Jorge Gurgel vs. Conor Heun at Strikeforce ShoMMA Event on June 19th
by Scott Haber on May 5, 2009 10:23 AM EDT
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MMA Weekly is reporting that grappling aces Jorge Gurgel and Conor Heun will collide in a lightweight bout on Strikeforce's second ShoMMA card, scheduled for June 19th in Kent, Washington:
A lightweight contest has been added to the upcoming Strikeforce ShoMMA event set for June 19 in Kent, Washington as submission specialist, Conor Heun, returns to action against former UFC fighter, Jorge Gurgel, in a bout that will in all likelihood wind up on the main card for the televised event.
The bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Monday evening by sources close to the fight who stated verbal agreements are in place, but bout agreements should be issued shortly.
Gurgel (12-5), a Brazilian by birth, who now resides and runs his jiu-jitsu school in Cincinnati, holds a black belt in BJJ under Marcus Aurelio and has been a long-time friend and trainer of UFC middleweight Rich Franklin. While fighting for the UFC over the last 2+ years, Gurgel became infamous for disregarding his excellent ground game in favor of standing and trading, usually against superior strikers, and often to no avail. In 7 UFC fights, Gurgel went to a decision 6 times (although he won "Fight of the Night" honors for several of those), and was submitted by Cole Miller in the other fight. Strikeforce announced Gurgel's signing shortly after he was released by the UFC following his loss against Aaron Riley at UFC 91.
Heun (8-2) trains at Legends MMA in Los Angeles and holds a brown belt in BJJ under rubber guard-wizard Eddie Bravo. "The Hurricane's" only two career losses have both come via split decision, while 5 of his 8 wins are via submission. Having competed in both the IFL and EliteXC, Heun's contract was acquired by Strikeforce when ProElite folded in the fall. Outside of his last fight where he TKO'd Edson Berto at an EliteXC event last October, Heun also recently appeared on MTV's "Bully Beatdown".
The June 19th ShoMMA event is expected to be headlined by a lightweight bout between Duane "Bang" Ludwig, and Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm, while UFC veteran Dennis Hallman is also scheduled to fight on the card against an as-of-yet unnamed opponent.
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Gurgel is my least favourite fighter
Not because I don’t like him as a person or anything but it just pains me to watch him fight…..
The thing with watching Gurgel fight is that it is frustrating
I understand that Gurgel wants to put on a show and feels that standup is more exciting than fighting on the ground, and that is admirable, but he is losing his fights because of this misguided mentality. Some fans compare him to Wanderlei Silva in that both want to put on shows for the fans, but the difference is that Wanderlei’s style of fighting has actually won him fights while Gurgel’s hasn’t. It’s just frustrating to know that his BJJ is world-class, but he chooses not to use it, yet his students like Dustin Hazelett and Matt Brown use the BJJ that Gurgel taught them and wins with it. Also, if he likes standup so much, that is fine, but he should learn some good technique because he has admitted to liking slugfests. He throws technique out the window in many of his fights.
Gurgel wants to put on a show and feels that standup is more exciting than fighting on the ground, and that is admirable
I don’t think that’s admirable at all. The point of the sport is to win fights, not to explicitly entertain. The sport is entertaining in and of itself, and if he feels the need to whore himself out for unneccessary brawls (which will negatively affect his health in the future), and not even try to apply his supposedly ‘world class,’ BJJ, then he deserves to be cut from the UFC, and he deserves to lose.
In my opinion, Gurgel’s grappling probably isn’t all that great, or at least doesn’t translate well to MMA (due to lack of wrestling, or unwillingness to take the fight to the ground). He may be exciting to watch, but he’s not a good fighter.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on May 5, 2009 4:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Did you read the rest of my post? Why did you quote the only part of my post that could be interpreted as me liking what he does when in fact the rest of my post I pretty much state my frustration towards him and his style? I called his need to keep the fight standing a “misguided mentality.” I also stated that he should learn good technique in the standup department if he likes it so much. I pretty much agreed with everything that you said and have stated my frustration towards Gurgel in my post.
I wasn’t quoting it to make it seem like you’re a Gurgel Fanboy. haha
I was just quoting it for truth. It also bugs the hell out of me that he’s a guy who has the tools to be a very good fighter, but lacks the mental finesse to formulate/execute a smart gameplan.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on May 5, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions
He’s a good fighter, he’s just not a great fighter.
He’ll kick the crap out of just about everyone on the regional circuit. He just can’t get over the hump against the cream of the crop. It’s not like he was getting his ass kicked in the UFC. His record hovered around 0.500 for most of his UFC career and almost all of his fights were very competitive back & forth affairs.
Also, Gurgel hasn’t been the same fighter since coming back from knee surgery, which unfortunately encompasses his entire UFC career. He just doesn’t have the explosiveness in his lower body anymore and his takedowns have suffered tremendously. He kind of reminds me of the current version of Frank Shamrock. Frank is also has elite grappling skills but has been forced to transform himself into a striker simply because his knees are shot and he can’t change levels worth a damn anymore.
Strikeforce is the perfect home for Gurgel. He’ll be able to put on exciting fights and will win most of them (unlike in the UFC where he lost most of them). He might even win enough to earn a title shot or two and take a solid five round ass-kicking from either Melendez or Thompson.
Agreed on all counts.
And I had no idea about the whole knee injury thing. It could explain alot about his current situation.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on May 5, 2009 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Even harder to believe...
that a Black Belt in Jiu- Jitsu under MARCUS AURELIO doesn’t use his ground game in his fights.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on May 5, 2009 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions
This is a pretty solid matchup, Heun has power and is venerable on the ground. Gurgel has stated he’s going back to basics with his ground game, so it could be a chess match, but I predict Gurgel resorting to old ways of trying to excite the crowd.
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I wonder how much of Jorge’s stand and bang style is by choice and how much of it is a concession to wear and tear on his knees.
IMO, the dirty little secret on Gurgel is that he is NOT stupid. He just has the same problem as Frank Shamrock. His legs are shot and he can’t change levels anymore, so he has to stand and bang.
I understand that Jorge has been bullying poor Rich Franklin and Dustin Hazelett in the gym. Conor Huen has been called in to provide a Bully Beatdown.
LOL!
It should be a good matchup and what no one is mentioning is how good Conor’s wrestling is, so he has more than plenty to have a great fight against Gurgel.
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