Where GSP gets in trouble is when his opponents get in tight and are able to exchange with him close.
He is at his most effective when he is able to use his gorilla reach and really extends his punches, see the Hieron, Hughes 2, parts of Sherk and Penn fights.
But, go back and watch the Sherk fight again and although Rogan and Goldie only acknowledged GSP's shots landing, Sherk was imo winning many of the exchanges.
It just seems that GSPs build does not allow him to have the hand speed close. We also see this in the Serra fight.
George is not gun shy in the slightest and seems to like mixing it up close at times, but he will continue to have trouble with many of his peers if he continues to do this.
Dancing around, peppering kicks, jabs, and long straight rights is how he needs to always strike to be dominant imo
He's an outside striker...however...I would like to see him use clinch and knees...he's a hell of an athlete...he should be able to adapt. But he doesn't seem comfortable up close.
Not every striker's an infighter the same way not every grappler's a submission expert or a takedown specialist. GSP looks comfortable inside, probably more than is good for him. Same problem Holyfield had. He's too game and too willing to mix it up inside when he really should circle out and fire from the outside at angles.
Our physical strengths don't always line up with our mental attitude. Inside fighting's an art, just like the clinch, or outside boxing.
I think kickboxers have issues with pressure and the inside because they generally either clinch, or get out. Kickboxers don't train head movement nearly as much because of the worry about knees. The inside game is a fight of inches, micro foot adjustments and head movement.
I don't think you need to be a great athlete to access someones performance. While most people couldn't compare to GSP in any aspect of fighting I think you could see what went wrong or maybe some habits he has that may cause him trouble. I do understand however that knowing what needs to be done and being able to do it in a fight are 2 different things.
Honestly I think some guys are just getting insane about weight cutting. Riggs is a good example, Riggs has scary power at 185 but at 170 he looks decimated and hits a lot weaker. GSP might be on that border line of too much cutting.
You guys are unbelievable, the guy has one bad fight and suddenly he cuts too much weight, is overrated standing, fights to much inside.etc. Coming in he was considered #1-2 P4P in the world and now he has to change everything he does.
He wasn't perfect before either. It just takes a loss for most people to start talking about a guy's flaws. We can talk about a fighter who just won's flaws as well, but people who are die hard fan just will just say "well, it was good enough for him to win."
Every fighter has weaknesses. While I don't like the idea of people jumping on and off the bandwagon any more than anyone else, sometimes it takes a loss for people to look at a fighter critically and objectively.
well actually against Sherk, Sherk did ok on the inside, but those moments were few and far between. GSP jabbed the shit out of Sherk, and broke Sherk down effectively, mixing up his strikes the way he is capable of. Unfortunately we did not see him use his jab, and mix up his strikes against Serra, and yes he had some trouble on the inside where he may in fact be vulnerable. He should look to really get his Thai clinch down and rather than looking to exchange openly on the inside, tie up with the clinch and rag doll the fuck out of whom ever he is facing and then if need be disengage and go back to controlling from the outside, and I think we will see him improve his Thai clinch with Phil Nurse. He used it against Hughes better than he had ever used in his career, which was a very positive sign. Against Serra he didn't use it, but he didn't use more than 1% of what he has in his arsenal. Lets however not overrate what Sherk did to prove a point, even if it's a valid point, Sherk was tooled.
Erik The Ped...I call Bullshit. Your ignorance is proof that you know nothing at all about fighting. As I said, you are nothing but a worthless troll and a dick tucker.
WC17 - great post, and I agree on the technical aspects of where GSP may not be the best (on the inside) and how he could improve them. He's got a good clinch game, and should use that more than boxing on the inside, especially since nearly everyone he fights is shorter than him (with shorter arms).