Diego haters?

subgenius · 08-20-2006, 11:38 AM

I agree with MMA Fanatic. People have to dig deep to find reasons to dislike the guy. Diego Sánchez did not fall off the truck yesterday. The guy started training in MA and wrestling at age nine. This is a guy that won his (New Mexico) State wrestling championship. Hughes did go on through the NCAA, but Sáncgez did not go to college. Sánchez went straight to MMA training right out of high school. He made black belt in Gaidojutsu (Gaido Jui-Jitsu) in a short period of time.

Matt Hughes was never a State wrestling champion. Hughes has not been training to be a full well-rounded fighter all of his life. He is an All-American NCAA wrestler, but (IIRC) he was not a NCAA champion. Many have complained that Hughes relied only on his superior wrestling skills to win his fights. It has even been said that the reason that Baby Jay Penn defeated Hughes was because Penn had more well-rounded skills as a MMA fighter. It is in the past few years that Hughes has been developing to be a more well-rounded fighter.

And, for those that say that Diego Sánchez will never hold a title or be a champion. You are way too late. You are not up on the history of this fighter. Diego Sánchez held the KOTC welterweight title. He was never defeated for that title. He gave it up to be on TUF1. He then won TUF1, which is the equal to winning a tournament. Sánchez has continued to prove the haters wrong time after time after time. He beat the number four and number five WW fighters in the UFC.

I think Penn is out of the WW picture. He is not in the game it seems. He lost to GSP, and that was a severe blow. He seems headed for the LW division. I expect Diego Sánchez to leapfrog over Penn and face the winner of the GSP-Hughes WW title fight. The winner of TUF4 gets a shot, but that will not be until four months after the 13 weeks that the show is taped. So, that may not happen until January.

Gooner · 08-20-2006, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMA_Fanatic

Not sure I agree that he's cocky... In the MMA world, he believes in himself a little more than others, per his pre-fight interviews.

If you'll notice, though, in his post-fight interviews he always thanks the troops and calls them the real heros and gladiators. That's pretty much being humble knowing who really battles for their occupation. Or, maybe I'm biased being a vet.

Praising the troops always seems like a "kiss the baby"-type of politician's move to me. Oh yeah, and Jesus... of course. I cringe even when Couture/Franklin/whoever does that.

Now, Tito wearing a "Bring the troops home"-shirt at UFC 51 (or 50) already... That took balls, and was probably genuine too. But what do I know, I'm anti-neocon.

Gooner · 08-20-2006, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgenius

I think Penn is out of the WW picture. He is not in the game it seems. He lost to GSP, and that was a severe blow. He seems headed for the LW division. I expect Diego Sánchez to leapfrog over Penn and face the winner of the GSP-Hughes WW title fight. The winner of TUF4 gets a shot, but that will not be until four months after the 13 weeks that the show is taped. So, that may not happen until January.

BJ Penn>Diego. Now and always.:sport-smi
And...

Quote:

In the event that St. Pierre cannot fight, a member of the champion's camp told Sherdog.com, the UFC has started to work on back-up plans, including a rematch between Hughes and B.J. Penn.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=5349

I'll be very surprised if Diego ever becomes the UFC champion,unless something weird happens (like PRIDE getting a WW-division, and all the best fighters

). I can't see him beating Hughes (now), or GSP (now or in the future).

subgenius · 08-20-2006, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gooner

BJ Penn>Diego. Now and always.:sport-smi
And...

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=5349

I'll be very surprised if Diego ever becomes the UFC champion,unless something weird happens (like PRIDE getting a WW-division, and all the best fighters

). I can't see him beating Hughes (now), or GSP (now or in the future).

We heard all that nonesense about Penn a while ago. Then, of course, he got beat by GSP. Everyone cries about Diego Sánchez. They all seem to not like the guy for virtually no reason whatsoever. That BS about being arrogant is just pure BS through and through. They all said Diaz would own Sánchez, and then Diaz lost to Diego. They all said Karo would beat Diego, and now Karo lost as well.

Say all that BS about Penn being better. Say it right up to the point that they raise Sánchez's arm and announce him as the winner and Penn as the loser. Hell, keep saying it all the way until Diego Sánchez wins the WW title.

wgs2005 · 08-20-2006, 04:42 PM

i have nothing against the guy whatsoever but i believe penn is better, he is improving with every fight though, in the future maybe.

Ryduce · 08-20-2006, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgenius

We heard all that nonesense about Penn a while ago. Then, of course, he got beat by GSP. Everyone cries about Diego Sánchez. They all seem to not like the guy for virtually no reason whatsoever. That BS about being arrogant is just pure BS through and through. They all said Diaz would own Sánchez, and then Diaz lost to Diego. They all said Karo would beat Diego, and now Karo lost as well.

