Hey guys,
Might as well start with a little about myself then! I'm 17 years old and I live in Scotland, I have been a fan of MMA (Mostly UFC self admittedly) for around 2 years now. I was recently accepted to a course at the University of the West of Scotland to study journalism, and decided I was going to try and gain some experience for myself - before the course starts in the beggining of September. I have just completed this article on Georges St-Pierre and decided to send it to "PowerSlam" magazine which is a wrestling magazine based in Britain which has recently started to cover MMA in the hope they will provide me feedback on it. I would also love for you guys to read over this article and give me some feedback - what you think is good and bad about it and more importantly if you agree with me! Please go easy on me, like I said it is the first article I have written and have had no formal training as such. Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy!
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE “RUSH”?
On April 19th in front of over 21, 000 Canadian fans Georges St-Pierre gained redemption by avenging his April 2007 knock out loss to Matt “The Terror” Serra. After ending the fight in the second round with unanswered kicks to the downed Serra’s body G.S.P was his same humble self which has endeared him to so many fans across the globe. G.S.P has previously stated that he will never lose to the same opponent twice, and on current form that seems to be a safe statement. G.S.P dominated every facet of the fight, taking the champion down at will and outscoring his heavy handed opponent on the feet before the second round stoppage. By doing so St-Pierre regained his UFC Welterweight title and moved a step closer to regaining his pound for pound title among MMA fans.
However, just as St-Pierre regained his coveted welterweight title rumours are already surfacing about a possible move to the middleweight division to fight current Middleweight and pound for pound king Anderson “The Spider” Silva. The fight, born out of a serious lack of contenders to Silva’s middleweight title (Silva has defeated Chris Leben, Rich Franklin - twice, Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson without a loss in the UFC) could be a real possibility for a late summer super card featuring former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar. The only other notable opponent for Silva is Japanese fighter Yushin Okami who handed Silva his last defeat at a Rumble On The Rock event in January 2006 via disqualification. A fight between the pair could be well marketed considering the circumstances surrounding the pairs last match, however Okami’s slower ground and pound style does little to endear him to the UFC fans putting doubt over the match’s ability to see pay per views.
St-Pierre on he other hand could face Jon Fitch in a possible bout for his welterweight title. Fitch, who trains at the American Kickboxing Academy with Josh Koscheck (whom GSP defeated in August of last year), is widely regarded as the number one contender to St-Pierre’s crown. Fitch, who has defeated Diego Sanchez and Josh Burkman on his way to amassing an 8-0 record in the UFC, combines his wrestling skills, under-rated jiu jitsu with solid stand up and appears to be a genuine threat to GSP’s title. Thiago Alves may also be considered worthy of a title shot should the talented Brazilian defeat welterweight legend Matt Hughes at UFC 85 which will be held in London this June. Alves recently knocked out Karo Parisyan, propelling himself up the contenders list while knocking the dangerous Parisyan down a few notches. Karo’s knock out loss has left Fitch alone as the number one contender with everyone else either having lost to St-Pierre already (Hughes twice, Serra, Koscheck) or not having enough fights against top ranked opponents (Marcus Davis, Mike Swick, Thiago Alves).
The state of the welterweight division just now leaves only three fights for St-Pierre, the afore mentioned Fitch and super fights against Silva and a rematch with lightweight champion BJ Penn. All three fights are dangerous to GSP, with some fans believing he has only once faced an opponent as well rounded as Fitch and when he did, against BJ Penn, St-Pierre struggled until Penn gassed, making the Fitch fight an intriguing prospect. Anderson Silva has some of, if not the best, striking in all of MMA, combine this with his under rated Brazilian Jiu jitsu which he showcased by submitting Pride middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Dan Henderson in his last fight. St-Pierre, in this writer’s opinion, would lose this fight, probably via knockout. BJ Penn has disputed the decision in his previous encounter with GSP at UFC 58 - Penn lost a extremely close split decision which could have went to either fighter. However it is unlikely that Penn would be allowed to move weight classes to face the welterweight champion given the current state of the lightweight division. Penn faces former champion Sean Sherk in May and will probably be made to face fighters such as Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta before re-matching with the Canadian fighter, despite the mouth-watering prospect of such a bout.
All in all despite the fact that Jon Fitch is a more than deserving challenger to the title, the weak middleweight division and Silva’s awe inspiring performances this writer thinks it will not be long until UFC match maker Joe Silva books the ultra-talented Canadian’s move to middleweight to face the dominant Brazilian.
By Scott McMurray.