It's getting very tricky now. I can't put him with another welterweight because there is no other welterweight right now I can bring in who can make Georges sweat. We're looking to bring in Gegard Mousasi who is at 205 to work with Georges. I'm reaching out for big, strong guys to challenge him... A lot of people are calling this an easy fight and asking how the UFC can even put this fight together. That he doesn't deserve it. I'm always quick to say that's not the case. This guy, if you watch his fight with Swick, he's very sharp. He caught Swick was some very tricky counter punches. He's working with Freddie Roach, he's working with Eddie Bravo for his jiu jitsu. This guy's going to come prepared. He has a world title fight. He's not crazy. He's not going to give up this opportunity. He's going to walk in there ready. All the coaches are going to have to make sure Georges in 100 percent ready for this fight, because Hardy is a dangerous guy...That guy didn't get his spot for free. He worked his way there. People can't forget that. Hardy earned his spot, he's there, and he's a force to be reckoned with. Georges is doing more than just get prepared. He is doign [sic] everything he can to get ready for this fight."
-GSP trainer Firas Zahabi talks to Jonathan Snowden at Heavy.com about GSP's preparation for his bout with Dan Hardy on March 27th at UFC 111.
Penick's Analysis: It's great to see that no matter the opponent, GSP does nothing but prepare himself to be the best Champion he can be. We're going to get an even closer look at what Firas has described here in March with the return of the Primetime series, and it will be extremely exciting to see just how much the Welterweight Champ manhandles guys bigger than him while training on a constant basis. I think this should also get people off of the "Dan Hardy doesn't deserve this shot" bandwagon. If the Champ is taking him seriously and is giving him his due, the fans can as well. I say good luck to Hardy because he'll need it, but I'm getting more excited for this fight the more we see things like this. The Primetime special is going to be a great three week build to this one, that's for sure.
[GSP art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Staff Picks - Top Ten Articles
ALSO: UFC PPV Reports: Results, analysis, fight ratings of all recent events
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Staff Picks
UK SCENE: A bad week for UK fighters capped off at UFC 118; Daley's continued dismissal and UK news in brief
THE TAPPER'S TOOLBOX: Fixing the little mistakes in your BJJ game - "How to break guard"
PARK: A look at five era-changing losses by UFC Champions following B.J. Penn's UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar
ALL BUSINESS: The UFC 118 and Fan Expo Live Experience - Thoughts From a Fan Who Loves This Business
PENICK: Frankie Edgar had "The Answer" for a disappointing B.J. Penn at UFC 118
PARK: Randy Couture vs. James Toney at UFC 118 reminiscent of the initial UFC event's stylistic clashes
MMATorch Podcast
MMATORCH EXCLUSIVE: The Audio Choke with Collins, Rowland and Shelby 8/31 (52 min.) - UFC 118 event review and breakdown
VINTAGE AUDIO ('95): Keller interviews Dan Severn trainer after UFC 4, going behind the scenes at early UFC event (22 min.)
MMATORCH EXCLUSIVE: The Audio Choke with Collins, Rowland and Shelby 8/24 (102 min.) - Strikeforce Houston review and UFC 118 preview
MMATORCH EXCLUSIVE: Fighters and Writers audio with Carter, Hansen and McDermott (57 min.) - UFC 117 review and discussion
MMATORCH EXCLUSIVE: The Audio Choke with Collins, Rowland and Shelby 8/10 (85 min.) - UFC 117 review, Strikeforce Challengers and WEC 50 preview
MMATORCH EXCLUSIVE: The Audio Choke with Collins, Rowland and Shelby 8/3 (104 min.) - UFC on Versus 2 review, UFC 117 preview and more!
