Issue 038

June 2008

If the UFC’s first foray north of the border is anything to judge by, Montreal could well usurp Las Vegas as a potential fight capital of the world. A record 21,390 fans packed into the Bell Centre and screamed louder and harder than almost any other crowd in UFC history. With a cacophony of cheers and jeers ringing wall-to-wall, Georges St Pierre cemented his position as a hometown hero by defeating Matt Serra in resounding fashion to win the welterweight title and the hearts of fans in Canada and beyond. 

St Pierre's loss to Matt Serra was a career defining moment in many ways. Some say it made him scared of getting involved in a stand-up fight and focus more on his wrestling, evident in his comfortable wins over standout wrestlers Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes. It was a pressure and work rate typical of high-calibre wrestlers that GSP used to take apart Serra in this fight, sticking the stocky American on his back early on and not settling for anything less than top position throughout the fight.  

Serra, a superb jiu-jitsu exponent, was put on the back foot in the grappling exchanges. Once on his back he was denied any chance of attacking for submissions thanks to St Pierre’s offensive of ground and pound and guard passing. Shockingly, he moved to side control more than once, though wisely avoided getting drawn into a jiu-jitsu match and elected to score with punches than tie his arms up with a submission specialist of Serra’s calibre.  

As the Long Islander tried to escape from underneath he would turn to his knees and try to stand or roll, but St Pierre dictated exactly where he wanted the fight to go by taking Serra down when he wanted him down. Blasting the downed Serra with knees and punches, he poured on the pressure throughout the first round, leaving a large mouse under the American’s right eye. The second round was decisive for St Pierre, and though a brief, spirited flurry from Serra hinted at flashbacks of their first meeting, St Pierre settled down behind his long jab and picked off Serra until putting him down and working him over until the referee stepped in to save the former champ. Serra’s title reign was brought to a halt with only 15 seconds left in the second round as he laid on hands and knees, St Pierre smashing knees into his ribs.  

Watching an on-form St Pierre is inspiring, even if you’re not a fan. It is impossible not to admire the guy’s athleticism, his drive and most of all, his ever-expanding skill set. Still only 26 years old, he has placed himself atop the welterweight division and most observers struggle to see an opponent who might pose him a challenge. Jon Fitch has been bandied about as a potential challenger, as the AKA-trained fighter has been racking up the wins against a series of welterweight hopefuls, and is undefeated since 2003. Dana White has said Fitch is likely to be next on GSP’s list, although nothing has yet been confirmed.  

Franklin unfazed by Lutter

If you were Travis Lutter and you had a reputation and track record for gassing in fights, you’d do something about it, right? Exactly. But for some reason Travis Lutter just can’t quite get it into his head that if he really wants to be a top-tier middleweight fighter (which he has the potential to be) he needs to get fit. The grappler has only got about two thirds of a round in him before he’s dead on his feet, something Rich Franklin knew and exploited in their fight.  

Rich Franklin is a smart guy. His two losses to Anderson Silva aside, he is still one of the UFC’s top middleweights, it’s just that Silva made him look so bad it’s easy to forget that. He’s a considerate technician, meaning he is a skilled fighter who goes into a fight with an idea of how to win based on his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. For all his strengths, Franklin is not a brawler. But to beat Lutter all Franklin had to do was last out the initial attack, get on top and ride home to victory, and that’s exactly what he did.  

Stuck on bottom and soon defending an armbar, Franklin looked in a bad spot, but gritted his teeth and performed an amazing escape to come out of what looked like a dead end. 

Lutter’s ridiculously small gas tank was empty, and he ran on fumes until finally succumbing to a salvo of strikes that saw him cowering on his hands and knees, too fatigued to even defend himself properly. It was a smart game plan from Franklin, but Lutter’s failings actually outshine Franklin’s accomplishments here, which is disappointing considering it is the former middleweight champ’s first successful return since his loss to Silva.  

Bisping cuts through the Chainsaw

Michael Bisping made his long awaited debut at 185lb, testing the water against the seasoned competitor Charles McCarthy. Looking slim and trim at his new fighting weight, Bisping was quicker than ever in his clinical dismantling of McCarthy, an ultimately overmatched jiu-jitsu specialist. On paper it looked like McCarthy would be a good test for Bisping on the ground, but the Brit has shown some fine ability on the mat in his last few fights (he has yet to face a top level striker, he has been put in with mostly wrestlers and jiu-jitsu fighters).  

With super fast striking and a vicious volley of knees, Bisping had McCarthy against the fence and covering up. A good takedown from the Florida resident had Bisping down and defending an armbar, but the winner of the third series of The Ultimate Fighter remained calm and resumed his work in picking Charles apart with an increasing number of strikes. A brutal attack of knees that made McCarthy look like a pad man without any pads left the American unable to continue into the second round.  

Bisping’s debut at middleweight was highly anticipated because this is exactly what most people were hoping for. If he could perform at a high level against fighters 20lb bigger than him, then surely he would walk through those smaller, right? Well, it remains to be seen, as the middleweight division is stacked, but hopes are high for the young Englishman.  

Round Up 

In other action Nate Quarry spent fifteen minutes chasing a timid Kalib Starnes around the Octagon before taking a decision victory. Starnes wanted no part of Quarry on the feet yet failed to attempt any takedowns, resulting in a bizarre encounter that had the partisan crowd turning on their Canadian fighter. Quarry also picked up the accolades of ‘most bizarre action during a fight’ thanks to his robotic arm-chopping motions, as well as being the first fighter to win a fight 30-24 (three 10-8 rounds) on one of the judge’s scorecards.  

Mac Danzig looked sharp in dealing with Mark Bocek. He nullified the jiu-jitsu and wrestling of the Team Quest fighter before opening up a nasty gash on the left eye and eventually submitting him in the third round. Jason MacDonald and Joe Doerkson went at it in an all-Canada battle that saw MacDonald escape a horrific armbar to turn it around and win with strikes. 

Brazilian Demien Maia looked superb in handling the tough Ed Herman, trapping him in a triangle and punching his way to victory, while Rich Clementi squeezed out a split decision over Sam Stout and Jonathan Goulet stopped Kuniyoshi Hironaka in a dramatic back-and-fore tussle that picked up the award of Fight of the Night.  

Full results

Jonathan Goulet def Kuniyoshi Hironaka via TKO (Punches) 2:07 Rd2

Cain Velasquez def Brad Morris via TKO (Strikes) 2:10 Rd1

Rich Clementi def Sam Stout via Split Decision 

Demian Maia def Ed Herman via Techincal Submission (Triangle Choke) 2:27 Rd2

Jason Day def Alan Belcher via TKO (Punches) 3:58 Rd1

Jason MacDonald def Joe Doerksen via TKO (Strikes) 0:54 Rd2

Mac Danzig def Mark Bocek via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 3:48 Rd3

Michael Bisping def Charles McCarthy via TKO (Arm injury) 

Nathan Quarry def Kalib Starnes via Unanimous Decision

Rich Franklin def Travis Lutter via TKO (Strikes) 3:01 Rd2

Georges St Pierre.def Matt Serra via TKO (Knees to body) 4:45 Rd2