Say all that BS about Penn being better. Say it right up to the point that they raise Sánchez's arm and announce him as the winner and Penn as the loser. Hell, keep saying it all the way until Diego Sánchez wins the WW title.

I've never quite fully understood all the Diego hate either,and BJ certainly has done more to merit hate than Diego.No one can doubt BJ's skills as a fighter,but ever since he beat Hughes it has been a downward spiral for him.He's unfocused,unmotivated,and just plain lazy.Diego's hungry and skilled,which is a dangerous combination.I don't know what the future holds for the two,but a focused BJ is a dangerous BJ,and if Diego were to call him out we might see the monster in BJ come out.BJ vs Diego has the potential to be an incredible fight,and it probably would be.And I'd wager to bet that 96% of the people would say that BJ would win,I however,am not one of those people.

People keep hating and Diego keeps winning.

PINOYPRIDE · 08-20-2006, 05:33 PM

^^I agree with Ryduce that BJ is unfocused now a days and if he trains and be focused he will be a force to be wrecking with.

As for Diego, I give him alot of credit against Karo, but I would like to see him against a good striker and a MMA fighter with a good take down defense.
Or a person who is very good on the ground.

subgenius · 08-20-2006, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PINOYPRIDE

^^I agree with Ryduce that BJ is unfocused now a days and if he trains and be focused he will be a force to be wrecking with.

As for Diego, I give him alot of credit against Karo, but I would like to see him against a good striker and a MMA fighter with a good take down defense.
Or a person who is very good on the ground.

Nick Diaz. That is who you are describing. He is a good striker. He has good takedown defense. And, he is good on the ground. Most people seemed to think that Diaz would KO Sánchez. But, that did not happen.

John Alessio. He is known for being a striker. He also had great takedown defense. But, he was not able to do very much against Diego. He did avoid the takedowns during the match, but was unable to keep Diego off of his back, literally.

Karo Parisyan. He is arguably one of the better ground fighters around. But, he was not better than Diego. GSP and Hughes will have the same problems with Diego on the ground that Karo had in his match against Diego.

Baby Jay Penn? The way I see it, Penn brings the same skills to the table that Nick Diaz brought. I really do not see a Penn-Sánchez match ending any differently than the way that the Diaz-Sánchez match ended.

Grave · 08-20-2006, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gooner

BJ Penn>Diego. Now and always.:sport-smi
And...

You won't be saying that after Diego DESTROYS Penn.

Be ready for it, because its going to HAPPEN if they ever put those two in the same cage together

Tinker Bell · 08-20-2006, 10:24 PM

Let me be one of the first people to admit that I never really liked Diego "The Nightmare" Sanchez, for whatever reason, I still don't know. Coming off the Ultimate Fighter I felt that the UFC babied him for awhile and were giving him easy matchup's. I eat my words just a few days ago as Diego probably had his toughest matchup yet, against a former contender for the Welter Weight title, Karo Parisyan who I was undoubtingly expecting to win the match with ease but it just wasn't the case. I gotta give credit where credit is due and Diego has definatly earned my respect as a legitamate UFC fighter. The guy just brings it, in all of his matches and if some people don't respect that, they just simply flat out hate the guy. With that being said, Diego has proved himself that he is a contender for the title and somebody to not be taken lightly.

L0cusT · 08-20-2006, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgenius

Nick Diaz. That is who you are describing. He is a good striker. He has good takedown defense. And, he is good on the ground. Most people seemed to think that Diaz would KO Sánchez. But, that did not happen.

John Alessio. He is known for being a striker. He also had great takedown defense. But, he was not able to do very much against Diego. He did avoid the takedowns during the match, but was unable to keep Diego off of his back, literally.

Karo Parisyan. He is arguably one of the better ground fighters around. But, he was not better than Diego. GSP and Hughes will have the same problems with Diego on the ground that Karo had in his match against Diego.

Baby Jay Penn? The way I see it, Penn brings the same skills to the table that Nick Diaz brought. I really do not see a Penn-Sánchez match ending any differently than the way that the Diaz-Sánchez match ended.[/font]

diego may have good skills on the ground, but i personnaly think that gsp or hughes would overpower Sanchez, look at Gsp against very good ground guys ( parysian, Jason miller,...) or hughes against verissimo etc.. sure he can gave them some trouble, verissimo was close to choke hughes out with a triangle , gsp was close to get armbared by parysian too so....i wont say that diego stand no chance at the ground but my opinion is that i believe he wont have the power needed to dominate on the ground like he did in his other fights. Also Hughes and GSP are harder to takedown than his last opponents. And about BJ penn, its the samething, its hard to take him down, hes a better striker than sanchez, hes better in BJJ, etc... for me sanchez is not ready to face these 3 guys but maybe he could beat Penn cause Sanchez is in better shape, his cardio is better and hes working really hard so maybe if he put a lot of pressure on him, like gsp did on the last round of the fight, maybe then he can beat BJ.

