St-Pierre

The Evolution - A month ago, top Welterweight contender, Jon Fitch, had interesting words to say about Current UFC 170lb. Champion Georges St. Pierre. Fitch suggested that GSP is not as confident in his standup as he once was, “in his [St-Pierre’s] last performances (Unanimous Decision over Josh Koschek, and Submission over Matt Hughes) is he’s become a wrestler. To me, that shows he’s afraid to get knocked out.”

Then when asked about Fitch’s observations at the UFC 83 Pre-fight Press Conference, St-Pierre said that, “Talk to Fitch after Saturday night, we’ll see what he’s going to say.”

A comment like that leads one to believe that we were about to witness the most aggressive and tenacious standup game that the division has ever seen.  But with less than five seconds into the fight, St-Pierre immediately put Serra on his back. And that forced me to ask myself:

“Is Fitch right?”

UFC Lightweight Kenny Florian, who was filling in for regular UFC Color Commentator, Joe Rogan, also touched on it stating that GSP’s game plan was a little “conservative” when St-Pierre took Sarra down. And that really made me think that Fitch was maybe onto something. 

“Is GSP scared?”

And then it happened.  GSP unleashed one of the fiercest Ground and Pound attacks that the UFC has ever seen.  For a round and a half, MMA fans were treated to watching complete and utter domination. 

After the fight, the new Champion simply said, “I stepped into the Octagon and did my job.”

If that is now St-Pierre’s new job, then I am not sure if the rest of the division shouldn’t look into a possible career change. I can understand where Fitch is coming from, and GSP really didn’t disprove Fitch’s theory against Serra. But I think the flipside to Fitch’s opinion may be what’s important.

We are in the process of seeing the evolution of GSP; from a fierce stand up fighter, to the deadliest Ground fighter in the game.  Like all of the other greats in their respective sports, he has allowed his game to change once he realized what he needed to do to be the best. And like all great athletes, he is now a genius at his craft.

There was only one way for Serra to win that rematch, the same way that he did the last time.  He would have to land a punch that St-Pierre didn’t see coming, which would lead to a barrage that he wouldn’t be able to see coming. If St-Pierre learned nothing else from their first fight, it’s that everyone has a puncher’s change. And he knows this is not just true against Serra, but that is the only way anyone in the entire division may be able to beat him.

Put simply, there are two ways fighters approach every fight. Impose your strengths, or exploit their weaknesses. St-Pierre will always have knockout power in his standup, kicks and punches, but why take the risk if you don’t have to?

He has the best takedown and takedown defense in the division. For an MMA fighter, he has superior wrestling skills which allow him to always advance his position.  With a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he has the ability to submit you, and more importantly the knowledge to not get submitted. And as we saw against Serra, his Ground and Pound is lethal.

So just to recap:

1. The only way he can lose is to get caught.
2. He can take anyone down, but can’t be taken down himself.
3. He can submit you, but you can’t submit him.
4. He can always pass your guard, allowing him better leverage in order to inflict damage.

Let me ask you Fitch, would you want to stand anymore?

GSP is morphing right before our very eyes.  New, improved, and most importantly more determined.  After being humiliated against Serra in his first title defense, he understands that being “The Champion” means much more than just wearing a belt, and that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the division.

“It’s not the belt that’s important to me, it’s the meaning of what it is,” St-Pierre said about winning the UFC belt. “The souvenir that I have in my head, in my heart…that’s the most important thing for me…I know what happened [when he lost his first title defense to Serra last year] and I’m going to work even harder to stay there.”

St-Pierre and his MMA coach Greg Jackson, which he refers to as “The Maestro,” have the answers for every possible exam out there and they intend to parlay that into PhDs.

After the fight, the former champion was gracious in defeat, “Georges was great, explosive and strong. He kicked my ass. He’s phenomenal. He’s the best in the world.”

I have an eerie feeling that the 170lb. division will be saying the same thing…for a while.