Matt Hughes Asked for St. Pierre
Regardless of all the criticism Matt Hughes has received lately, you really have to hand it to him this time. Basically the UFC offered Hughes a number of fights and he decided to pick the number one dog out of the list, Georges St. Pierre. No, that was not a typo. YES, Matt Hughes asked for Georges St. Pierre. Here is the latest from Matt Hughes’ official blog.
As most of you know, Serra has dropped out of the fight due to a back injury. I found out and was told that I get to basically pick my opponent. The UFC had called some welterweights, some said they wouldn’t take the fight; but ultimately I got to choose and I chose Georges St. Pierre. I asked to fight GSP.
I think there are a few things that will be in my favor in doing this. I get to fight in Vegas, what I consider my home fighting area, NOT Canada. I don’t think it’s a big deal to switch an opponent over a month out, it’s just not a concern for me. Before I was fighting a guy holding the belt, now I’m fighting a guy that I consider number two in the world. Anyone who thinks this fight will be like the second fight with GSP will be shown wrong on December 29th. THIS IS MY FIGHT!
-Matt
Why on earth would Hughes choose to fight St. Pierre? Well as Hughes states in his blog entry above, there are several factors that are in his favor this time around. First of all Matt has been in fight-training mode for a long time now. St. Pierre on the other hand will only have 5 weeks to train for this fight. Sure, five weeks is a substantial amount of time to train for a fight, but it is certainly nowhere close to the amount of time Hughes has had to prepare. Second, Hughes probably realizes that sooner or later he will have to fight St. Pierre, most probably on the anticipated UFC event in Canada. By fighting St. Pierre in Las Vegas, Hughes will have home turf advantage and not have to worry about dealing with the chorus of “boos” from the Canadian crowd.
Nevertheless, even with the abovementioned, hats off to Hughes for picking out the cream of the crop in Georges St. Pierre, the most difficult match-up for Hughes style-wise. We should keep in mind that Hughes could have selected a much easier opponent or just as easily decide not to fight. Thanks to Hughes (and Georges St. Pierre for that matter), UFC 79 is now going to be a pretty stacked card.
GSP in under one minute
I think this will be a long fight for both guys. This fight will go to a decision and I will go with Hughes.
This is fantastic…Hughes would have prolly made quick work of Serra, which would mean it wouldn’t be likely that GSP would face Serra again. Now after GSP smashes that lil doll-faced bastard Hughes again, he’ll get to knock that goomba Serra’s teeth out. I can’t wait for both Matt’s to hang em up so Karo Parisyan, the poorest bastard in the UFC, can get a title shot!
Hughes had to take the fight with GSP. His other options were all up and comers with serious potential. If Hughes lost to one of them (Fitch,Alves,Koscheck,Swick) it could have seriously ended his career. A loss to a star like GSP is understandable, and wouldn’t drop Hughes in the rankings more than a spot or two.
I am impressed with Hughes for asking for this fight, but it does make sense. If he beat Serra he would have to face GSP next, perhaps in his hometown. Also, Hughes, as anyone can tell, is an extremely proud guy. GSP robbed him of his alpha dog status in their last fight. He could beat Serra a hundred times and it wouldn’t change that. He could even clear out the division (which is the most stacked) and it wouldn’t make much difference if he didn’t take down St. Pierre. It would have been one think if he lost a close fight to GSP, or even got beat in a flash like Serra did to Georges, but the problem is that he got so comprehensively owned by GSP that he appeared helpless and outclassed. And this was the guy with the accolade as the sport’s most dominant champion. GSP revealed him as having a giant gaping hole in his game (ie: no stand-up whatsoever) that could not be patched up this late in his career. But Hughes didn’t get to where he is by not believing in himself. He really thinks he can beat GSP and wants a chance to get back to the top of the hill and be The Man again. That’s admirable and this is MMA. It is technically possible for him to win. But make no mistake about it, he is Rudy in this fight, going up against a 300 pound Notre Dame starting lineman for a spot on the team. He doesn’t have the puncher’s chance Serra had because he’s never dropped anyone in his career from a strike standing and he never will (at least not an elite fighter). He will not get a head case GSP because Serra has cured him of that. He will get GSP at his best and assuming Hughes is at his best, I think his one shot is to work like a mad dog early to get a takedown and land an elbow or two. The only way to even the playing field against a guy who’s simply a better fighter is to hurt him early. He can’t do that standing so he had better do it on the ground, and quickly, before GSP’s skills catch up with him. The task is huge for Hughes because I don’t think anyone at 170 is harder to take down.