Upcoming Events
Bellator 27, September 2
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MMA News
BELLATOR NEWS: Joe Soto says "dirt bag" Joe Warren only better than him at s*** talking ahead of Bellator 27 meeting
UFC NEWS: FightMetric named the official statistics provider of the UFC
UFC 118 SALARIES: James Toney tops disclosed payroll with $500,000 for his three minute loss to Randy Couture
UFC NEWS: Alan Belcher undergoes another eye surgery for "blurry vision"
UFC NEWS: Gabe Ruediger to get one more shot in the UFC after one-sided UFC 118 loss to Joe Lauzon
BELLATOR NEWS: Weigh-in results for Bellator Fighting Championships 27
PPV & TV Events
KELLER'S UFC 118 BLOG: Toney vs. Couture, Edgar vs. Penn... Random Thoughts in Chronological Order
UFC 118 RESULTS: Penick's live round by round report of Edgar vs. Penn II, Couture vs. Toney event from Boston
UFC 118 Prediction and Betting Contests
STRIKEFORCE: HOUSTON RESULTS - Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza captures vacant Middleweight Championship with decision win over Tim Kennedy
STRIKEFORCE: HOUSTON RESULTS - Penick's live round by round report of King Mo vs. Feijao event on Showtime
BELLATOR 25 RESULTS: Pelkey's live round by round report of Horbuckle vs. Blackburn headlined event from Chicago
TV Reviews
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 6/9: Hyden's (Virtual Time) rundown of all the fights, all the drama in a 2 hour episode on Spike TV
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 6/2: Hyden's (Virtual Time) rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 5/26: Hyden's rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 5/19: Hyden's (Virtual Time) rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 5/12: Hyden's rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER REPORT 5/5: Hyden's (Virtual Time) rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV
Live Event Reports
BELLATOR 26 RESULTS: Carter's Live Report - Heavyweight, Bantamweight, and Women’s 115 lbs. Quarterfinal Tournament Bouts
STRIKEFORCE: HOUSTON RESULTS - Unaired preliminary card results for event from the Toyota Center
BELLATOR 24 RESULTS: Carter's Live Report - Season Three Debut Show
LOCAL SCENE: First round finishes abound at "Combat on Capitol Hill 2" in St. Paul, MN
LOCAL SCENE: Havoc at the Hyatt II brings good fights and controversy to Minneapolis on Saturday night
BELLATOR 21 RESULTS: Carter's Report of the Lightweight Tournament Finals
Opinion & Analysis
UK SCENE: A bad week for UK fighters capped off at UFC 118; Daley's continued dismissal and UK news in brief
ROUNDTABLE (pt. 1): What's next for B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian after their UFC 118 losses? Marsh, Hyden, Hobaugh, Leet and Hansen
THE TAPPER'S TOOLBOX: Fixing the little mistakes in your BJJ game - "How to break guard"
HYDEN BLOG: Change Can Be A Good Thing
PARK: A look at five era-changing losses by UFC Champions following B.J. Penn's UFC 118 loss to Frankie Edgar
ALL BUSINESS: The UFC 118 and Fan Expo Live Experience - Thoughts From a Fan Who Loves This Business
Interviews
STRIKEFORCE QUOTABLES: Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal says he deserved to lose to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante because he abandoned his gameplan
QUOTABLES: Paul Daley says UFC "God" Dana White rules the UFC with an iron rod
UFC QUOTABLES: Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar says he's fine with fans taking time to believe in him after consecutive wins over B.J. Penn
QUOTABLES: Shaquille O'Neal says he wants to fight one MMA fight against Hong Man-Choi
BELLATOR NEWS: Travis Reddinger credits trainer Sergio Cunha for his progression; ready for "explosive" bantamweight tournament
UFC QUOTABLES: UFC welterweight and former pro boxer Marcus Davis doesn't think James Toney will be able to do anything at UFC 118
Champs & Rankings
UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II Prediction and Betting Contest Results
MMATorch Staff Rankings - August 2010
UFC 117 Prediction and Betting Contest Results
UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin Prediction and Betting Contests Results
MMATorch Staff Rankings - July 2010
UFC 115 Prediction and Betting Contest Results
Ask the Torch
Ask MMATorch: Answers to your questions about Shamrock, Half vs. Full Guard, Hammill, UFC Pay
DVD Reviews
DVD REVIEW: "UFC: Rampage Greatest Hits" a great collection of fights for Rampage fans new and old
DVD WORLD: Pride 33 "The Second Coming" - Dan "Hollywood" Henderson vs. Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (pt. 8)
DVD WORLD: Pride 33 "The Second Coming" - Nick Diaz vs. "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi (pt. 7)
DVD WORLD: Pride 33 "The Second Coming" - Alistair "Ubereem" Overeem vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (pt. 6)
DVD WORLD: Pride 33 "The Second Coming" - Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mike Russow (pt. 5)
DVD WORLD: Pride 33 "The Second Coming" - Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Mac Danzig (pt. 5)
Torch Flashbacks
FLASHBACK: Keller's full fight report and more Dana White quotes on UFC's debacle of an event back in 2001
KELLER: Dana White had a night even worse than Strikeforce's on Saturday night back in 2001
FLASHBACK (3 YRS AGO): Keller's UFC 69 Report with Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra, Koscheck vs. Sanchez, Huerta vs. Garcia
ENNIS (Flashback 2006): Pride vs. UFC: Which Aspects of Each Promotion Would You Keep?
FLASHBACK - 3 YRS AGO: Ennis's UFC 67 Report - Rampage and Cro Cop debut, Anderson Silva defends, Scott Smith, Roger Huerta
1 YR AGO - PENICK'S UFC 88 REPORT: Rashad Evans vs. Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill, plus Hendo, Marquardt (w/star ratings)
Torch MMA Polls
MMATORCH POLL: Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney says not all MMA fans are NFL fans. Be heard, are you a fan of one sport alone or both?
NEW MMATORCH POLL: Who should Anderson Silva face next?
POLL: Should Liddell retire or fight again? Should Cro Cop retire or fight again?
MMATORCH POLL: Which fight are you anticipating more - Lesnar vs. Carwin or Silva vs. Sonnen?
POLL: What should Paul Daley's punishment be for the post-fight cheapshot at Koscheck?
MMATORCH POLL: Who will win and how in the UFC 113 main event between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Prediction and Betting Contests
UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II Prediction and Betting Contest Results
UFC 118 Prediction and Betting Contests
UFC 117 Prediction and Betting Contest Results
UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen Prediction and Betting Contests