UFC 100 Post-Fight Analysis: Will Georges St. Pierre Head to Middleweight After Crushing Thiago Alves?
Georges St. Pierre is the epitome of an immovable object at the top of the UFC's welterweight division. He only further solidified that notion after destroying top contender Thiago Alves in every round on Saturday night in their title showdown at UFC 100, scoring a 50-45 decision on two judges' scorecards and a 50-44 on one judge's scorecard.
The bout was being dubbed as a fight in which Thiago Alves' stand-up prowess could become a huge problem for St. Pierre since each round started with both fighters standing, but St. Pierre brilliantly executed takedowns at key moments. Once on the ground, St. Pierre made Alves pay for ever stepping into the Octagon with smothering control and brutalizing punches and elbows.
The general consensus among fans was that St. Pierre simply needed one takedown per round in order to blow Alves out of the water, and for the most part, that assumption was correct. St. Pierre's dominance within the division from a pure wrestling standpoint is astounding, and he has enough of a stand-up game to defeat even the top-notch wrestlers in the division.
What's next for Georges St. Pierre? The winner of Mike Swick vs. Martin Kampmann is likely in line for a title shot. Jon Fitch has already been given a shot. The UFC is pretty adamant about mixing up the title contenders before a previous contender gets another shot, and I imagine the UFC will press Swick-Kampmann into a contention role.
The major problem is that Swick nor Kampmann seem to offer a huge edge in any area of their skill set to give Georges St. Pierre any problems. He could probably outwrestle both fighters into one-sided beatdowns much like the B.J. Penn fight or Saturday's matchup with Thiago Alves. In fact, St. Pierre could likely continue with the simple gameplan of taking opponents down and crushing them for quite some time without any real challengers.
Photo by By Jon Kopaloff, Getty Images
Once again, the question of whether Georges St. Pierre will move to the UFC's middleweight division is beginning to rear its head. There are two scenarios that could play out. St. Pierre could potentially try to do what Anderson Silva has been doing within his own stale division toward the top in taking lower-ranked fighters on as a precursor to the bigger fights in the division. If that's the case, St. Pierre would legitimately be trying to make a run at the title to hold it.
The second scenario involves St. Pierre simply taking on top middleweight competition from the start in order for the UFC to make loads of money from the superfights that it would produce. Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre has been discussed in the past, and with his dominating performance over Thiago Alves -- it becomes even more of a possibility. Of course, Silva's run in the light heavyweight division is problematic if St. Pierre truly wants to make a run at Anderson Silva. After all, the light heavyweights have been the promotion's biggest drawing division.
What happens next? Should St. Pierre simply accept his place at the top of the welterweight division and take on contenders for the rest of his career? Should the UFC begin trying to push St. Pierre into a few superfights for big promotional successes in Zuffa's pocketbook? Will St. Pierre permanently move to middleweight for the challenge? It'll be interesting to see what the UFC does, but I'd be more inclined to think that UFC wants to bank on St. Pierre's popularity immediately by setting up some superfights. We'll see how it unfolds in the months to come.
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
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Id love to see him take on one of the high level veterans at MW, someone like a Dan Henderson or Rich Franklin.
If he wins that fight he puts in another defense at WW and then fights for the title at MW. Although botht hose guys are big 185ers so maybe thats not the greatest plan.
by Rabbit915 on Jul 12, 2009 12:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Give him Chael Sonnen
It’ll give him a chance to get acclimated to the new weight before getting one of Maia, Okami, Marquadt, or Hendo.
by ricker2005 on Jul 12, 2009 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I doubt he’ll ever fight Marquardt since he trains with him, but the other guys are legitimate competition.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 12, 2009 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I like to see GSP vs Wandy , personally.
by brad23 on Jul 12, 2009 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
We will see a catch weight fight between GSP and Silva.
I think we will see this fight at 176 – 180. GSP said last night that he doesn’t care about the title. His post fight comments to Joe, i think indicated he would be willing to fight Silva at a catch weight.
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
by Warhand on Jul 12, 2009 12:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
going to be real hard for Silva
to make his weight cut any bigger he’s already cutting a LOT of weight to make 185.
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by Kid Nate on Jul 12, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Silva weighed 183 for his fight with Leites.
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
by Warhand on Jul 12, 2009 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
three pounds is a LOT
the lower it gets the harder each additional pound is on your body.
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by Kid Nate on Jul 12, 2009 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hear you and you are definitely right but I also think GSP said he walked into the cage last night weighing 183. I am not 100% sure of this though.
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
by Warhand on Jul 12, 2009 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It was actually 182
Supposedly he was constipated during the final bit of weight cutting and ended up taking a huge dump right before the weigh in.
If Silva had enough time to prepare I think he could shed about three pounds of muscle and cut to 180. GSP on the other hand would have to gain around 8-10 lbs. of muscle to be competitive at 180, which is much more difficult.
