Arise George St Pierre - MMAUniverse.com

Arise George St Pierre

Date submitted: 21 November 2006

Submitted by: James Hoy for MMA Universe

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A new champion was crowned on Saturday night at UFC 65: Bad Intentions.

Georges St Pierre dropped long-reigning champ Matt Hughes at 3:36 of round two. He finished the fight with a flurry of punches and elbows from inside Matt’s guard after a sweet kick to the head.

GSP absolutely dominated the fight. There is no doubt of who deserved the win, despite Hughes being caught with a kick to the groin twice.

Ironically - given the ending of their last fight - this one could have ended in the last second of round one. After picking Hughes apart with jabs and high kicks, he launched a superman punch which put the champ on his back. The bell rang but the fight could have ended right there.

St Pierre fell to his knees in the centre of the Octogon upon victory, in a similar pose to his submission loss to Matt Hughes when they first met. This time his face was filled with joy and the realisation of all his hard work. The man so often called the future of the sport can now be hailed one of the best in the present.

Matt looked shocked and dismayed after the fight. “I've got some things to think about.” he acknowledged.

GSP is young and perhaps the most athletically gifted person to step into the Octagon. He scored an emphatic victory over the man who will be remembered as one of the most dominant fighters at his weight. Even before this fight he was hugely popular, partly due to his obvious talent but also because of his great attitude in and out of the ring. He is the type of champion who’s will make the public take MMA seriously, and coverage of his victory should go some way to making the press think twice about diminishing it as a thug’s sport.

The UFC's welterweight division is very impressive, and there are some tough fights ahead for him - including the potential rubber match with Hughes. But the new champ just seems to have many tools available. His stand-up is truly excellent and his ground game and wrestling very strong. He even managed to avoid being taken down after Hughes secured a dominant position.

What about Hughes? Just as Rich Franklin did against Anderson Silva at UFC 64: Unstoppable, I thought he looked and fought as though he knew his belt was going to be taken from him. He only once attempted a takedown - his bread and butter - which lead to nothing. Having spoken of retirement recently because of a desire to spend more time with his family, let’s just hope that this truly amazing fighter finds it in him to step into the Octagon again. At just 33, he is still incredible strong and is clearly a great wrestler. His boxing has improved massively, although he was outclassed on this occasion. Despite making tough work of it, only recently he pulled off a win against another contender for the belt, BJ Penn. Whatever fans think of his attitude, the UFC would miss his presence hugely, and it's a hell of a long time since he fought as the underdog.

The question is, did Georges St Pierre simply have Hughes’s number on the night, or has the new champion just raised the benchmark beyond his level?

By James Hoy for MMA Universe

Images: Delvin Bruce / InsideFighting.com