…and why everyone’s so eager for it to get here.
When the UFC arrives in Canada, they will hear a chant that has become so popular that even some of the New Yorkers there may join in. And while the yell of “G-S-P, G-S-P” (even more familiar to me than “U-S-A”) may be punctuated by the occasional “eh” it won’t diminish the fact that the man they are screaming for is an icon, not just for Canadian MMA, but for everyone.
There’s something about Georges St. Pierre that people love. Maybe it’s his struggle to speak coherent English, maybe it’s getting to watch him develop on the world stage, maybe it’s just that great combination of exciting performances in the cage and amiable modesty outside of it. Frankly, even though I don’t know why, I like the guy.
I don’t think of athleticism when I look at St. Pierre, but I was talking to a friend of mine, a Canadian and MMA fan, and he said that he thought Georges St. Pierre was the best Canadian athlete since Wayne Gretsky.
I’ll be honest, I like watching St. Pierre for the same reason I like watching Fedor Emelianenko, because his transition game is so visceral that I am pulled in. From a technical standpoint, Georges is the fighter that we all to coach, because he just understands how the game fits together. He understands grappling, he understands striking, he understands wrestling, but it’s the way that he puts the pieces together that makes him destructive.
I’m not the only fan that feels that way, and most are more attached to him than I am. That’s because of what he promises: a career as a dominant champion.
He’s young, but as the star of Matt Hughes fades (and while there are some who would deny it, that doesn’t make it any less true) and BJ Penn has dropped down to 155, we are promised only one fighter from that long standing top three of MMA welterweight kings. Georges has a long career of him at 170 pounds, and we all know it. We want that career to be incredible, so that we can say “I watched him fight when he was getting started.”
I know I certainly would.
Now, in this fight with Matt Serra, we have to remember that (whatever Pete Sell might say) Georges St. Pierre is batting 100% in terms of avenging losses, and while it’s only the one fight, we don’t know how Serra’s going to recover from his injury, we don’t know how Serra’s going to handle his first title defense.
We know that Georges St. Pierre lost their first fight in his head. He was mentally beaten and, in that sense (and as hard as it might be to say) he was mentally unprepared going into that fight. However, that’s the same way he dropped the Hughes fight, and we saw how that rematch went.
Am I going to say that Serra can’t get inside St. Pierre’s head again?
No, because I don’t think anyone is going to doubt that Serra can. We know that Hughes sort of stumbled into Georges’ head on accident, and the same cannot be said of Serra, so there’s certainly a possibility he could do it again.
But if the Georges St. Pierre that showed up against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 shows up against Matt Serra, I don’t see much hope for the little man from Brooklyn.
I’m picking Georges in this fight because, unlike the guys coming out of Serra’s camp, I respect him. I’m picking Georges because he’s working with Greg Jackson, one of the greatest coaches around. Mostly, though, I’m picking Georges St. Pierre for a very simple reason: Because he’s the future of this sport, and he’s an athlete at a level I don’t believe the welterweight division has ever seen.
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I do still love MMA and have...
April 12th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I kinda know why I like the guy so much. He’s a very applicable definition of “well-rounded” in the world of MMA. He’s also very respectful to the fighters, to U.S. fans, and he puts on a great show every time he fights. What’s not to like? I mean, unless you’re one of those wacko anti-France people (even though he is French-Canadian and not French), it’s hard to not want to hang out with the guy and drink some wine, haha.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:38 am
he understands striking . . .
Striking?!? Really and is that how he was able to avoid Serra’s looping punches? And his striking is superior to Penn’s striking? He beat two wrestlers via striking, Hughes and Sherk. Both fighters striking are sub-par. I’ll will state, that he understands striking enough to use it as a set-up towards a take-down. Didn’t Sherk take that fight on short notice?
We know that Georges St. Pierre lost their first fight in his head.
No, we know that he lost to tap-out due to punches. Let’s not make any more excuses for GSP. Just because GSP said, doesn’t mean that’s what occurred.