I agree with scotchy. He had to have this fight. Fitch or Koscheck would have made him look bad even if Hughes won. He stands to lose less in this fight. In the other 2 possibles, he could have won and still dropped his rep., while raising Fitch or Kos’. Wise choice by Hughes, but unlike most UFC fighters, he has actually surrounded himself with some smart people it seems.
this i bull because matt hughes wants a GSP that has not been training 100%… too little notice for GSP.. but what do i know
Most top fighters stay in shape year round and are aware of the outside possibility of another guy getting injured and having the opportunity to step in at the last minute in a main event. At least the really great ones are, and GSP is one of these. Careers are made at being able to respond at a moments notice. And a month is more than a moment. The more important thing is that GSP has been minor injury free recently and that his general training has been going well. Which it clearly has by the way he responded to the opportunity to fight. He will be at his best when they square off and he’s the guy who wrote the book on how to take apart Hughes. All he has to do is follow his own blueprint. It’s Hughes who has the far more difficult task of having to find an avenue to victory against a guy who has his number.
You are right James, GSP trains great too. Hughes will win this fight. He has been training like a dog and knows his time is comming to an end. He wants to go out with a bang, so his next few fights are going to be wins for Hughes. He will get the title back, and eventually knock Serras little face it. He gets criticized so much and is really one of the better people in the UFC.
So the only way that Hughes wins this fight is for it to go past the second round. I don’t remember GSP going the distance many times. One that stands out was the Penn fight which he won by a very close decision. Hughes gets better after the second. So, for Hughes to win he would have to last past the second, and I don’t think he can against GSP. Also, with all these interim titles floating around, are they going to give us 5 rounds with this fight, and Penn-Stevenson? If it’s 5 rounds, then Hughes has an even better chance. Also, that gives the advantage to Stevenson, because we all know Penn has suspect cardio.
The only way to beat GSP, in my estimation, is to take him out in the first round. He doesn’t get worse as the fight progresses, he gets better. His two losses were both in the first round (Hughes arm bar, Serra KO). The guy has always come in top shape and I’ve never seen him lose a step in later rounds. He lost the first round to Penn and came back stronger in 2 and 3. You can make a case that Kos might have stolen round 1 against him (I disagree because GSP was in control for much longer, but Kos did finish the round on top). Then GSP came back and dominated 2 and 3. He went the distance with Karo, who’s no slouch and finished much stronger. Sherk, Mr. conditioning (whether natural or not) couldn’t out-condition him. So write this in stone: it’s not a weakness of his. Hughes will not gas him even if it goes five. More than likely the other way around. As for BJ Penn, I think he’s noted that this has been an issue with him and will do his absolute best not to have this be the chink in his armor from now on. Stevenson, who’s a great up and comer, can not, I believe, at this stage of his career, hang with a master at BJ’s level for any serious length of time. That fight will not go into the later rounds.
If the fight stays on the feet Joe Daddy will win….other than that, BJ is too good on the ground.
Stevenson has virtually no chance against BJ on his feet. He had trouble with Luke Cuomo’s stand up in the TUF finale. BJ on the other hand put GSP in the hospital with his stand up striking and GSP is the best striker in the 170 division. BJ also entered the UFC with two devastating KO’s against very worthy opponents. He is a tough proposition standing for anyone in the world at 155 or 170. He’s even crazy enough to have fought a guy at 205 and traded punches with him. If this fight stays standing Stevenson is dead in the water. He has to take it to the ground. Problem is, BJ is awesome on the ground, so he’s screwed. He best opportunity is to look good losing, wait for BJ to go up to 170 and then be the best of the rest in a very good division. But Stevenson is a gamer and I don’t think he’ll make it easy for Penn. But BJ doesn’t lose this one. No way.
4 - scotchy, I completely agree. Hughes wants nothing to do with the up-and-comers. He wants 2 more fights at 170 and then either retire or move to 185 (IMO). GSP III was inevitable and he’ll definitely get Serra regardless of who wins in December.
Matt, remember that home crowd thing worked really well for Franklin last month. I don’t think the crowd plays that much into it, the better fighter will win (and GSP will probably have more cheers in Vegas than Hughes).
I’d like to know which WW’s declined to fight Hughes when the UFC came knocking.
I commend St Pierre for taking the fight. He’s mentally prepared for both Serra and Hughes, so I think with 5 weeks to focus soley on Hughes, he’ll be ready.
This has to be a 5 round match, but don’t see it going the distance. GSP has some of the best sprawl techniques in all of MMA and matches up with Hughes’ pure strength. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Matt on his back as opposed to GSP, but I think it’ll mostly be a stand-up match (unless Hughes has figured away to take GSP to the mat).
GSP > Hughes
Penn > Stevenson
I think it was Fitch who didn’t want it on short notice because of weight issues.
Karo would have been the other obvious (and more deserving) choice in my opinion, but don’t know if he was invited to the dance.
I heard that Fitch was going to be out of the country, so I thought it would be Alves, even though he just fought. I am glad it is GSP-he is fresh and ready. Karo has a broken hand (it was actually broken before the Chonan fight! Explains a lot.)
Much as it sucks I think they need multiple belts like boxing. All you hear from people about certain events is how much better it could have been if a title fight had been on it. It’s like people don’t even really care about the fights themselves just the possibility of a new champion.
