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UFC Mixed Martial Arts George St-Pierre Wall Hanging

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UFC Mixed Martial Arts George St-Pierre Wastebasket

www.cbc.ca In 2001, Dana White became president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The company was 44 million dollars in the hole. Fast forward to 2006. The UFC set a pay-per-view sales record – raking in more than 220 million dollars in revenue. So, how’d he do it? When Dana came on the scene, Mixed Martial Arts – or MMA – was a fringe sport. It was banned in 36 states. The pay-per-view providers wanted out and the fights were considered too bloody, brutal and violent. Even politicians …

Sometime early in 2007, perhaps in February, George Rush St Pierre will put his UFC welterweight title on the line against Matt The Terror Serra. This fight is the title shot promised to the winner of the Ultimate Fighter season 4. Matt Serra won this in his finale victory over Chris Lytle. Matt won this fight on the judges scorecards, but I think most who saw the fight would have called it a draw. I won’t take anything away from Matt Serra though, he’s lost his share of close decisions, including one to former welterweight champion BJ Penn, a fighter who gave both Matt Hughes and George St Pierre some trouble in their respective bouts.

Of course, I can’t talk about this fight without mentioning George St Pierre’s spectacular victory over Matt Hughes at UFC 65. The French Canadian, St Pierre, completely dominated Hughes in the stand up and stuffed the former champions only real take down attempt. Not only that, when they did go to the ground, it was St Pierre on top, landing elbows and punches. It was almost reminiscent of St. Pierre’s dominant win over Frank Trigg at UFC 54 in August of 2005. George St Pierre won that fight by rear naked choke. In the fight with Hughes St Pierre ended up winning by knockout, with a left high kick which Hughes says he didn’t even see coming.

Before I get to the predictions, lets outline the strengths and weaknesses of each fighter.

George St Pierre – Strengths

Brilliant Stand up skills, kicks and punches, uses distance and height well

Extremely strong for a 170 pound fighter as was displayed against Matt Hughes, generally considered the strongest 170 pounder out there.

Good ground game, very dangerous on from the top, passes guard easily and well versed in submissions.

Good take down defense. Matt Hughes couldn’t take him down!

George St Pierre – Weaknesses

The only weakness I can find in his game is that he got caught in an arm bar by Matt Hughes two years ago.

Matt Serra – Strengths

Excellent ground game, BJJ expert.

Strong. He may very well be as strong as GSP.

Improved striking. Not on par with GSP, but quick.

Matt Serra – Weaknesses

Size. By this I mean height, sorry Matt. This I believe will be the deciding factor as George St Pierre has a decisive reach advantage and GSP knows how to use it.

Finishing submissions. While Matt is a brilliant BJJ specialist, he seems to have problems finishing his submissions against top players.

Prediction

It’s pretty easy to see by the tone of my article that I think George St Pierre will win this fight. I believe he will win it and win it easily. I wish I could say differently as I’m a huge fan of Matt Serra, but I just think George St Pierre has too much firepower. My prediction, George St Pierre by TKO, I won’t give a round because of my respect for Matt Serra’s abilities.

What’s next

If George St Pierre defeats Matt Serra, there will be a rematch with Matt Hughes. Zuffa has hinted that this fight will be in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This is something that Canadian UFC fans have been wanting for a long time. For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s in Quebec, or Buffalo, as long as it’s close enough to where I live (Ontario) for me to drive. I went to one UFC fight in 2004 in Vegas, by the time it was done, it was a $4000 adventure (but well worth it). I’d love to just pay for the tickets, a room and some gasoline.

If Matt Serra wins this fight, he will find himself in a fight with Matt Hughes. This one will be interesting as Serra didn’t have many (or is it any?) nice words for Matt Hughes during the filming of the Ultimate Fighter season 4. I’d personally like to see this fight some time in the future, no matter who’s sitting on top of the welterweight decision. I’m sure Dana White has it in his bag of big money fights no matter what else happens in the division.

Take it easy and keep watching the fights.

Matt Serra is out with a injury for the Dec 29 fight against Matt Hughes (the most dominant welter weight in UFC history).