Anyway, I say for now keep finding them challengers in their own weight division. Silva needs to regain a bit of his aura first after his last two performances, and there’s still a few legitimate challengers at 185 for him (Okami, Hendo (again), winner of Maia/Marquardt). Assuming GSP beats the winner of Kampmann Swick, he’ll be in a much worse position since the highest ranked person he hasn’t already beaten or who wouldn’t be coming off a loss would be friggin’ Dan Hardy.
by Chromium on Jul 13, 2009 3:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I believe did it at 175 against Okami
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jul 12, 2009 7:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
It sounded to me like GSP would only fight at middleweight if he made the permanent move.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Jul 12, 2009 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
GSP won that fight with his striking in my opinion. How many highlight reel knees to the face has Alves gotten, yet in that fight he never threw one because GSP kept him guessing.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Jul 12, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
GSP's striking was good no doubt.
Make no mistake though. Alves was hesitant to commit because of GSP’s take down prowess
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
by Warhand on Jul 12, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It was the combination of striking and wrestling, if GSP focused on wrestling Alves would have timed a knee like he has done before, but instead he was mixing it up and Alves couldn’t get reads on him.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
by iiowyn on Jul 12, 2009 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
now you're talking
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by Kid Nate on Jul 12, 2009 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh, God – GSP would leave pieces of Diaz in the cage.
by subo on Jul 12, 2009 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I am a huge Nick Diaz fan but....
Nick is looking good against Strikeforce competiton. GSP is a different type of fighter. Nick does have really good BJJ but so does BJ Penn. The match up is intriguing to say the least.
"Stop smiling you are about to be punched in the face !"
by Warhand on Jul 12, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He's a ready made, saleable opponent.
I think GSP would destroy him too. But that isn’t the point.
by the exit on Jul 12, 2009 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree completely
And the same can be said for Jake Shields. Either way, I think both Shields and Diaz would make for a significantly better matchup than Swick or Kampmann.
¿Quieres chiclets?
by The Mexican't on Jul 12, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Diaz wouldn’t let GSP lay on him for 5 rounds, it would be an entertaining fight, I wouldn’t count Diaz out either…
by Reaser16 on Jul 12, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, he would
He’s been overpowered by wrestlers before and lost plenty of decisions that way.
by MickDawg on Jul 12, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Shields against GSP would not be very excitiing. But still, Shields needs to be in the UFC! It is against the human natural rights (not really) that he isn’t.
A matchup with Koscheck in the first bout would be perfect. He don’t think he wants any tune up fights.
by Sventsh on Jul 12, 2009 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I love it.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 12, 2009 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was thinking that as well, but his brother doesn’t really handle the wrestling well… would Nick be any different?
by brad23 on Jul 12, 2009 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Between you, misterjonez and Blackout, I can breathe easy.
How's the weather up your own ass? - Stephen Colbert
by subo on Jul 12, 2009 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Next up:
we need to vote on a WWE-themed group name, so we can sunder it later over some trivial issue like if Gina Carano’s the hottest female in MMA.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 12, 2009 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pretty much.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito Ortiz on Vitor Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jul 13, 2009 1:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think we’ve got a one sided beat down of Mike Swick to look forward too. I’d imagine it will look something like “Swick moves forward with a combination, gets taken down to the ground and pounded on” rinse and repeat.
by ChrisBat on Jul 12, 2009 2:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Is it really a superfight if casual fans still aren’t sold entirely on Anderson Silva? From a sport perspective, yes as arguably #1 and #2 p4p in the world makes it a ‘superfight’. But if there were rankings for ’number of people that actually give a shit about watching you fight", Silva would be pretty low on that, and as such it would never reach the level of casual interest of GSP/Penn.
by -Sam on Jul 12, 2009 2:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
GSP vs. Brock Lesnar AND Fedor
My money is still on GSP.
"And Joe for Matt Hughes, dislike may not be a strong enough adjective!" - Mike Goldberg
by SSreporters on Jul 12, 2009 2:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
UHMMM
Lesnar and Fedor have probably taken shits that were larger than GSP. Don’t get me wrong he is a beast but Im not sold on him at 185, personally I’m pretty sure Silva was destroy him. What happens if GSP loses to a so so middle weight that ends the whole super fight that they are building up. I’m bored with all the prospects of George’s welterweight challengers, but I don’t know if it will transfer to success at 185.
by despisedIcon856 on Jul 12, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
whats with crushing and destroying…more like wet blanketed to a decision…dominated would be a better description to use, but when I think of crushing or destroying, I think of Lesnar-Mir 2 or GSP-Serra 1…
by Reaser16 on Jul 12, 2009 3:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think crushing is an appropriate description.
GSP controlled the only area of the fight where Alves had a (supposed) advantage. It never even got close to out of hand for GSP, and Alves was frustrated all night long.
GSP had his range down perfectly, and all Thiago could do was miss by two inches on every single on of his lunging hooks. Then, when GSP decided it needed to go to the ground, there was literally zero answer from Alves.
