Gabe Gonzaga appreciation thread. A brutal finisher (gifs)

[Greek777]

Gonzaga is the MAN!!! For someone who started out with a pure BJJ background, it's amazing how much power he developed.

Locally (I live in the same town he does/where his gym is), the rumor is that he wants to retire after the loss to Mirko. If that's the case, then I wanted to start a thread showcasing just how devastating this man was when he was on.

Fun fact - Gonzaga has never, ever won a decision. Every single win he's had came by a finish. He was only taken to decision twice, losing to Schaub and Stipe. Until the last year and a half, almost all of his losses were to guys in the top 5 who were either going straight ot a title shot, or former chaps themselves (Randy, JDS, Carwin, Werdum, Browne, etc)

Anyway, Gonzaga has produced some of the most brutal, epic knockouts in the HW division... and he can grapple like a motherfucker. Here's a collection of gifs, videos and more, showcasing one of my favorite fighters and one of the nicest people I've ever met in the sport.

Enjoy! And if he does call it a career, please leave a nice message, and I will send him this thread. Maybe we can get him to do a Q&A after he heals up!

^ Gonzaga vs Mirko. One of the greatest, most mind blowing knockouts in MMA history.

^ Gonzaga vs Kevin Jordan

^ Gonzaga vs Josh Hendricks - where, as Ray Longo would put it, Gabe "punched a hole through his fucking chest". Seriously, look at the ripple through Hendrick's body AFTER Gabe's punch had already hit him on the jaw. It's like he punched through his face. Crazy power!

Gabe vs Chris Tuchscherer. Not the finish, but another example of his great kicks, despite slipping, still has massive power. Again - a BJJ guy here.

^ 2 angles of Gonzaga vs Shawn Jordan. An absolutely awesome display of countering, at the same time maintaining power and accuracy despite moving backwards. Rarely do we see knockouts like that even in the lighter weights with quicker guys. Beautiful.

^ Rocking Shane Carwin while moving backwards yet again. Anyone who knows boxing knows how hard this is to do. Keep in mind, this is someone who grew up doing BJJ only until his mid 20s. Gonzaga was not all about power only, he truly had good technique too, something often overlooked because he's a heavyweight - but to me, that just makes it more impressive

Gonzaga vs Dave Herman. Herman famously claimed "BJJ doesn't work on me" before getting subbed by Minotauro in their fight. However, Gonzaga said "that's fine, I don't need it", and sent Herman crashing back to reality in 70 seconds.

 

[Greek777]

Let's not forget, this is a Mundials HW champion - the top BJJ competition in the world

Not only does he put dudes to sleep standing, but he can submit people just as well

^choking out Ben Rothwell (who defeated Overeem by KO in his next fight)

^ Gonzaga vs McCully. No gif of this one, but Gonzaga landed a huge low kick that caused McCully to crash to the floor.. Followed up with monster GNP, and secured an Americana for the tap. Another example of his crushing top game combined with powerful strikes.

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Anyway, thanks for all the fun fights Napao. Never once did anybody get bored watching this man in the cage. You knew that more likely than not, someone was getting put to sleep, whether standing or on the ground. If he does retire, then good luck and enjoy life, your schools, students and family. Thanks for all the memories!

 

[Deleted member 1]

Maybe GG just couldn't put it together longterm due to the lack of a big team?

 

[Greek777]

No, that's a strange misconception floated out there by Rogan in recent years. He always did his actual camps split between Link and Chute Boxe, Xtreme Couture and others. It's not like he just stayed at Link forever.

Gonzaga and his students resent the fact that every single time Rogan talks about him, he shits on his school (which at the time included guys like Jacare, Paulo Filho, Shaolin Ribero and more). It's not fair. MANY top guys, when they reach the end of their career, stay training at home to be with their families and bring other fighters in to their own gyms. Yet Rogan singles out Team Link as if they are not any good. I honestly hate when he does that. I am a big Rogan fan, but he has the habit of repeating things sometimes that are not always true (Gonzaga never trained with anyone, Fedor is on steroids, etc). Just annoying.

Rogan doesn't say this same thing about other guys who have their own gyms. Yet he singles Gabriel out all the time, despite the fact it's public knowledge he spent his camps at Xtreme Couture and others. I don't like that and it's honestly hurt their business.

Team Link is probably the most successful BJJ school in New England. Their fighters usually take the gold in all NAGAs and any other competition they enter. The promotion I worked for from 2007-10 had Team Link fighters on every show, going against guys from much bigger, more "name" schools - like Renzo's, Bombsquad (Jon Jones came from there), Sityodtong (Mark Dellagrote's school). More often than not, the Link guys destroyed them

I just don't think it's fair that Gonzaga is lumped into a "he trains at a small school that is no good" group. Like I said, that being repeated by Rogan in every single fight he has in recent years has actually hurt their business. There are not many BJJ schools in western MA, or western New England at all. Team Link is probably the best, and it really bugs me when people say that, especially considering the fact he spent most of his time training for his fights at Xtreme Couture and Chute Boxe

Oh well, guess the thread didn't go as planned, was hoping to just celebrate the guy's career. Rogan irks me sometimes. It's ok for him to mention that once or twice, but out of respect for a guy who goes in there and puts it all on the line, ALWAYS delivering great fights, I don't think it's right. He has said that during every single fight he's had in the last 2-3 years and it's dumb. I never, ever hear him shit on anyone else who trains out of their own gym.