Hughes is a machine. He has won 41 fights with the same wrestling style over his career which says something for the guy. Most fighters with one style get picked apart early in their career but Matt has proven he can over come almost anyone. He’s a strong, hard working, tough farm kid with a “Must Win” mentality. And all the power to him! He had a ton of fans prior to the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter series where he coached and then came off as cocky and a bully. Call him what you will, anyone with wins over BJ Penn, Carlos Newton, Georges St Pierre & Hayato Sakurai is a machine. No matter what happens in the future he is a champion and a role model for MMA fighters. His work ethic and ability to find a way to win are incredible and as a competitor you just have to respect the guy.

However..

He has also lost to BJ and GSP and the win against Newton, well, that’s tough call as he was asleep at the same time he slammed Carlos to the mat. The win could be argued either way.

In no way shape or form am I taking away from his abilities because I have watched him from early in his career and all I can say is “Wow”, but the power of the media has him beat. When a guy wins 41 fights most of them are televised which hurts him. Your style is known and your best moves you use to win are visible. Enter BJ Penn and George St Pierre.

BJ beat him the first time they fought (and I was there!). BJ had lost the title fight at 155lbs to Jens Pulver. He was ticked off. So BJ, being BJ, said I’m moving up a weight category to win the 170lb title. Unheard of at the time. Hughes called him disrespectful for it. But BJ was able to rattle Hughes with a punch to the head while he was on top and then grab him from behind in a rear naked choke. Matt could have got out but he was still dummied from the punch and had to tap out. Wow. NO ONE saw that coming. Side note, I got a photo with BJ that night, it was amazing. This was before UFC got to where it was today. Myself and a buddy met him outside of Mandalay Bay by himself waiting for a cab. How times have changed. BJ ended up leaving UFC due to “reason unknown”. A lot issues with himself and UFC and the title got vacated. Hughes recaptures it after that.

An up and comer in George St Pierre is tearing up the competition and gets a title fight. GSP dominates the first 2:55 of the fight against Hughes. But GSP frees an arm and Matt (when did he learn BJJ? ) grabs an arm bar and GSP taps with 1 second left in the first round. That is a mistake on GSP’s part and more importantly his corner. No way should he have tapped like that. Suffice, he lost.

Rematch.

Guess who was there! George controls the whole fight. Has an answer to everything Matt throws at him. Now, here’s where the idea of the televised fights comes in. GSP knew every move Matt had from studying video and it was obvious. He controlled the whole fight and beat him 3X in my opinion. 1 – leg kick that Matt claimed was a groin kick and got a time out 2) End of round 1 Matt is out but saved by the bell 3) GSP gets the TKO. WOW!

GSP dominates. Now he has huge crowd support.

Enter Matt Serra.

Always liked him but never thought he’d make it far. Low and behold he wins ultimate fighter series of ‘has beens”. Proved to be a great team mate and a coach. Good on him. Well done Serra. He wins the series and a chance at GSP. I missed the fight aginst GSP as I was in Thailand but was surprised when I heard he won by TKO. Congrats to the millionaires who bet on him cause the odds were nuts!

Enter Politics. GSP deserved an immediate title fight / rematch. But Dana White wrapped up Matt and Matt to coach the Ultimate fighter series and fight for the title as a wrap up for the TV show on Dec 29. Lots of animosity on the show between the two. Built up a good fight that had Hughes being the favorite. However Serra is now hurt.

Dana picks up the phone and GSP says “Yes” on short notice and we have a blockbuster on our hands. Great rubber match!

Reality check, limited time for GSP to train for a real fight. And Hughes has done his homework for sure as he hates to lose.

There is question as to George’s mental stability when it comes to big fights. He blew it against Hughes the first time and Serra 2 fights ago (he dominated Josh Koschek whom I refuse to chat about cause I think he’s over rated). Both were pressure fights for different reasons. Question is, can he over come the mental barrier?

Now if you think cage fighting is just a “fight”, go to a gym with a cage. Walk in and close the door. That alone will freak you out. Now pretend there are 20k people watching, a few million on TV and a guy who wants to smash you 20′ away. Not easy and GSP has a few things to control in his head when the added pressure of a title is involved.

Hughes will be ready for Dec 29. Guaranteed. He’s mentally tough and a warrior. Will George?

Mack’s bet? I am a betting man and I like George St Pierre!