The UFC middleweight division has not changed much in the past four months. Anderson Silva has knocked off Rich Franklin twice and it doesn’t seem like there are any formidable contenders in the horizon unless someone drops a weight class or moves up. Back in February, everyone’s favorite French Canadian, Georges St. Pierre, revealed that he is indeed interesting in moving up to the middleweight division.
In an interview with MMA News before his first fight with Matt Serra during UFC 69, St. Pierre revealed that he walks around at 185 pounds and could possibly be interested in moving up to light heavyweight in the future as well. While I doubt the jump to light heavyweight is a smart move, moving up the 185′ers would be great for St. Pierre and the organization. Let’s see why.
- The Middleweight division, as duly noted by nearly every MMA news source, blog, and casual fan; is tapped
- St. Pierre easily dominated Matt Hughes, once an amazing ground fighter, throughout one and a half rounds of UFC fighting - Hughes admitted he came in at 120%
- The win for St. Pierre came via submission - the last time that happened to Hughes was at UFC 46 against highly regarded Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, B.J. Penn
- St. Pierre has only ever lost against Hughes and Serra - he has already forcefully avenged one loss
- He carries notable victories over B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk, Karo Parisyan, and Josh Koscheck
- St. Pierre, even with his 15-2 record, is only 26 years old and an extremely well-round fighter
Quite a few things have changed since St. Pierre talked to MMA News earlier this year, but one thing remains the same. The UFC needs someone new in the Middleweight division and St. Pierre should be that guy.
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January 1st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Uhmm . . . Anderson Silva is fighting Dan Henderson in March ‘08. I enjoy Anderson Silva’s matches, they’re always entertaining and he’s a great champion. But I really doubt he will dominate Dan Henderson like he did Rich Franklin. I think either fighter can win that fight.
GSP. While he has a notable victory (SPLIT DECISION) over BJ Penn, let’s remember he just took BJ Penn down and didn’t dominate Penn. St. Pierre’s face looked battered. Ok, he walks around at 185lbs, while Anderson probably walks around 200+lbs as he stated in the past.
GSP would be a great addition to the middelweight division but I’m not sure how he would match up against Rich Franklin or Yushin Okami. I definitely do not see GSP in the 205 division unless he walks comfortably with 215lbs+.
Anyway GSP is shaping into on the best all-around MMA fighters, his stand-up better improve against Serra!
Happy New Year!
Oh yeah, Check out a quick UFC 79 illustration!
http://scritchandscratch.com/blog/?p=336
March 10th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
BOOERNS…….First of all GSP said he walked around at 198 lbs weeks befor a fight which likely puts him at 200+ on a regular day. Secondly, GSP beet GSP not Matt Serra, His stand up is most likely the best in MMA at 170lbs. As we have seen now your opinion of how the Silva Henderson fight was going to happen is complete bunk so educate yourself befor making coments like GSP need to improve his Stand up game. Matt Serra is a heavy handed little man that was taken lightly and managed to catch a young champ on his worst day, dealing with deep personal issues that took him out of the fight Serra will not fair well in the Montreal fight.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Booerns: This is MMA Opinion, not MMA Facts (which is actually a UFC lobby site now, haha)…so relax. Nobody truly knew what was going to happen with Silva/Henderson. GSP has said, on the record, that he walks around at 185, not 198. Maybe he does now, but you need to show some sources or else it means nothing.