As Danaher stated in the GSP documentary, Takedown: the DNA of GSP: George is so good because he is the Shoot Box King - the guy who will take you down when you want to strike and strike when you want to wrestle.
Watching Hendricks aginst Lawler, the way GSP sets up and times tds is on another level. He doesnt shoot tds out of desperation. He sets them up perfectly. Look at the way Hendicks was shooting on Lawler late into the fight and how GSP got the td on Hendricks in the 5th round of their fight: 1-2 shoot while the opponent is still reacting to the strikes, George is already exploding thru the hips.
Edgar did well in taking Cub out of his game but Cub isnt really known for his tdd and his style kinda puts him vulnerable to tds as well. GSP has taken down the very best wrestlers in the game time after time and does it with such polish.
I thought Gil did a pretty good job of closing the distance on Pettis but as Gil said himself, he was getting countered in the pocket by Pettis with tight jabs or whatever as he was loading up. GSP would initiate his sequences with a 1-2 and was on the legs while his opponent was still reacting. Gil was leaving a bit too much time/space in loading up and Pettis was ready for his td attempts. Gil got some but Pettis was still ready for them. George's opponents are not. They are a step or even 2 behind when George is shooting.
The one guy who is not getting enough respect in this area though is Weidman. Gil did a good job of trying to take away Pettis' space where Pettis does his thing but didnt last 2 rounds. Weidman did it better against a guy with much better tdd in Machida. Weidman took the space away and left Machida looking for punches and tds.
But I think GSP is still in his own class in this area.
Wasa-B - As Danaher stated in the GSP documentary, Takedown: the DNA of GSP: George is so good because he is the Shoot Box King - the guy who will take you down when you want to strike and strike when you want to wrestle.Yes, shoots them perfectly. Like when he was destroying a one eyed fighter standing up, and still shot in to score Mario points.
Watching Hendricks aginst Lawler, the way GSP sets up and times tds is on another level. He doesnt shoot tds out of desperation. He sets them up perfectly. Look at the way Hendicks was shooting on Lawler late into the fight and how GSP got the td on Hendricks in the 5th round of their fight: 1-2 shoot while the opponent is still reacting to the strikes, George is already exploding thru the hips.
Edgar did well in taking Cub out of his game but Cub isnt really known for his tdd and his style kinda puts him vulnerable to tds as well. GSP has taken down the very best wrestlers in the game time after time and does it with such polish.
I thought Gil did a pretty good job of closing the distance on Pettis but as Gil said himself, he was getting countered in the pocket by Pettis with tight jabs or whatever as he was loading up. GSP would initiate his sequences with a 1-2 and was on the legs while his opponent was still reacting. Gil was leaving a bit too much time/space in loading up and Pettis was ready for his td attempts. Gil got some but Pettis was still ready for them. George's opponents are not. They are a step or even 2 behind when George is shooting.
The one guy who is not getting enough respect in this area though is Weidman. Gil did a good job of trying to take away Pettis' space where Pettis does his thing but didnt last 2 rounds. Weidman did it better against a guy with much better tdd in Machida. Weidman took the space away and left Machida looking for punches and tds.
But I think GSP is still in his own class in this area.
Great post and gifs
Still the KinG 
XcessiveZ - Great post and gifs
Still the KinG
Thanks BW, how about the td in r5 in the Hendricks fight by any chance?
St. Pierre vs. Lawler would be very, very interesting.
I was just looking at that gif too BW, ha....i couldnt find any of the R5 td but its exactly what im talking about: 1-2 shoot and the opponent is way behind reacting. Same with the Condit fight like the 2nd gif you posted in that one, Condit is still covering up and GSP is already on his hips with a shot.
Gsp is the best
Vu was-b and birdwatcher
If he came back healthy I think he could beat Lawler
Aldo actually sets up his tds quite well too. I guess partly because he doesnt shoot that often but when he does, he has great explosion but also mixes it up well with his striking.
Mendes was doing well against Aldo in faking tds and then going for the uppercut. He had a few strong uppercuts in the fight because he is a td threat every second of a fight.
Thats how Werdum got Hunt by faking the td. Saku i think was one of the first fighters to fake tds and then strike. He never really caught anyone with deadly strikes with it but he kept people guessing.
I think Jones is losing a bit of an edge with his wrestling lately (Gus, Glover), i think he needs to go back to setting them up better? GSP is still the standard by a while here imo.
XcessiveZ - Great post and gifs
Still the KinG
.
A look at the td style of GSP and Hendricks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW75KX-ynyc
TD HL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cgrWPXLeOc
3 other occasions im thinking of where GSP took his opponents down off the first attempt of the fight: Serra rematch, Kos 1 and Hendricks. Each time those guys lunged forward to attack, GSP was already down low and on the hips.
He was as close to perfect as it's going to get
In VTFU everyone!
This is why I see Rory taking the belt from Robbie, he's basically what GSP was 8 years ago. But if Rory loses, I expect GSP to come back to take his belt back from Robbie.
Sub and VU.
The greatest.
Interesting how much everyone appreciates GSP now that he's gone.
BirdWatcher -
I had started to forget what a terrible beating he put on Fitch. I've never felt as bad for a fighter as I did for Fitch that night.
He looks so much more ripped and athletic in the Serra and Fitch fights than his more recent ones.
They were all on something in that era.