Georges St. Pierre mangled the right side of Josh Koscheck's face into such disrepair that Koscheck couldn't see Joe Rogan offering the customary handshake following the post-fight interview. Koscheck reached at his eye very early in the first round as if something was irritating it. With how quickly the eye swelled up between rounds one and two, it's more likely that St. Pierre broke his orbital bone with one of the first few strikes of the fight.
The story of the fight was not Georges St. Pierre's overwhelming use of the jab. (As impressive as that was, it's not the first time a mixed martial artist has used the jab to control a bout. Peek B.J. Penn's fight with Sean Sherk at UFC 84.) The real story of the fight was GSP exploiting Koscheck's limited kickboxing arsenal. Koscheck will sprinkle some kicks here and there, but the meat of his attack is the jab/overhand right combo. That isn't enough to mount effective offense against an athlete with GSP's level of Fight IQ. St. Pierre, meanwhile, staged a dynamic attack with jabs, inside leg kicks, jabs, outside leg kicks, jabs, hooks, Superman punches, jabs, jabs, and jabs.
And now, the bullet points:
- If Koscheck wanted to hurt GSP, he should have feinted his overhand right and thrown an uppercut. St. Pierre was looking for the looping right all night, and ducked under when Koscheck threw it.
- I thought GSP should have abandoned offensive wrestling after Koscheck stuffed two takedowns in the first round. He didn't entirely, but the standup was the biggest skill disparity in the fight.
- FightMetric's report for Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck. Not exactly a lot of surprises here.
- I'm sure glad Bruce Buffer clarified that Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle was the "fight before the main event." But yeah, worst CO-MAIN EVENT of the year? Worst co-main event of the year. The image of Yves Lavigne standing in between the two was comical, though.
- Sean McCorkle falling victim to the hip bump sweep is embarrassing. Also, is that the least intimidating striking from top control for a guy who cuts to the 265-pound limit?
- I liked Struve's awareness to back into the cage in order to defend McCorkle's kimura attempt.
- Two Joe Rogan notes. 1) For all the complaining Joe's done about judging, he is an awful scorer of rounds himself. 2) I'm getting pretty sick and tired of Joe resorting to "WOWWWWWW" and "OHHHHHHHH" during high points of a fight. Moreso when a guy throws a headkick that is blocked by forearms.
- So, about this Fight of the Night fan voting. What happens if your fight wasn't aired on the broadcast? You aren't eligible for the $100,000 bonus?
- Jim Miller looked very impressive tonight, but I hope he wasn't asking for a title shot tonight. You're going to have to beat someone in the top 25 first.
- Joe Stevenson may be saved from the chopping block because he's fought some sharks at 155, but he's on thin ice if the UFC takes mercy on him. If Dana White's serious about fighting for you life every time at lightweight...
- Danzig's left hook bought him another fight in the UFC and a lot of organic tofu blocks.
- I hope Thiago Alves can maintain the condition he showed tonight. The level of competition had something to do with it, but Alves looked like a completely different fighter from the Fitch fight at UFC 117. Thinner, crisper, and sexier.
- Bocek's triangle from mount was a thing of technical beauty. I'd much rather see George Sotiropoulos fight Bocek than Dennis Siver.
- Last note: the UFC.com prelim stream looked absolutely gorgeous. High resolution, perfect framerate, no glitches. Big ups to the UFC.
(Photo by Dave Mandel for Sherdog)
This wasn't a one-fight show. This was a one-man show. This night was all about Georges St. Pierre. Tonight was GSP's seventh straight victory in a title fight, and he hasn't looked vulnerable for a single minute in any of them.