Am I going to say that Serra can’t get inside St. Pierre’s head again?
NOTE, GSP never claimed that Serra was in his head, his “head” problems, according to him were his own. He was dealing with so many issues, as if no else deals with stuff prior to entering the cage.
We know that Hughes sort of stumbled into Georges’ head on accident . . .
NOTE, GSP looked up to and respected Hughes.
I don’t see much hope for the little man from Brooklyn.
Yeah, just like their first fight, no one gave Serra a chance. His girl friend doubted that he would win the match-up.
– — – — – — – — – –
With that said, I do think GSP can and may win April 19th, but there’s a STRONG chance that Serra can win standing up. There’s a STRONG chance Serra can sub GSP on the ground. With the exception of the lucky Shonnie Carter punch, Serra did not lose to strikes, never been submitted or TKO’ed.
He’s great to watch and would make a far better champion than Serra well because Serra’s record is riddled with decisions, split or otherwise. Yeah, I like GSP, but the hype and excitement that surrounds his career is a bit embellished and heavily revised.
Although he might not get a title shot any time soon, I would love to see how GSP would fare against a very durable Chris Lytle.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Vee,
You’re picking apart the article and in doing that you’re obviously stating that you are a Serra fan. Perhaps the author’s analysis of what went wrong with GSP (in the Serra fight) was slightly inaccurate but you’re obviously clueless when it comes to understanding striking. You and many other Serra nuthuggers like to proclaim that Serra’s striking is amazing and something to be feared after the GSP fight. Wrong. Serra certainly relies on his stalky, short frame to bring power to his punches but lets not get carried away. His striking is basically composed of sloppy brawling with a few combinations programmed into him by Ray Luongo. Fearlessly wading in with those short little arms throwing sloppy, looping punches with predictable repeat combinations doesn’t amount to much when a skilled opponent is prepared for it. Serra doesn’t really mix it up. Both GSP and Karo got caught with basically the same combo/setup but it definitely wasn’t pretty. Effective? Yes- if you’re opponent isn’t ready/prepared for it. But you can guarantee that GSP will not be falling into that trap again. That’s all Serra has and it won’t work twice with a guy like GSP.
By the way, Chris Lytle vs GSP? Are you f-ing serious? Chris Lytle would be eaten alive!
April 14th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Chuck, slow down. I’m a fan of good fights and match-ups.
First, I didn’t claim Serra’s striking is amazing. His striking is not amazing, that was his first TKO via strikes. I picked GSP to win the first fight AND if you bothered to read my comment, “I do think GSP can and may win.” On paper, GSP wins all day but I don’t completely discount Serra. Is there a possibility that he can win the fight on the floor? That’s his strength, BJJ. I imagine GSP will attempt to take the fight straight to the floor though. I’m waiting to see.
Do I think he will beat GSP this April 19th 2008 in Canada? No. But if Matt Sera does win, let’s not call it fluke, invent new excuses or attempt to rewrite history.
Now I don’t believe that MMAMath works, because it sure does not work in boxing but to claim that Lytle would be eaten alive completely overlooks his career of decision victories and losses. Here’s a guy who lost by decision to both Serra and Hughes. Styles makes fight, not hype. Check Lytle’s record, he’s very durable fighter. I would love to see Diego vs GSP, although I know GSP is a far bigger welterweight. Sure you can make predictions but to claim a fighter would be automatically eaten alive based on (whatever factors you would like to insert . . . training camp?) we might as well call Jardine’s victory over Chuck a fluke. Note, Dana tried to make many excuses for his Liddell.
“Oh .. . he would sooo tool Penn, Fedor, Randy, Silva(Anderson, Wanderlei, etc.), Liddell, and Brock Lesnar.” Stop.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Vee, obviously you’re a big Serra supporter, but you’re wrong about alot of things, especially the technical aspects of their first fight.
