Would GSP have been able to hold Anderson down for 5 rounds?

[Joonyer]

Why not ? Have you seen him completely manhandling Weidman on the ground ? Most of his finished are via either brutal GnP or submissions ... Luke's ground game is elite as it gets

Fair enough. I'll watch a few of his fights again. When I first saw those fights I saw a 220 pound guy grappling a 200 pound guy. He just always seemed bigger than his opponent and I attributed his skills to more of a size advantage.

Rockhold's top game is filthy. He just isn't a complete grappler to the extent Jones/Khabib are in a MMA context, mostly because he lacks the wrestling chops.

But his top game in isolation is absolutely on the level. His overall sub-grappling game is excellent.

Plenty of heavy hitters in sub-grappling who have rolled with him have given him major props.

Can't argue with other pros giving him props. I probably have judged him wrong because his personality irks me.

Thanks, dudes.

 

[COBRA03]

There was a reason GSP never fought A. Silva, he knew he would lose. Georg knows his limitations, and good for him.

 

[L0ki]

Strong wrestlers are the worse style match up for Anderson.

 

[thobra]

We all love GSP, but he is nowhere near Chael... and We all saw What happened to Chael vs a healthy Anderson.

 

[MikeMcMann]

and lets not pretend Anderson wanted a fight versus GSP until he was in full on retirement mode. He wanted no part of GSP either and would state it whenever a mic was put in front of his mouth, saying 'I am happy in my category' or 'its not a fight that interests me' whenever he was asked.

it was only once he was thinking retirement and he had cleaned out his division he wanted it and unfortunately for him GSP was in the toughest run of his division (Shields, Condit, Diaz and Hendricks ahead) so GSP had no interest until he was done just like Anderson did not until he was basically thinking he was done.

it was completely mutual why the fight never happened.

 

[thobra]

Strong wrestlers are the worse style match up for Anderson.

Huh? A guy that used to have one of the very best tdd % in mma, And one of the best bottom games in mma, now suddenly struggle with Wrestlers?

Even a 40 lb heavier DC could do nothing but lnp vs an old, broken Anderson.

 

[MikeMcMann]

We all love GSP, but he is nowhere near Chael... and We all saw What happened to Chael vs a healthy Anderson.

GSP is everything Chael is not. Chael is solely a dominant top wrestler in the old school MMA vein. Chael is only effective to someone vulnerable to that style. Chael is arguably one of the only top wrestlers of a division who added no real effective other part of his game. He has no effective GNP to finish a fight and no real stand up and he is very vulnerable (just as the old school wrestlers first were) to a guy with good BJJ and submissions from the bottom.

The only think Chael has on GSP is size. GSP is better every where else. And yes if you recall what Chael did to a healthy Anderson it was minutes from going down as one of the most one sided dominated decision losses a Champ ever suffered in title fight. Chael showed Anderson had nothing for him short of exploiting the huge hole Chael has in sub defense. Anderson only pulled that out via Chael's weakness and not Anderson's strength. He would not have submitted any of the top wrestlers in any other division in that way as only Chael has that huge hole in his game at the top of a division.

 

[MikeMcMann]

Huh? A guy that used to have one of the very best tdd % in mma, And one of the best bottom games in mma, now suddenly struggle with Wrestlers?

Even a 40 lb heavier DC could do nothing but lnp vs an old, broken Anderson.

You need to stop speaking about Anderson as obviously you do not know him as a fighter. He never had the best tdd% in mma nor one of the best bottom games. They were good but not elite in either aspect. In most cases it was the end of a round and the ref standing them up that got Anderson off his back.

 

[IIIIIIII]

nope. he would have been knocked out, which is why gsp chose to never fight him.

 

[thobra]

GSP is everything Chael is not. Chael is solely a dominant top wrestler in the old school MMA vein. Chael is only effective to someone vulnerable to that style. Chael is arguably one of the only top wrestlers of a division who added no real effective other part of his game. He has no effective GNP to finish a fight and no real stand up and he is very vulnerable (just as the old school wrestlers first were) to a guy with good BJJ and submissions from the bottom.

The only think Chael has on GSP is size. GSP is better every where else. And yes if you recall what Chael did to a healthy Anderson it was minutes from going down as one of the most one sided dominated decision losses a Champ ever suffered in title fight. Chael showed Anderson had nothing for him short of exploiting the huge hole Chael has in sub defense. Anderson only pulled that out via Chael's weakness and not Anderson's strength. He would not have submitted any of the top wrestlers in any other division in that way as only Chael has that huge hole in his game at the top of a division.

