Georges St-Pierre is an unstoppable force in the welterweight division. He has systematically dispatched every challenger to his belt with little problems. In the process of building his empire he gathered millions of fans but his once proud war wagon seems to be losing steam and passengers while he continues to defend his throne in dominating fashion. GSP may be the greatest welterweight to have ever put on the 4 ounce gloves but his dominance is starting to get a little boring to many MMA followers.
GSP once again proved to be head and shoulders above the nearest contender Saturday night against Jake Shields. Shields came in riding a win streak that dwarfed GSP’s not only in amount of victories but also in years held. It was thought that if Jake Shields pushed the pace and put St-Pierre on his back that we would finally see GSP put into a little trouble for the first time since 2007. Shields has done exactly that to men of a larger frame and wrestling pedigree than GSP. As a long time fan of GSP, this fight made me more nervous than any of his previous challengers. After one round, I realized that there was no need for worry.
Shields was quickly put on his heels with what has become GSP’s main source of offense in his lighting fast jab. Shields seemed hesitant from the start to go for the takedown in which many thought would be his only chance at winning the belt. When Shields did attempt to take down GSP he was ultimately unsuccessful. GSP countered Jake’s stiff standup attack with the aforementioned jab as well as an awkward Dan Henderson/Chuck Liddell like overhand right and spinning back kick. GSP was not in a hurry to take down Shields so the result was a one sided striking match for the first 2 rounds.
Sometime in the second round Shields did manage to injure GSP with an eye poke which quickly changed the direction of the fight. Jake Shield’s standup was still not good enough to beat up the one-eyed champion but it did seem to derail the dominance that GSP shown in the first 2 rounds. The following 3 rounds were a little more competitive but I still think GSP won 4 of the 5 rounds easily. The decision went to GSP but he did manage to lose a couple of rounds on the score cards for the first time since 2007.
GSP has been harshly criticized for his lack of finishing fights and this fight will obviously not calm the criticism. Shields has only been finished once in his career so I don’t know exactly what people were expecting, but I will admit that this was a somewhat boring fight. I will buy any ppv regardless of who is fighting on it because I’m a sucker for the sport but there is denying that GSP’s ppv numbers are likely to start declining seeing how many people have found his last 4 fights to be snorefests. Some people have blamed his fear of losing while others have placed blame on Greg Jackson’s training as the reason why GSP has become less exciting as his championship reign keeps on rolling. I don’t know who’s fault it is but it’s well known that there are few fights of interest left in the welterweight division for GSP.
Going into Saturday night, Jose Aldo was thought to be untouchable at his weight class. Mark Hominick was thought to be nothing but a small speed bump to most observers who was given the title shot because he was on a modest win streak, would provide an interesting style to showcase Aldo’s skill set, and to give the Canadian fans a home town fighter to root for. Jose Aldo may have won the fight but it was Mark Hominick that took home the respect and admiration of hordes of new fans.
Aldo started out the fight looking every bit the juggernaut that he was advertised to be. With pinpoint accuracy, Aldo landed a couple of quick combinations and devastating leg kicks. Aldo completed a few takedowns near the end of the round and scored some points with some elbows and forearms from inside Hominick’s guard. At the end of the of round 1, it seemed it was only a matter of time before Aldo ended the fight.
In the second round, Hominick seemed to start finding his range and landing some shots but Aldo still won the round by keeping the standup about even and also landing a few takedowns.
Going into the third round Aldo looked to be slowing down but he still managed to deliver the most power shots and almost finished the fight with a straight right followed by some brief ground and pound.
The fourth round saw Hominick catch an elbow to the forehead from his guard that caused the biggest hematoma I’ve ever seen in an MMA fight. It looked like Hominick’s head was growing another head. Mark was landing a decent amount of punches but Aldo was landing shots that were causing serious damage despite fighting at what seems to be half speed compared to normal.
The fifth round was all Hominick. Aldo looked completely exhausted and spent almost the entire round taking shots while keeping Hominick inside his guard. Aldo survived the round and won the decision but questions will surely arise about his conditioning and ability to get up from off his back. Hominick showed amazing heart and perseverance in a fight that will certainly be remembered for awhile.