DirtyChuckRulz! · 08-20-2006, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgenius

Nick Diaz. That is who you are describing. He is a good striker. He has good takedown defense. And, he is good on the ground. Most people seemed to think that Diaz would KO Sánchez. But, that did not happen.

John Alessio. He is known for being a striker. He also had great takedown defense. But, he was not able to do very much against Diego. He did avoid the takedowns during the match, but was unable to keep Diego off of his back, literally.

Karo Parisyan. He is arguably one of the better ground fighters around. But, he was not better than Diego. GSP and Hughes will have the same problems with Diego on the ground that Karo had in his match against Diego.

Baby Jay Penn? The way I see it, Penn brings the same skills to the table that Nick Diaz brought. I really do not see a Penn-Sánchez match ending any differently than the way that the Diaz-Sánchez match ended.[/font]

U say that B J Penn Brings the same skills as Nick Diaz to the table? thats a pretty lame comment. I know your more educated than that Sub, thats a pretty weak arguement for Diego.

Ryduce · 08-20-2006, 11:26 PM

I usually tend to agree with Sub when it comes to BJ and Diego,but seriously,BJ's ground game is in an entirely different stratosphere compared to Diaz's.I still think Diego will win,but it will be a much tougher match up for sure.

Bomber · 08-21-2006, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgenius

I really do not see a Penn-Sánchez match ending any differently than the way that the Diaz-Sánchez match ended.[/font]

Two things stand out for me in the Diaz/Sanchez match. 1. It was one of the greatest grappling matches I've ever seen. 2. Diaz won the fight but lost the decision.

Gooner · 08-21-2006, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by subgeniues

Baby Jay Penn? The way I see it, Penn brings the same skills to the table that Nick Diaz brought.

That is indeed a retarded thing to say. GSP had serious trouble taking BJ down, Diego couldn't do it.

Diego won't be beating GSP or BJ. If Hughes goes on too long, he might be able to beat him, but he'll never be the champion. I hope they do put him against one of those guys soon. None of those guys would have eeked close decisions from Diaz, Alessio AND Karo.
Maybe when Diego finishes a fighter, that isn't D-level, he can be considered a legit threat.

RockemSockem · 08-21-2006, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gooner

That is indeed a retarded thing to say. GSP had serious trouble taking BJ down, Diego couldn't do it.

Diego won't be beating GSP or BJ. If Hughes goes on too long, he might be able to beat him, but he'll never be the champion. I hope they do put him against one of those guys soon. None of those guys would have eeked close decisions from Diaz, Alessio AND Karo.
Maybe when Diego finishes a fighter, that isn't D-level, he can be considered a legit threat.

Diego hasn't fought any D-level fighters in the UFC, with Josh Rafferty possibly being the exception, i haven't seen any of his other fights. How many guys does Diego need to beat convincly before he stops getting the "he won tonight, but once they put him in with someone better he'll get owned!". Every fight they step up his competition and every fight he wins convincingly. I do not think he would win against Hughes or GSP, but i think he has a better chance than many #1 contenders have had against Hughes. And he deserves to be #3/4 depending on where you put BJ. Karo Parysian is the real ****ing deal, a convincing win against him makes you a top contender.

Gooner · 08-21-2006, 10:21 AM

He beat Diaz, Alessio and Karo convincingly now?

In that case, can I get an example of where someone has won unconvincingly?

RockemSockem · 08-21-2006, 11:34 AM

Griffin over Bonnar, either could have won. Bonnar over Jardine, he clearly lost. Tito over Griffin. There are lots of fights where after the fact there is much debate about who should have won. I don't remember much, if any, debate over Diego's wins.

Flying Triangle Choke · 08-21-2006, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockemSockem

Griffin over Bonnar, either could have won. Bonnar over Jardine, he clearly lost. Tito over Griffin. There are lots of fights where after the fact there is much debate about who should have won. I don't remember much, if any, debate over Diego's wins.

There was some debate over the Alessio fight, but that's about it. Otherwise they've been clear-cut decisions.

Reildeal · 08-21-2006, 03:52 PM

I don't understand why the Diego "likers" have to question and criticize the "haters". The great thing about sports such as this is that we all can have fighters that we like and dislike. As a fight fan, what fun is it to have everyone jump on a bandwagon? For me personally, the guy "rubs me the wrong way"(well said from other posts). I dislike him now, and I will probably dislike him in the future despite how many wins he has or how well he does in the octagon. I was very impressed with his win against Karo, I had a blast watching the fight, and I have much respect for him, but hell, it doesn't mean I gotta like the guy.