I think Alves was actually crushed, but I agree that saying he was destroyed might be stretching it. Still, he did get pretty mussed up.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It was crushing. Alves’ face was a mess.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 12, 2009 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
so was GSP’s in GSP-Penn 1 and Penn definately didn’t “crush” GSP, didn’t even beat him…
by Reaser16 on Jul 12, 2009 6:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Penn punished him in the stand-up game, but it wasn’t one-sided like this match. It was a crushing win, period. One-sided and a flat out beatdown.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 12, 2009 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
St. Pierre needs to fight the winner of Swick/Kampmann even if it is one sided. Once he beats that challenger…the UFC does one of three things: sign Jake Shields ASAP and make him an immediate #1 contender, push the St. Pierre/Silva superfight for next years New Years show or let St. Pierre fight a different Middleweight…Yushin Okami, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson etc.
I’m good with either of those 3 scenarios. Lots of intriguing matchups for GSP at Middleweight…several guys have the wrestling/grappling chops to at least be able to compete.
MMAMoneyLine
by MMAMoneyLine on Jul 12, 2009 3:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Do you really think Jake Shields has a prayer against St-Pierre?
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jul 12, 2009 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The guy with a prayer against GSP will be the guy with the best game off of his back, and that’s probably Shields at 170. At 185, I think Maia would give GSP absolute fits.
How's the weather up your own ass? - Stephen Colbert
by subo on Jul 12, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
How is this? GSP would kill him standing, and hed probably pound him to death from the top. If he wanted to he could just keep it standing.
by Michael Rome on Jul 12, 2009 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m trying to think of how anyone beats GSP. Clearly I’m kind of reaching.
How's the weather up your own ass? - Stephen Colbert
by subo on Jul 12, 2009 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It doesn’t seem possible right now.
Even when Chuck was on his rampage through the division, it was pretty clear what type of skillset it would take to beat him. It just didn’t seem there was anyone with said skillset that was able to pull it off.
Anderson the same. Anyone who lets him play his game will get demolished, but a Randy Couture-type could give him absolute hell. There’s just nobody like that in the division right now.
I honestly don’t think GSP is beatable right now, by anyone in that weight division, in or out of the UFC.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, anybody with relatively heavy hands always has the punchers chance,
and that’s why they fight them.
The Declaration of Hendopendance
by capital L on Jul 12, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Right.
The problem is that GSP has specifically tailored his gameplan, like Machida, to avoid getting hit by anything hard. And it works pretty flawlessly. Does that mean nobody is ever going to tag him like Serra did? Of course it doesn’t mean that, but the fact that he’s able to put on such a dominant offensive display while simultaneously neutralizing the (basically) only way to beat him is awfully impressive.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe if Diego moves back to WW and gives GSP a taste of those elbows from the bottom? :-)
by brad23 on Jul 13, 2009 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nike sponsorship
GSP is not pushing for a 185 fight.
When interviewed about it, he doesn’t seem like he wants to make the jump yet.
Nor, should he.
He’s not ready for Anderson, and his image would be hurt a little with a loss (possibly humiliating loss)
His image is at an all time high. By getting dominating wins, he’s keeping it that way.
GSP would be smart to not try to test the waters for a couple years.
A loss…even in a higher division, would hurt your stock.
by MickDawg on Jul 12, 2009 4:08 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
what about the weight difference
GSP would be able to walk into a MW fight at 185 maybe, but guys like marquardt, heanderson, okami, they are walking into the cage around 190 to 196. plus these people are naturally bigger than GSP. hes good, but i think the size difference will be too much.
good luck in life!
by georgehouse on Jul 12, 2009 4:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
GSP would be able to hang with any of the mid-sized middleweights,
but the guys like Hendo, Silva and Franklin would be too much for him. GSP is 5’11", and his length would become far less of an advantage. He’d still have a reasonable striking reach, but would be well within Anderson’s range, and we all know how dangerous a guy like Hendo is with his power bombs.
Bottom line is I think GSP could compete at the highest level of the middleweight division, but he’d get stumped by the top of the division, likely because he’d be at too great of a tools disadvantage.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He fought a guy walking in at 200 last night no problem. He would also put on some weight the right way for it. Why count out the guy from trying? Honestly, I think he’d take down all of the top middleweights pretty easily.
by Michael Rome on Jul 12, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You don't think that Anderson's striking would put him down?
To me, it seems that most of GSP’s striking advantage comes from his exquisite range-finding, combined with his freakish limb length. He’s accurate, for certain, but I don’t think he’s got game-changing power in his hands.
It seems like Hendo and Silva would give him serious problems on the feet.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think in a striking fight it would. I also think Anderson’s takedown defense is nowhere near as good as Alves, nor is his ability to get up. I think St. Pierre would give Anderson fits with takedowns and make him think twice.
I think standing, Henderson and St. Pierre are close, but I also think St. Pierre would take Henderson down. Henderson’s takedown defense is nowhere near as good as people suspect for a wrestler of his calibre…it would be an interesting fight given his cardio issues.
The point is these fights sound awesome. They’re interesting. They raise doubts. I want to see them. I don’t want to see him dominate Mike Swick.
by Michael Rome on Jul 12, 2009 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The point is these fights sound awesome.
100% with you. And while I really like watching GSP go on this tear, I would seriously love to see some of these fights happen.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 12, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The picture at the top of the post...
… pretty much sums up the whole stand-up aspect of that fight last night. GSP standing just outside of Alves’ range.
I love me some Sexyama!
by pud333 on Jul 13, 2009 1:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

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