Randy Couture ended is career in spectacular fashion but it wasn’t for anything that he did. Lyoto Machida landed a crane kick straight out of the Karate Kid movie to knock Couture’s front teeth out and end the legend’s career. The fight looked like a mismatch from the beginning with Machida dashing about the ring to avoid Randy’s attempts to tie Lyoto up in the clinch. Machida was landing crisp counter shots while Randy missed on most of his strikes. Couture is a legend in the sport but I question why he ever thought he had a chance of beating Machida at this point in his career.
Vladimir Matyushenko used his old man strength to knock Jason Brilz out in 20 seconds. I don’t know what this really says about either fighter but it certainly wasn’t expected.
Ben Henderson made his UFC debut by defeating Mark Bocek with a decisive decision. Nothing spectacular about this fight but still a solid debut for the exciting Henderson. Expect Henderson to make waves in the lightweight division and then preach the good word after his fights.
Nate Diaz should reconsider his move to welterweight after being manhandled in his second straight fight. At the same time, Rory Macdonald proved to be a solid contender with a huge upside at such a young age. If GSP ever decides to move up in weight, Macdonald could be the future in the division.
Jake Ellenberger is another solid contender at welterweight and showed why once again with a knockout over Sean Pierson. I’m hoping to see a step up in competition for the fighter that many have labeled Jon Fitch 2.0.
Fights That I Would Make:
Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz - This is the only fight that really makes sense for GSP at this point. With Zuffa owning Strikeforce and Dana not wanting Diaz to get his ass kicked by a professional boxer, this fight should happen sooner than later. Diaz would provide a good marketing angle considering most people aren’t going to be interested in GSP fighting the same guys again. Diaz would push the pace and force GSP to react which is something few guys do to him. The problem with this fight is Diaz has never been great at beating dominating wrestlers and no one is more dominating in that department than GSP. Diaz would most likely get the best of GSP while standing so I doubt GSP would wait very long to take him to the ground. Nick Diaz may be easy to take down but he is also very dangerous from his back and probably more so than any other fighter that GSP has fought up to this point. If nothing else we get to see Nick Diaz act like a mad man in the interviews leading up to the fight.
Jake Shields vs. Jon Fitch - This is basically a fight to see who would be UFC champion if GSP happened to be ate by a bear. Fitch probably has the better standup while Shields has the better bjj. Overall, I think this is a pretty even fight that needs to happen at some point.
Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes - Aldo showed a few holes in his game against Mark Hominick and I think Mendes has the skills to exploit them. If Aldo doesn’t work on his conditioning then this could be his last fight as champion. Mendes is a relentless wrestler who will look to put Aldo on his back and test his ability to get back up.
Mark Hominick vs. Kenny Florian - After his gutsy performance against Aldo, I don’t want to see Hominick take to far of a step back in competition. Florian and Hominick would surely provide fireworks in a standup war.
Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi - I know Mousasi is a Strikeforce fighter but this would be one hell of a matchup. I think Lyoto could win on his feet but would probably end up taking Mousasi down seeing how Mousasi can’t seem to stop a takedown to save his life.
Randy Couture vs. No one - Randy will finally stick to retirement this time around. I’d like to see Couture join the commentary booth with Rogan and Goldberg. A rotation between the Natural, Pat Miletich, and Bas Rutten would be the best thing the UFC has done in a long time. This would allow Joe Rogan someone to talk to in between rounds that would actually be able to provide some insight. Randy would also be a great spokesperson for MMA in general. At the moment, the UFC has been using Chuck Liddell in that role but it’s painfully obvious that the Iceman may have punched in the head a little too often. Randy would be much better in that position.
Ben Henderson vs. George Sotiropoulos - Ben Henderson is said to be submission proof. G-Sot would be the perfect person to test this theory out. A win for Henderson would help propel him up the lightweight ladder. G-Sot may have lost his last fight but is still a very viable challenger for any lightweight fighter.
Nate Diaz vs. Evan Dunham - Nate Diaz needs to go back to fighting in the lightweight division. Evan Dunham would be an interesting welcome for the Ceasar Gracie brown belt.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann - Kampmann would be a step up in competition for Ellenberger. A win over Kampmann may set Ellenberger up for a title eliminator fight in the future. The WW division is pretty short on challengers that haven’t already lost to the champion and this may actually benefit Ellenburger. Kampmann is coming off a competitive loss to Jake Shields and would probably be the favorite in this fight.
Rory Macdonald vs. Mike Pyle - Both fighters are just on the outside of the top 10. Mike Pyle is on an impressive 3 fight win streak and would provide another interesting challenge for the up and coming Macdonald.