There are multiple belts. The UFC belts are just considered the best. If you are talking US champ, and Intercontinental Champ- That’s LAME.
Personally I don’t care.. I like a good fight. I’m refering to the people who say this event sucks or that event sucks just because there was no championship on the line. I wonder why the UFC gets soo much credit for being the best when there are so many top fighters that turned them down.
something like the “please buy this event” champion of the world..
or the “look its for a title” championship..
i admire hughes for asking to fight gsp but i think he will find himself in deep water again like their last fight.hughes must think he has a great chance against gsp because of the fact hes taking the fight at short notice.
I thank anyone that thanks hughs is done is out of there damn mind and doesn’t pay attion to the UFC hughes is the best gsp just got lucky and for the ones that thank gsp is the best look at his last fight agaist seeia come on get real he couldn’t fight his way out of a wet papper bag so get real and watch hughes get his belt back!
I think that GSP took Matt Serra a little lightly, but I think Serra would have still won. I did notice that Serra had a great plan with blocking the high kicks from GSP, then going to the body,head body combos. One thing that Serra did wrong was leave his body WIDE open for attack after blocking high kicks. Had the fight gone another round, GSP’s corner would have taken advantage of that. That being said, GSP did NOT GET LUCKY in GSP/HUGHES II. He implemented the perfect plan to destroy Matt Hughes, but I think (and hope) that we will see a much better Matt Hughes this go around. I still think it is up in the air, and also see why GSP is favored, but I think that Hughes will pull off one or more of his phenominal slam takedowns this time. I am going to pick Hughes to win this, but it really is too close to call for me. I also have a tremendous amount of respect for both fighters, and whoever wins will have their hands full with the extremely talented up and comers in the WW division. It would be nice to see Serra come back and compete in the division when he is well, but I don’t think he will be able to hold the title when the “unification” bout happens whomever he has to fight, be it Hughes, GSP, Fitch or the names go on and on.
I think second GSP-Hughes fight is the absolute least example of someone getting lucky in the history of organized sports.
23 - derrick –> .
25 - agreed.
Those of you that say “luck” sound like you have never played sports. All of these guys are incredible athletes. And maybe GSP beats Serra 9 of 10, but that was the 1. Also, how can anyone say that a DOMINATING performance by GSP against Huges was anything but that. Luck????? you guys are clueless.
What up and comers are we talking about? Georges is younger than both Fitch and Koscheck. This guy has a long way to go, and think about this……St Pierre is going to get better. Matt Hughes will be in some serious trouble if St Pierre is 100%. This could get ugly folks!
GSP may be younger, but he has already established himself as one of the best “pound for pound” fighters in the world. He already has a wealth of experience, and his fights for the past 2 or three years have been “main event” fights. I agree he will only get better, but he has already attained the skills that these other “up and comers” don’t yet posses. I wasn’t refeering to age, but skills and experience.
The last James was not the James of previous comments, who from now on, will go by RevJames. Age is not the mark of whether one is an up-and-comer, since GSP (young by age standards) is a seasoned MMA vet by now. A guy like Koscheck, who is almost 30, is a new comer because he’s relatively new to MMA, and only recently, along with Fitch, been considered a potential contender for the title. MMA is a sports, strangely so because it’s the most physical, where actual age is one of the lesser factors.
RJ - agreed. Couture is an example of how fighters can get better with age. Randy is considered the #2 in the world (and by some #1) at what, age 43?
44
Yes guys, I agree that Koscheck and Fitch will be title contenders. MMA is a crazy sport where on any given night anyone can win. I guess what I was trying to say is that St Pierre has the tools to dominate the division for a long time given the fact that he is relatively young. Will he lose again, ya probably, but as already stated, this is a guy who is one of the best pound for pound fighters. Again, in my novice opinion, I think he will get better…..its a scary thought. Plus Im a fellow Canadian so I hope this guy rips everyone apart for many years to come
Think the Couture-Fedor fight will happen? Doesn’t look likely, but it’s such a big fight, there’s a lot of money to me made on it (whether the UFC can hog it all or not), and Randy really seems to want it. Before Gonzoga, I would have thought Couture had little chance at winning, but now I think it could be close. There might be so much clamoring for this fight, that promotional greed prevails and it somehow happens. Don’t know how many fights Couture has in him, so it had better happen soon. I rate that just ahead of Henderson-Silva as a wish list match-up.
GSP is, in my estimation and even given his recent loss, the #2 pound for pound fighter in the world behind Anderson Silva. BJ Penn is #3. And I would love to see BJ (in top condition) rematch GSP in a five rounder for the 170 title. He’s the only guy out there that is the equal to Georges in talent in his weight class.
I’m also a huge fan of BJ, when that man is in top form it seems effortless for him. As for Fedor/Couture, I would love to see this fight happen (unlikely). If it does I gotta give the nod to Fedor as the slight favourite. Maybe M1 and UFC can split the cash, or maybe Couture sits until his contract is void