Serra stopped a golden gloves boxer (Jay Hieron) and two world class MMA guys (despite their lesser known status) in Ivan Menjivar and Thomas Denny. Both of those guys, in my mind, have better striking then Serra.
If you don’t think that Georges lost that fight in his head, then you’re out of your mind and I don’t know what to tell you. Obviously, Serra’s skills and coaching are great. He won the fight and I will give him respect for that, but he did not exploit a technical aspect of St. Pierre’s game, he exploited Georges most severe flaw: his struggle with the pressure of a title fight. He had that problem with his first fight with Hughes, and Serra knew that. Serra also knew that Georges would undertrain for their fight and, while Georges has denied that he did, I will say that I think that defense of himself is untrue. He definitely didn’t take Serra seriously.
It’s not what GSP has said, it’s what everybody has said. Serra has said it, St. Pierre has said it, both of their training staffs have said it, every other welterweight in the division has said it. I don’t know what kind of expert opinion you need to tell you so that you’ll believe it.
If you don’t believe that one fighters has anything to do with another’s psychological problems, you are only revealing that you don’t know what it is like to be a fighter, and what psychological warfare is. St. Pierre has said that, because he wants to believe it’s true, not because it is. Serra got in his head the same way that Hughes did, by reminding St. Pierre that he was the less experienced fighter again and again until St. Pierre believed it. I’ve done it to guys, and so does everybody else who knows they have that edge.
What I said about Hughes stumbling into St. Pierre’s head is true in that he didn’t do it on purpose. Clearly, we both agree in that. (though, in defense of Hughes, he did push the experience factor, which I think reminded St. Pierre of his younger days of idol worship)
Serra’s mother doubted he would win the first matchup. I’m presenting objective evidence, everyone who defends Serra just says “it happened once.”
I don’t know if you remember, but that’s exactly what everyone who defended Hughes said going into his fight with St. Pierre. “Oh, he did it last time. He can do it again.”
Yes, he can do it again. I acknowledged that it’s possible (though, in fairness, I didn’t believe it was possible the last time), but I also believe that it’s improbable, and so does everyone behind GSP. (and so does Serra’s girlfriend)
April 17th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Respectfully . . . “obviously I’m a big Serra supporter.” No, I’m not. I’m just making an argument that doesn’t necessarily make me a huge Serra fan, nor anti-GSP. I just don’t believe the hype.
We both acknowledged that Hughes had a psychological advantage over GSP. GSP idolized him. But I state that Serra did not have that advantage, and you reply that I don’t know what pscyhological warfare is? Mike Tyson held that advantage over many of his oponents, I am aware of it.
Notwithstanding the first title defense jitters, did GSP feel he was facing a fighter that garnered the respect and attention of the former 9-time champion in Matt Hughes? No. He overlooked him, found himself in a pickle and decided to tap due to strikes. I don’t have a problem with the contention that he lost the first fight in his head, fine. Whatever. But did Serra get in his head the first time? Matt Serra reminded GSP again and again that he was a less experienced fighter until GSP believed it? Is that not conjecture?
Did I miss something, did GSP say he felt like he was a less experienced fighter AFTER having disposed of the great Matt Hughes and many other experience, highly touted competitors . . . only to then feel less experienced than Matt Serra?
Is that how he felt and what he believed? Once again, is that not conjecture?
Did he have psychological totally unrelated to Matt Sera, maybe 1st title defense jitters, loss of a close family member or something else that we can only infer from GSP’s post-fight statements.
But if you want to make the argument that Serra has a psychological advantage for their 2nd fight, I’ll reply . . . “Hell Yeah!”
Sure, GSP is more determined and more focused, etc. In the end, we’re talking about intangibles and things that can not be gauged only talked up, analyzed and discussed subjectively. I hope the contest makes it well past the 1st round . . . I believe it will. If we see the same GSP that we saw against Koscheck and Hughes, GSP by UD or TKO via ground and pound. But what do I know, I’m just a fan hoping to see a great match.