GSP

Everyone with half a brain knows that the way to beat Anderson Silva is to put him on his back. Sure, he's still got some deady tools at his disposal even from then, but at the very least he's not likely to KO kick you in the face. I say 'not likely' because he's still done it in the past - to Yushin Okami. It was an illegal kick, Silva was DQ'd, and it was the last loss he's suffered on his record.

That was back in 2006. Now Okami is pushing hard for the title shot he was promised back in 2008 that he missed out on because of a busted hand. And because of all the pussyfooting going on between Georges St Pierre and Dana White over an Anderson Silva megafight, he might finally be getting that shot! Here he is talking to CagePotato about it:

How did you feel when you knew you wouldn’t get the title match next?
Well, I’ve heard various things, but instead of GSP I want to fight Anderson, beat him, and I believe I’ll become a new star in the UFC. I’m concentrating and training for that fight now.

If the Silva vs. GSP happens, how do you think it will go?
Well, there is the problem of weight…and GSP will go for the takedown. But the middleweight division is for the fighters who are there, and have been fighting there, so I don’t think there’s much point in that fight. Basically, I haven’t really thought about it because Anderson and I are top of the middleweight division, so it should be left to us.

Do you have a message for Anderson Silva?
Anderson is the top of the middleweight division and I am coming for the belt. I promise you’ll see him fall and I’ll be the new champion. Thank you for your support!

The scary thing is he might be able to do it too. Okami has all the wrestling ability of a GSP, just without the charisma, excitement, or fanbase to go along with it. It'd kinda be like watching a larger Georges take on Anderson, except the UFC makes a lot less money and might end up with a dud champ no one likes. But I guess that's the pesky thing about running a legit fight league: you gotta keep lining up the contenders even if it might cost you the biggest mega super orgasmo fight in the history of the sport. Considering Okami's been waiting for three years and 40+ ppv events now, he's sorta due.

It's GSP fever over in Manilla. Full video (which is chock full of even more jiggy wicky wicky boom tss fun) after the jump.

We're all used to seeing Josh Koscheck rolling around the octagon playing up whatever foul real or imagined that's happened to him most recently. Now he's doing the same over some comments attributed referee Yves Lavigne where Yves allegedly criticized Koscheck's performance against Paul Daley and praised GSP as the better fighter. Koscheck doesn't just want to make sure Lavigne doesn't ref any of his fights again ... he wants the guy fired completely:

“UFC referee, Yves Lavigne is clearly not suited to be a referee after his rant of personal attacks and opinions on me as a fighter. It’s supposed to be his job to look at a fight unbiased, but how can anyone trust this guy to fairly referee any fight ever again after his comments? It’s scary to think this guy has been calling fights in the octagon for this long. It’s very fair to say Mr. Lavigne will never ref one of my fights again. I would never put all my hard work as a fighter or my livelihood in the hands of this ref.

The (UFC) and the commission would be irresponsible to let him continue his job- any call this guy makes would have to be questioned. You call MMA a professional sport? Well, professional starts at the top. Never would an NFL, NBA or other major sports official state there personal opinions publicly about a player and keep their job. I now question every call Yves has ever made as a referee. Hopefully no fighter ever has to step into a fight with Yves Lavigne as referee. Better get that resume ready Lavigne…..”

Meanwhile, Yves Lavigne is denying everything, saying:

1. I NEVER gave an interview to that journalist
2. I NEVER gave an interview regarding GSP vs Koscheck
3. My lawyer is taking care of this matter.

Since then, the original article with the alleged quotes has been taken down. But as far as Yves 'NEVER' giving an interview regarding GSP vs Koscheck, that's not exactly true. Here he is on a Quebec radio station classifying Koscheck's last fight as 'boring and dull' while defending GSP's last boring / dull fight as 'technical'. While the quotes aren't the same, they still kinda end up implying the same thing.

So is this enough to affect Yves Lavigne's status as a UFC referee regular? I certainly hope not, although he has probably given enough cause to be recused from any future GSP and Koscheck fights because of what he said. Referees need to be really careful about appearing above petty fan concerns, which makes it a not so great idea to go on radio shows and giving your personal opinion on fights and fighters. Big John McCarthy is still paying for saying stuff that was a lot more vague than that, and Yves Lavigne isn't exactly at the top of Dana White's 'favorite ref' list.

While it's not a mega Toronto debut inside the Skydome, I think we can all agree that GSP vs Koscheck 2 has found a decent home in Montreal on December 11th. It works out perfectly for everyone ... Georges gets his first hometown fight since 2008, the UFC gets a mega-event in Canada that'll moisten Toronto's orifice for 2011 penetration, and Josh Koscheck gets to walk that talk he made the last time he was in Montreal. You remember that, right? It went something along the lines of "Fuck your hockey team, and I'm going to fuck your champion too!"

Oh, and living in Montreal, I get a higher chance of seeing Josh get suckerpunched again. Probably outside the cage this time. Win!