In the eyes of many fans, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has changed his game up since a loss to Matt Serra in 2007. While he has won all eleven of his bouts since then, many have gone to a decision and many believe he has shown an aversion to risk, putting the W ahead of all else. I don't personally share this view, but many do.
So it is kind of amusing to hear GSP talk about his teammate Rory MacDonald, who defeated Jake Ellenberger in a lackluster bout at UFC on Fox 8. MacDonald basically just jabbed Ellenberger for 15 minutes, while Jake did nothing to change it up. The champ thinks that Rory fought the right way though, and Ellenberger didn't (via TSN):
"He shouldn't care about the critics. You don't brawl with a brawler.
"It was up to Ellenberger to open up and take more risk because he was losing and he didn't. Rory fought a great fight and even made it look relatively easy."
I'm sure some will call GSP a hypocrite for the comment about Ellenberger, but he's right. The difference between St. Pierre and Ellenberger is that St. Pierre is rarely, if ever, behind in a fight. So it's a completely different situation when it comes to him. Either way, it's not surprising that the champ is talking up his teammate and backing up Rory and trainer Firas Zahabi's assessment of the bout. Now we'll just have to see if Rory and GSP can continue to co-exist as Rory continues to creep up the ladder in the 170-pound division.
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