What's best for Georges St. Pierre after UFC 124?
UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre dominated Josh Koscheck throughout their entire fight Saturday night at UFC 124 in Montreal. It was a good performance, but not a great one.
St. Pierre won the fight the same way his team won The Ultimate Fighting show. He outsmarted Koscheck. He used reverse psychology during the taping of the show, outwitting Koscheck in picking the fighters he wanted on his squad. St. Pierre wanted to select fighter Michael Johnson for his team, so he tricked Koscheck into thinking he would pick another fighter. Koscheck fell for it hook, line and sinker.
I believe St. Pierre took that same strategy in reverse for this fight. This time he did what he said he would do to win the fight. Leading up to the fight, he said he would stand up and fight toe-to-toe, but Koscheck didn’t believe him. So before the fight, Koscheck told UFC president Dana White, “I guarantee you he won’t stand up with me.” Josh, you guessed wrong, once again.
The biggest question after this fight is, why has Jake Shields earned a title shot against St. Pierre?
Shields needs to fight any welterweight fighter in the top five to earn a title shot. Thiago Alves would be a great fight for Shields, with the winner getting a title shot.
Shields has only fought one UFC fight, which turned out to be a split decision win over Martin Kampman at UFC 121. If the argument can be made that Alistair Overeem isn’t a top 10 heavyweight, then that can be said for Shields as well.
Jon Fitch should be St. Pierre's next opponent, not Shields. Fitch fought St. Pierre in 2008 and it was “Fight of the Night.” Fitch has won his last five fights against top fighters in the octagon.
Some might say that Shields has won his last 15 MMA fights. On mmafighting.com Dana White has said, “Strikeforce is the minor leagues” of MMA. So do 14 of Shields' 15 wins really matter in the UFC?
Fitch is now scheduled to fight BJ Penn in February at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia.
The judges for UFC 124 did not earn the “Bone Head Decision of the Night” award for once. But, that honor goes to UFC officials for letting the fans pick the “Fight of the Night.” The Canadian fans picked their own countrymen St. Pierre for that honor. For the last two weeks Dana White has labeled St. Pierre the greatest athlete in the history of Canada, and then he let St. Pierre fans pick the “Fight of the Night.” To White’s credit, after the fans chose St. Pierre and Koscheck as the winners, he realized that was a dumb decision.
I’m curious to see if any of the fighters at UFC 124 are released from the organization.
Josh Koscheck plays a great heel (bad guy).
What are your thoughts on Jake Shields getting a shot at the welterweight title?
I don't think this is as dumb as James Toney fighting Randy Couture, but it's in the same ball park.
UFC 124 results:
Preliminary card
Lightweight bout: Pat Audinwood (U.S.) vs. John Makdessi (Canada)
Makdessi defeated Audinwood via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
Welterweight bout: TJ Grant (Canada) vs. Ricardo Almeida (Brazil)
Almeida defeated Grant via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Welterweight bout: Matt Riddle (U.S.) vs. Sean Pierson (Canada)
Pierson defeated Riddle via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Middleweight bout: Jesse Bongfeldt (Canada) vs. Rafael Natal (Brazil)
Bongfeldt and Natal fought to a majority draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-29).
Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek (Canada) vs. Dustin Hazelett (U.S.)
Bocek defeated Hazelett via submission (triangle choke) at 2:33 of round 1.
Middleweight bout: Joe Doerksen (Canada) vs. Dan Miller (U.S.)
Miller defeated Doerksen via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Main card
Welterweight bout: Thiago Alves (Brazil) vs. John Howard (U.S.)
Alves defeated Howard via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Lightweight bout: Joe Stevenson (U.S.) vs. Mac Danzig (U.S.)
Danzig defeated Stevenson via KO (punch) at 1:54 of round 1.
Lightweight bout: Jim Miller (U.S.) vs. Charles Oliveira (Brazil)
Miller defeated Oliveira via submission (kneebar) at 1:59 of round 1.
Heavyweight bout: Stefan Struve (Netherlands) vs. Sean McCorkle (U.S.)
Struve defeated McCorkle via TKO (punches) at 3:55 of round 1.
Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre (Canada) vs. Josh Koscheck (U.S.)
St. Pierre defeated Koscheck via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) to retain the UFC Welterweight Championship.
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
No one wants to see Fitch get dominated again (50-43). I'd rather see GSP fight new opponents than refight the same, tired opponents every 3 fights.
Fitching Idiot,
I believe Fitch is a better fighter than Jake Shields.
-Kevin
Posted by: Fitching Idiot | December 12, 2010 3:48 PM
Bj Penn is fighting Fitch next. Get your facts right
Luke
That's what I wrote in my blog. Did you read the entire blog brother.
K
-Kevin
Posted by: Luke | December 12, 2010 8:24 PM
I think that Shield's should fight Alves before GSP, but I do not think Jake has yet earned that right either. However, Brock Lesner came to the UFC and got a title shot when no reasonable argument could even be made that ended with a decision to hand him the opportunity to fight Randy Couture. I have never seen a fighter with 3 fights (I think) and out of those, 1 was a loss even get a joking remark of title shot. After the latter decision I realized that there was nothing more important to the UFC than selling tickets and paying for contracts to get butts in the seats. It is painfully obvious that to Dana White, and others, hard work and fighting skills are secondary to the ability to sell tickets and create controversy.
Jonathan,
You are so right! Tito Ortiz last 5 fights his record is 0-4-1, but the UFC has not released him from the organization. That's because he can sell a fight card with his big mouth. It's all about the butts in the seats and not about a fighters record in the octagon or about being a quality individual.
-Kevin
Posted by: Jonathan "the lawful1"Allen | December 12, 2010 9:58 PM
I believe Jake Shields is the right opponent for GSP for a few reasons. First, no need to see GSP vs Alves, Fitch, or any rematch yet. Shields offers an excellent BJJ opponent which differs from his recent fights. Shields "might" prepare GSP for his move up to 185 (wishful thinking) since Shields was the WW champ in strikeforce.
Lets not forget Dana has offered "stars" from outside the organization a shot after one fight. Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar are a few that come to mind and it didn't turn out to be a bad decision on them.
But... as big of an Anderson Silva fan I am... I don't see who could beat GSP right now.
Phi,
Good point as always. But, I think Shields will not make it past the 2nd round with GPS.
Kevin
Posted by: Phi | December 13, 2010 8:01 AM
I agree. I don't think Shields will last very long against GSP either. His standup is horrible. I don't even think Shields is better than Fitch, Alves, or Kos... but I don't think the UFC or fans really want to see GSP beat on one of those guys for another 25 min.
Posted by: Phi | December 13, 2010 12:56 PM
In a fair world where it's all about wins and loses Fitch deserves the next shot. But the reality is Fitch won't put one ass in a seat and nothing from their first fight indicates he would have even the slightist chance to win.
Posted by: Whiteburn | December 18, 2010 7:10 AM