For more than three years Georges St. Pierre has reigned atop the UFC Welterweight division
as one of the most dominant champions both the promotion and the sport has ever
seen. With a background in martial arts and a diverse skill set that has helped
define him as a true mixed martial artist, St. Pierre is without a doubt one of
the most recognized fighters in the sport's short history. Helping to define
his long reign and build a legacy, St. Pierre has defended his title six
consecutive times that has set the record for most title defenses in the
division which followed three straight wins prior to that including unifying
his interim title and at the same time avenging his last loss defeating then
champion Matt Serra. In his six straight title defenses, St. Pierre picked
apart and grounded a resilient Jon Fitch, grounded B.J. Penn to the point that
he could not answer the bell for Rnd5, out-wrestled a powerful striker in
Thiago Alves, out-wrestled and attempted repeatedly to submit a resilient Dan
Hardy, destroyed the orbital bone of a resilient Josh Koscheck with jabs alone,
and kept the fight standing against a dangerous submission grappler in Jake
Shields. With these dominant wins, St. Pierre also handed both Penn and
Koscheck a second defeat at his hands that practically prevents them from ever
challenging him for the title again. With victories over
the perennial elite of the division, common questions among fans
include asking who could be next, who could finally defeat him, and the
suggestion that he should leave the division has also arisen. With such dominant wins over some
fighters, some of those who have been dominated by St. Pierre have little to no
chance of challenging for the title again as long as he remains champion. While
Jon Fitch only holds a single loss in the promotion to the champion, the bout
was so one sided and such a dominant performance by St. Pierre that he has been
overlooked repeatedly for new challengers. Koscheck has lost to St. Pierre
twice being out-wrestled the first time and out-struck dominantly the
second time, which follows the best two-out of-three standard in MMA match
making. Others like Alves, who goes back-&-forth from wins and losses, and
Hardy, who is on a three fight losing streak, are having a hard time getting
back into the title hunt with losses that set them back and having to worry
first about remaining in the UFC and having their lack of a defensive ground
game exposed in their title bouts. Jake Shields may even possibly be
moving back up to fighting in the Middleweight division following an upset loss
to rising contender Jake Ellenberger. And as has followed many other top athletes
in sports, there has been criticism of the dominant champion. Starting from his
bout against Alves, St. Pierre has become known as a "point fighter"
preferring or feeling comfortable taking a fight to a decision and better his
opponents where they are less experienced or do not fare well in their game.
Against dangerous strikers like Alves and Hardy he took them to the ground
seeing that their wrestling and submission grappling was
almost nonexistent, against a strong wrestler and less technical striker
like Koscheck he utilized his far more superior striking technique to pick him
apart, and against a credentialed submission grappler like Shields he kept him
at bay avoiding the clinch and pushing him back with strikes, which has
prompted many fans and critics to view he as a "boring fighter"
choosing to fight safe and not to truly engage his opponents. With a competitor
that knows how to avoid getting into a real fight and would prefer the safest
route possible, many fans and analysts have questioned if there is somebody who
can topple the reigning champion, which is where Nick Diaz now comes in.
With the match now reset against Diaz, some fans consider him to
be the most diverse and well rounded opponents St. Pierre has. With a technical
boxing game honed by training with professional boxers and a skill set in BJJ
that Penn himself considered “pure Jiu-Jitsu”, Diaz is a consensus #2 ranked
fighter in the division just behind St. Pierre. With an aggressive attitude and
style Diaz is considered the most dangerous striker to have remained outside
the UFC over the years since he left
the promotion and has proven so by out-boxing a professional boxer in K.J.
Noons to avenge his last loss since leaving the UFC, repeatedly picking apart diverse striker Evangelista Santos,
and beating dangerous Muay Thai specialist Paul Daley taking him on in the
stand up and beating him with just seconds left in Rnd1. With a dangerous skill
set both standing and on the ground, Diaz is without a doubt one of few
challengers who many analysts feel can defeat St. Pierre. Should Diaz win, this
could bring new interest in the division with some fighters now being able to
rise back up the ranks into title contention. With an apparent grudge against
Diaz, Fitch is one fighter who feels cheated not getting another shot at the title
even when going 5-0-1 since his loss to the champion, but has continuously
ruined his chances looking to out-wrestle opponents to earn a decision and never
trying to finish anybody except when hoping the referee will stop the fight for
him. Being in the difficult position of losing to the champion twice and having
no chance of getting another shot at him, Koscheck would be able to become a
contender once again and with the knowledge of how to promote a fight it could
turn into one of the biggest grudge matches when taking on Diaz. For Alves,
should he finally get back on track with some wins, could make an interesting
match-up against Diaz being a skilled Muay Thai striker and being comparable to
Daley. And against other contenders like Jake Ellenberger, Carlos Condit,
Martin Kampmann, and St. Pierre teammate Rory MacDonald, Diaz has plenty of
tough competition that could finally reignite some excitement in the
Welterweight title picture. And that’s not even including the potential for a
rematch between Diaz and TUF1 winner
Diego Sanchez who had expressed interest coaching a season of TUF.
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