The answer to that question will hinge on the outcome of his welterweight title defense at UFC 100. While some will balk at the notion of St. Pierre moving up to the heavier division support for such a move will reach its tipping point if he comes out of his fight with Thiago Alves still the man.
Clearing out the competition in a division convincingly is a prerequisite for moving up in weight class and St. Pierre started doing that when he beat Matt Hughes at UFC 79. By Finishing off the seven time welterweight champion for a second time, St. Pierre illustrated to the mixed martial arts community that Matt Hughes no longer set the standard for championship caliber.
At UFC 83 St. Pierre avenged his dramatic UFC 69 loss to Matt Serra in dominant fashion which validated that the “biggest upset in UFC history” was merely an aberration. St. Pierre would take the word dominant and make it a theme in his next two fights.
His UFC 87 win over Jon Fitch was no small feat given Fitch came into their match on an eight fight octagon win streak. Beating the second best welterweight in the world in such forceful fashion offered tangible evidence as to the distance St. Pierre had created between himself and the rest of the division.
St. Pierre would go on to dictate B.J Penn which fully crystallized that distance. The contrast between their UFC 58 struggle which ended in split decision and the UFC 94 affair which had Penn quitting on his corner stool startled those who were expecting a competitive exchange of blows.
Some will argue the Mike Swick-Martin Kampmann UFC 103 winner would provide a good match up and Jon Fitch himself has said he is not the same fighter that lost to the champion last summer. Despite those options, the most compelling and competitive fights for St. Pierre will be waiting for him in the middleweight division.
On the top of the list for most fans is a super fight between George St. Pierre and Anderson Silva. While people will argue St. Pierre should have to prove himself in the division before getting an immediate title shot those sentiments will be silenced if Dana White wants to broker the fight.
Putting together a fight with Anderson Silva is a bit precarious these days though. Silva has a fight with former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin in front of him at UFC 101 and beyond that there is a slue of middleweight contenders waiting in the wings assuming he comes back to the division.
Getting back to the question at hand, what’s really on the line is the legacy of St. Pierre. He can finish out his career by continuing to rack up wins in the welterweight division and or he can significantly increase the level of his competition being moving onward and upward.
If he chooses the latter, he could set himself up to be the considered the best fighter in UFC history, but only if successful in his new division. And for a man who walks into the octagon around 190 pounds, the weight cutting process just go a whole lot easier.
Last 5 posts by Brian Oswald
- Ranking the Strikeforce Middleweight Division: Matchmaking future fights - December 20th, 2009
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- UFC 99: The Aftermath - June 13th, 2009
- UFC 99 War Report: Rich Franklin will TKO Wanderlei Silva - June 12th, 2009
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Now this is an angle I have yet to ponder. GSP in the MW divison eh? I wonder how his chin would hold up more than anything. Other than that, I think this guy is a force anywhere within reason. Brian who would you throw at him to test the waters to see if he could hang up there? I say Bisping would be a great challenge as he had to move down, and GSP would have to move up. This lets us know that size would not be an issue more so than skill. Great aspect here.
If GSP wishes to move up to MW division, then he should proceed sooner than later. He is in the prime of his career and taking a little risk doesn’t hurt.
Perhaps he should. Besides the Matts, who else is there in the division. Do every two fights, most involving a Matt always end with a mandatory defense and another beatdown by the man we know as GSP? Is david louiseau ever gonna be the smae fighter? He was so dominant i believe in middleweight before franklin decisioned him in 5 rounds, and he never was hte same again. and why can’t different leagues have inter-league battles. UFC fighters used to frequent to Pride FC, why can’t this happen with all this crappy Affliction and strikeforce…. theyre keeping the fans from watchign the best fights out there. Have some champs of each league occassionally cross, or co host co promote some events to get fans more involved. it’s only common sense. great fights bring great fans. pc out! :)
Its really true. If GSP did go up to 185 he would be a really small opponent. Most of those guys walk in to the ring at 205+. He would be at a disadvantage to start with. I see him bein a dominant force at 185 but not good enough to take on guys like hendo, wandi(if he moves down), and franklin. He would definatley have to walk away with a win from one of them to even diserve a shot at silva. Im not baggin on silva, but there really is no competition at 185 besides the three i mentioned. Franklin is the type of fighter that silva likes. Franklin goes in and test the water and before you know it, silva had already figured you out and put you down. Thats why hendo did so well. Didnt let silva get the “feel” for him and thats why thats my silva fight. Now you take Forrest griffin with an iron jaw, wont tap, work horse mentalitity and we have a formula for fight of the year. Sorry, i just dont see silva making it to ten wins.