Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes

[Guest Brian]

This is probably one of the biggest fights that is a definite on the horizon, barring serious injury. The first fight was basically even until the St. Pierre mental gaffe, and St. Pierre has since then rattled off wins over Dave Strasser (24-7), Jason Miller (14-4), Frank Trigg (13-4), Sean Sherk (29-2-1), and BJ Penn (10-3-1), mostly in dominant fashion. The latter three are among the cream of the welterweight division, all arguably top ten. Wit the latest victory over Penn, Pierre has officially cemented his claim to the a title shot.

 

On the othere hand, Matt Hughes is the champ, with only one loss in his last eighteen fights, and a nine-time welterweight champ. He's beat the same competition as St. Pierre, Penn aside, and Trigg twice.

 

This should be a great fight, and once Hughes gets past Gracie, this will get a ton of hype. St. Pierre's revenge. The immovable object vs. the iressistable force. The two top guys going at it. Let's start the hype machine up right here.. How do you see this fight going?

 

I think this is an instance of styles making fights, and not so much a what have you done for me lately. It's going to come down to who does what from their back. The interesting point about St. Pierre is that he took out two of the top four pure wrestlers in his division by beating them at their own game, pancaking them. In the first Hughes fight, he took Hughes down once, and stuffed one of his takedowns, and I think this will be another fight where St. Pierre dictates how it takes place. If Hughes gets put on his back and St. Pierre passes, I see this going down much like the Penn/Hughes fight. That's what I would choose.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I give the edge ever so slightly to Hughes. Here are my reasons:

 

1. He won the first fight, ever so important psychological edge.

2. Even though St. Pierre stuffed one of Matt's takedowns and even took Matt down, I see Matt training really hard on his wrestling (even more so than usual) and containment. St. Pierre is the better striker and he's really slippery, so I see Matt wanting to take him down and keep him there.

3. Even though he was subbed by Matt in the first fight, St. Pierre is still the better BJJ specialist. That's 3-1 for St. Pierre in the main "fight game" facets, wrestling, striking, and BJJ. However, I think Matt will try to turn this into a ground and pound victory by decision.

 

Sorry if I'm kinda muddy and nonsensical, I'm drugged up on wisdom teeth medication

 

I should rewatch all of these guys' fights til like '04 and I'll have a better idea

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I would say Matt Hughes is more capable off of his back and is better on top too. GSP is no BJ Penn when it comes to being on top, I don't think he gets the mount, then back mount like BJ did.

[Guest Brian]

How often have you seen Hughes on his back? Off the top of my head, I can only think of the St. Pierre fight, Trigg II, and Penn. Once St. Pierre didn't get on him and he got up; the second time he gave back to a guy who amazingly, despite the number of times he's lost the same way himself, couldn't pull it off; and third against Penn. I need to go back and watch UFC 29 to see how Hallman caught him, but there's a fairly serious question mark; at least one would be led to believe.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I don't know if anyone can reference UFC 29, Hughes has changed so much since then. Maybe not in a way noticeable to just watching his fights, but training-wise. I'm almost sure he would never get caught like that again. (And don't say Penn because he's on a whole nother level from Hallman)

[Guest Brian]

No, I was just trying to come up with points where Matt was on his back and needed to look at that to see if it provided the insight needed. I was just saying that Matt Hughes is a scrambler at heart.

[AboveAverage484 0]

No, I was just trying to come up with points where Matt was on his back and needed to look at that to see if it provided the insight needed. I was just saying that Matt Hughes is a scrambler at heart.

 

Gotcha, it's rare that you see Matt on his back so going back in time to see what he does makes sense now.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

His fight with Sean Sherk is a good example of how slick he can be off his back.

[Lei Tong 0]

Like I said to YPOV: I think Hughes can survive longer on his feet with GSP than GSP can survive if Matt gets on top of him.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Hughes would have to be more aggressive against GSP if he wants to get anything done standing, I think the Penn fight showed a big weakness in Rushes game in that regard. I've never seen Hughes aggressive standing, however. If he lets GSP pick his shots, it will be a long night for Mr. Hughes.

[Lei Tong 0]

Matt Hughes via left jab-Superman punch-slam.

[starvenger 0]

If he lets GSP pick his shots, it will be a long night for Mr. Hughes.

I don't think Hughes has a problem with a long night if he can control the match.

 

No, I was just trying to come up with points where Matt was on his back and needed to look at that to see if it provided the insight needed. I was just saying that Matt Hughes is a scrambler at heart.

That would make sense because Hughes is a wrestler at heart and I'd guess that no matter how many MMA fights a wrester is in, they'd still instintively hate being on their back.

 

I'd like to think that both Hughes and GSP have learned from the last fight, and to be honest I really don't care who wins, because it'll be a great fight no matter how you slice it.

[Guest Brian]

YES!!!!!

 

 

TORONTO - A press conference was held today at the Sports Centre Café in Toronto, Canada as Georges “Rush” St.Pierre received official word that he gets his much deserved title shot against Matt Hughes. MMAWeekly.com has learned the event most likely will happen in September.

 

St.Pierre was extremely happy when it was announced saying quote "Now its official. Now it's for real. It’s my dream come true,its all about respect and I finally have it...YES FINALLY!" St.Pierre exclaimed.

 

Mark “The Machine” Hominick and Sam Stout were both on hand with the Canadian Media including The Fight Network.

“It makes me very happy as I'm here to promote the sport in Canada." St.Pierre told the media. “If I didn’t do Martial Arts, I’d probably be a delinquent” as St.Pierre was very grateful for what MMA has done for him and his career.

 

IT'S ON!

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

St. Pierre is going to stomp Hughes.

 

He messed up big last fight, but now he is more mature and will finish Hughes in less then 2 rounds.

[jwpeer 0]

Is there anyone who DOESN'T think this will be UFCS biggest fight this year.

 

 

I know Hughes vs. Gracie and Liddell vs. Couture might end up with more overall money...but these two are at the top of their game, PERIOD. No one is 100% sure who is going to win, and if Pierre wins...well imagine how big GSP vs. Hughes 3 would be

 

 

I'm kinda stoked for this, September is a long way to go though

[Adam 0]

What a great Birthday present that'll be for me.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

As much as I wouldn't want to wait another month, have the fight in October on their 2-year anniversery.

[starvenger 0]

Is there anyone who DOESN'T think this will be UFCS biggest fight this year.

 

 

I know Hughes vs. Gracie and Liddell vs. Couture might end up with more overall money...but these two are at the top of their game, PERIOD. No one is 100% sure who is going to win, and if Pierre wins...well imagine how big GSP vs. Hughes 3 would be

As you say, it won't be the biggest in terms of buyrate, but as a straight matchup it should be killer.

[Youth N Asia 0]

After watching St Pierre just dominate Trigg it was only a matter of time before he got Hughes again. I honestly don't know if I could pick a winner in this one. Matt's seemed to be unbeatable for a while. But Pierre's been on a hell of a streak

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I'm honestly 50-50 on the winner.

 

Will the Country Boy survive? Will the Riddum keep movin' on? I don't know. I just wanna watch it though.

 

Hopefully it's a main event.