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Originally Posted by rampage9712  the Fitch and Alvez fights were phenomenal displays. While the Shields and Hardy fights were hard to watch. |
I don't know why the Hardy fight was hard to watch. That was some of GSP's best illustration of his BJJ skillset. He possibly passed guard more than he ever did, and went for submissions constantly. I actually don't think he played it that safe on the ground either, as he was willing to lose positions which he did. The reason people think that was a bad performance for GSP is because he should have finished, which I agree. In my opinion, there were 2 reasons he couldn't finish:
[1] He had a hard time finishing when he shouldn't have, due to technique and killer instinct. He had the armbar locked but didn't have the wrist and elbow in the right position. He had the Kimura locked much tighter and would've won for sure if he had the Frank Mir instinct and kept cranking. Hardy was going no where! I don't know why GSP stopped.
[2] His lack of using GnP. It was something very different from GSP's previous fights, where he just grappled and did not try to land any strikes on the ground. I think he really wanted a finish with a sub, but didn't soften Hardy up for it. He actually even mentioned that after the Condit fight that he wanted to use his GnP more unlike the Hardy fight.
The Shields fight I agree was not good, but I enjoyed the first 3 rounds and the 4th and 5th weren't' great. I attributed that to the eye poke.