Josh Barnett doesn't have a bunch of other big, strong HWs pushing him around as CSW. Why doesn't he shit on their school every time Josh fights? Frank Mir never trained with other heavyweights until he joined Jackson's like 2 years ago. I can think of plenty of other guys in the HW division alone who don't get shit on for this by Rogan in EVERY fight they have. Even Mirko trains at his house for god's sake, with the only guy of note ever going there being Werdum.

Shame really. oh well. I enjoy the man's performances, very much, and think he's actually an over achiever considering he started MMA very late and was purely a BJJ guy when he started, who turned into a power filled KO machine.

BTW, he spent his entire camp for Mirko (the first time) at Team Link. They didn't do too bad for him then.

 

[Greek777]

Also, when Gonzaga started his school in 2005, there were ZERO BJJ schools in a 100+ mile radius of here, nevermind one with a Mundials world champion. Gonzaga alone has done a ton for BJJ in New England, and went from having one small school in a strip mall (the same one he trained at entirely for Mirko and knocked out the consensus #2 HW in the world with his own move) to opening 5, 6 locations around New England

Just wanna put that out there, there is more than meets the eye, and it'd be nice if Rogan could actually say something good about Team Link instead of giving millions of fans who watch him on TV the idea that it's some podunk nothing school.

Again, I can think of tons and tons of guys over the years who trained at their own academy. Like I said, Gonzaga brought in high level Muay Thai guys, along with other grapplers like Jacare, Paulo Filho (when he was ranked over Anderson as the #1 Middleweight in the world) to help his training camps, when he actually did entire ones at Link. Mostly, he split his camps between Link and other shark tank schools like the old Chute Boxe and Coutur's gym in is heyday.

Imagine how it'd feel when every single time you fight, even if you get a huge win, the commentator is putting down your entire life's passion and work in creating these schools. Talking about them like they are not that great, singling you out and never mentioning how many other guys do the same exact thing yet had nowhere near the success/big wins Gonzaga had. I would resent that too.

 

[Wild]

Another great thread by Galanis. Going to tweet this to Gabriel tomorrow.

 

[girlandcoconut]

Dang! Those gifs were an awesome compilation of "how to drop a dude like a hot rock." Those kicks and backward motion TKOs were sick

 

[Punch]

Napao is a beast! The crazy eyes in the cameras after a finish had me liking this dude since day 1.

 

[Greek777]

Fuck yeah, and dem traps too

It it just me or does he look like Tom Eriskon in that pic?

Holy FUCK that would have been an amazing fight. Wow. Two guys built like brick shithouses with unexpected, amazing natural power in their standup.. While primarily being grapplers with very very good - nah, ELITE level grappling.

I would kill to see 1997 Erikson vs 2007 Gonzaga.

If Napao doesn't retire, I'd LOVE to see him fight Frank Mir. I've wanted that fight forever, but I guess since Frank's coming off a win it doesn't work out. But he lost 4 straight before that, so I think it's a way better match up than Mir vs Duffee. Plus, Mir beat zombie Bigfoot. I just think it'd be a great fight. I'd also like to see Gonzaga vs Josh Barnett. Fuck that would be awesome.

If they don't fight, I'd even love to see the above mentioned matchups in Metamoris. Gonzaga vs anyone in Metamoris would be sick. And actually, Barnett vs Mir in Meatmoris would be great too!

Joe Silva is on his way out. He needs to make way for the evolution of young guys who grew up doing this. I'm the new breed of match maker.

 

[La Paix]

Great thread G!

 

[Deleted member 1]

Oh well, guess the thread didn't go as planned, was hoping to just celebrate the guy's career.

Just wanted your take
The gifs show me what I remember of GG the first time I saw him...just so impressed with the speed and the whole toolset he brought. Not talking down, just he's a guy that brings an incredible resume and always wanted to see him at the top.

 

[Greek777]

TTT for knockouts while moving backwards

 

[Wild]

Gabriel truly seems like one of the good guys in the sport. Hard not to root for guys like that.

 

[BJTT-Rizzo]

Vs Cro Cop one he elbowed Mirko up pretty good. I read somewhere Mirko said he had not prepared for that type GnP. No elbows in Japan. Anuways it fucked him up and Cro couldn't see right. When Gabe kicked him I was heart broken. For real, I got a terrible upset feeling in my stomach.

I've grown to like.Napao over the years and think he's a great fighter. Good thread Galanis!

 

[La Paix]

Vs Cro Cop one he elbowed Mirko up pretty good. I read somewhere Mirko said he had not prepared for that type GnP. No elbows in Japan. Anuways it fucked him up and Cro couldn't see right. When Gabe kicked him I was heart broken. For real, I got a terrible upset feeling in my stomach.

I've grown to like.Napao over the years and think he's a great fighter. Good thread Galanis!

Me too man, me too.

 

[BJTT-Rizzo]

The Randleman KO hurt, but nothing like the UFC debut. My brother called me and asked, "What happened to your boy?". My anser was simple. I said,"Fuck you" and hung up on him. I didn't drink another beer that night. I was sulking. It was like my team lost the damn superbowl. Funny really thinking back getting emotion.

 

[fsshariq]

Great guy. Great fighter. Guy has been through some serious stuff. Truly inspiring.

Btw i wanted to know if it's cool post gifs here on fight night. Thanks.

 

[Wild]

The Randleman KO hurt, but nothing like the UFC debut. My brother called me and asked, "What happened to your boy?". My anser was simple. I said,"Fuck you" and hung up on him. I didn't drink another beer that night. I was sulking. It was like my team lost the damn superbowl. Funny really thinking back getting emotion.

LMAO!

 

[Wild]

Great guy. Great fighter. Guy has been through some serious stuff. Truly inspiring.

Btw i wanted to know if it's cool post gifs here on fight night. Thanks.

Encouraged.