Good we had the rematch, where Anderson was not injured.

Even if Chael has underrated boxing, GSP sure has an advantage in the standup, but that is obviously not vs Anderson. On the ground, GSP was struggeling with an old Bisping from top. A prime Anderson is very different from Bisping on the bottom.

 

[thobra]

You need to stop speaking about Anderson as obviously you do not know him as a fighter. He never had the best tdd% in mma nor one of the best bottom games. They were good but not elite in either aspect. In most cases it was the end of a round and the ref standing them up that got Anderson off his back.

After busting up the guy on top, making him work And tired. Yes, he had among the very best tdd in mma, And I don’t know why you would think he has an average bottom game. It is legendary.

 

[MikeMcMann]

Good we had the rematch, where Anderson was not injured.

Even if Chael has underrated boxing, GSP sure has an advantage in the standup, but that is obviously not vs Anderson. On the ground, GSP was struggling with an old Bisping from top. A prime Anderson is very different from Bisping on the bottom.

Bisping, in fact, did have one of the best TDD at MW and was one of the hardest guys to take down and KEEP down. So old GSP versus old Bisping does not help your case at all. Look at how much Chael struggled with Bisping in a Prime V Prime match compared to how GSP handled Bisping in their out of prime matchup. GSP was far more effective.

The effectiveness of the standup of wrestlers like GSP and Weidman is in how well they can control the ground game and do damage there. Had Weidman not been able to take Anderson down so easily and do so much damage with GNP he would not have so easily beat Anderson on the feet. GSP has very solid technical stand up striking that is made much better when the opponent has to fear the TD. That is the question of this hypothetical matchup. Would Anderson have to fear the TD? And we do not know.

 

[MikeMcMann]

After busting up the guy on top, making him work And tired. Yes, he had among the very best tdd in mma, And I don’t know why you would think he has an average bottom game. It is legendary.

You are wrong on both fronts. Factually wrong. No stats back up Anderson having the best tdd in MMA so you are speaking from ignorance. And Anderson was known mostly as a turtle on his back. Commentators in all his fights would speak to that. How once down he could do little but run out the clock and avoid damage, like a turtle.

 

[Intellidamus]

There’s a reason they never fought...

N it’s not like ufc, Anderson n fans didn’t want that fight

They were going to make the fight after the Maia fight. Andy clowned around too much & embarrassed Dana/UFC in Dubai. Dana was pissed, fight was taken off the table.

 

[Intellidamus]

Prime Anderson? Not a chance.

Prime as in pre-USADA?

 

[Intellidamus]

Nope. Anderson would've KOed him stiff. It is funny though, that even the most ardent GSP fanboys see a boring lay n pray decision as the only path to victory for the Canadian, tells a lot about his style (gaming the 10 point system)

You mean he did what it took to beat his opponents within the rules/system? And his opponents knew this but yet couldn’t stop it? What a horrible fighter..

 

[eiyuu]

I think so.

Silva for all his strengths had a lousy get back up game.

Basically, his plan after being taken down was hunt for a submission, try to strike from the bottom and wait for the round to end.

And I say this as someone who's been called a "Silva Nut-hugger" in the past.

 

[Intellidamus]

We all love GSP, but he is nowhere near Chael... and We all saw What happened to Chael vs a healthy Anderson.

Watch Anderson during the introductions of that fight. He rubbed so much Vaseline on his body he looked like a sea otter after Exxon Valdez. Then there was the blatant shorts grabbing. Just my view.

 

[thobra]

Bisping, in fact, did have one of the best TDD at MW and was one of the hardest guys to take down and KEEP down. So old GSP versus old Bisping does not help your case at all. Look at how much Chael struggled with Bisping in a Prime V Prime match compared to how GSP handled Bisping in their out of prime matchup. GSP was far more effective.

The effectiveness of the standup of wrestlers like GSP and Weidman is in how well they can control the ground game and do damage there. Had Weidman not been able to take Anderson down so easily and do so much damage with GNP he would not have so easily beat Anderson on the feet. GSP has very solid technical stand up striking that is made much better when the opponent has to fear the TD. That is the question of this hypothetical matchup. Would Anderson have to fear the TD? And we do not know.

And in that hypothetical fight, I dont think Anderson would fear the td. GSP might get him down a time of two, but he would do no harm from the top. GSP would However be hurt on the feet.

 

[acannxr]

if you watch the second fight against Chael it's clear Silva improved his TDD and gameplan against wrestlers even more after that experience.

Silva was cheating, was still getting taken down, and then Sonnen threw that stupid back fist.