Issue 042
October 2008
When Georges St Pierre retained his welterweight title at UFC 87, he did more than simply beat Jon Fitch by unanimous decision. The popular French-Canadian, who was already a top three fighter in the entire Ultimate Fighting Championships, took out the undisputed number one contender, worldwide at 170lb in utterly comprehensive fashion.
Matt Hughes used to say that he liked beating people at their own speciality when facing a new opponent. When St Pierre defeated him for the third time it was symbolic of the torch being passed down to a new generation from one of the sport’s elders.
This analogy is best described in combination with the judges’ scores of 50-44, 50-44 and 50-43, because the defeated Fitch, who had gone the distance with Chris Wilson and Diego Sanchez in his previous two bouts, had been well and truly beaten at his own game.
In doing so, the 27-year-old from Montreal confirmed his status as North America’s premier mixed martial artist in a far more convincing fashion than a 20-second knockout could ever hope to be.
When the world’s best compete against each other in any arena, the anticipation of what is to come is almost as fun as the eventual contest. Previously in MMA the speculation and conversation prior to a bout has sadly often proved more entertaining than the resulting duel due to the dynamics of the sport. Liddell knocked out Couture in two minutes: Rampage sent Chuck crashing to the canvas in even quicker fashion - to name just two examples.
When two competitors with glaring deficiencies in their game square off, then it is not hard for one to capitalise and finish quickly. We’ve all seen strikers get submitted before we’ve even made ourselves comfortable sitting down to watch it. Similarly, the four-ounce gloves worn in MMA mean that the ‘puncher’s chance’, that is often referred to in boxing is taken to a new level. Flash KOs had been more frequent among high-quality fighters than when compared to athletes governed by the Queensbury rules.
Quick finishes can be exciting, but often equally as frustrating. Title bouts that have been months, if not years, in the making, should unequivocally, truly determine which man is superior - and ideally not be over within 90 seconds.
Liddell’s rematch with Randy Couture was subject to levels of fan interest previously unseen under Dana White’s leadership, thanks to the buzz generated by the pair acting as coaches on the unexpectedly successful first series of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’.
A new set of fans were ready to take the plunge and part with their pay per-view dollars for the first time, to witness two men they had spent 12 weeks getting to know on television do battle. Was the early ending exciting, or anti-climactic?
The much-hyped UFC 71 fight with ‘The Iceman’ taking on Quinton Jackson was a similar story. After relentless hype on American television, the bout was decided by the first clean right hook that was landed. Is the ‘don’t blink’ nature of the sport what makes it compelling, or confirmation that we will never have epic, dominant champions?
For a while I lost heart. It seemed as though the equipment and fighting conditions would make drawn out, back-and-forth title bouts a rarity, rather than something to hope for on a consistent basis.
Thankfully the last few months have quelled any such doubts. During this time, in addition to St Pierre’s five-round assault of Fitch we’ve also seen Pulver vs Faber (five rounds of non-stop action), Griffin vs Jackson (a close 25 minutes) and Condit vs Miura (four rounds of brawling with a dramatic finish).
All of these fights were for titles between skilled athletes in the top tier of their weight class. Most importantly, all delivered on their promise. In every case both men had laid everything on the line: there was little doubt about who the better man was in the end.
While I’ll always have time for Matt Serra-esque upsets, let’s hope that the recent trend of judges having to earn their pay continues for a long time. It is fights like these that will not only be talked about in years to come but also create iconic figures that inspire future generations to try and emulate them.
These bouts add credibility to a once derided sport and help ensure that mixed martial arts as a whole has the cardio needed to go the distance.
