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After watching Hughes potshot an injured Penn in the third round of their title fight at UFC 63, many fans may believe that the champion has improved his standup to the point where he can now confidently stand and box with opponents. Wrong. Hughes is a well-rounded mixed martial artist, but his striking ability remains the biggest hole in his game. As a fight wears on, he tends to drop his hands, and at times, he is guilty of tipping his punches by hitching with his shoulders. Both create openings for GSP to land big bombs. Still, the Matt Hughes of today is a far better striker than the Matt Hughes that fought St. Pierre in 2004, particularly with kicks to the body.
GSP, on the other hand, is a skilled striker with an excellent jab, good straight right cross and a varied arsenal of kicks. When he throws shots, he keeps his hands in a good defensive position, though like all fighters, one can counter over the top of his shots if gets lazy and leaves his hands dangling after punches. Plus, his tall, long frame allows him to pepper most welterweights from far enough outside that his opponents are ineffective firing back. He used that advantage to completely dominate the shorter Sean Sherk at UFC 56. Hughes is taller than Sherk, but not tall enough, so St. Pierre can easily pick him apart from the outside if the fight remains standing. Edge: St. Pierre.
Wrestling
Prior to their first bout, most people just assumed that Hughes enjoyed an overwhelming advantage over St. Pierre in the wrestling department. After all, Hughes is a decorated collegiate wrestler who uses dominant takedowns and an excellent wrestling base to overwhelm opponents with his ground-and-pound attack.
GSP might not have a wrestling background. But we learned in his first fight with Hughes (and his subsequent bouts against Sherk and Frank Trigg) that he is a vastly underrated wrestler who is extremely difficult to take down after years of training with the Canadian national wrestling team. Hughes still enjoys the edge here, but it isn’t nearly as wide as most think. It is very safe to assume that he will struggle at times to take GSP to the mat, which is necessary if he wants to win. Edge: Hughes. Ground Fighting
This one is easy to break down. Neither guy is going to win a title at the Brazilian Mundials or Abu Dhabi anytime soon, but both have solid submission skills and submission defense. With that said, Hughes has shown that he is more difficult to submit, particularly from the bottom, than St. Pierre, who basically handed Hughes an arm at UFC 50. Hughes seems to be more committed to his submission attempts, especially the Kimura from side control. Both men have solid defensive guards, but neither wants to find himself there during the fight. Still, the submission aspect is only a subplot to the true ground fighting breakdown. Why? Three words: ground and pound.
It’s no secret that both men prefer the ground-and-pound route to transition jiu-jitsu. And when it comes to ground and pound, nobody in the world at 170 pounds is better than Hughes. The legendary Royce Gracie couldn’t survive his ground-and-pound attack. Trigg basically gave up his back/neck in their second bout because he couldn’t handle the carnage. And the list goes on. Edge: Hughes.
Clinch
Hughes doesn’t use the clinch for much more than setting up takedowns. He isn’t overly dangerous with knees or elbows from that position, and he doesn’t use it to wear guys out against the fence ala Randy Couture. St. Pierre isn’t Anderson Silva in the clinch, either. But he knows how to use his leverage to put guys on the fence and use slashing elbows to cause cuts and swelling around the face. He showed those skills against Penn in his last bout. Being friends with David Loiseau obviously has its benefits. Edge: St. Pierre. Athleticism
Aside from Josh Koscheck, who is probably the single-most impressive athlete in the UFC, GSP has few peers in terms of pure athleticism. His balance, strength, explosiveness, reflexes and speed are impressive to say the least. Who else could stuff takedowns from Hughes, Sherk and Trigg without a wrestling background? Hughes was an accomplished wrestler and a top mixed martial artist, but GSP is one of those naturally gifted athletes that could have excelled at any number of sports. What does that mean in mixed martial arts? A superior athlete can sometimes get away with very minor mistakes simply because he is more explosive, quicker, stronger, etc. It doesn’t work all the time. And against a guy like Hughes, those mistakes had better happen on the feet rather than on the ground. If the fight comes down to a moment of explosiveness, speed, flexibility or reflexes, GSP wins. Edge: St. Pierre. Conditioning
Have we ever seen either man gas in a fight? No. Both have plentiful gas tanks. Hughes, however, has unmatched experience going the full five rounds compared to his foe. We know GSP can go hard for three three-minute rounds. What if it goes the distance? St. Pierre is an unknown in the fourth and fifth rounds. Edge: Hughes. Experience
Hughes wins this one on every level. At 41-4, he has more than three times the number of fights than his 12-1 opponent. He has almost as many championship fights (10) as St. Pierre has career fights (13). And he has been fighting in the main event or co-main event since before St. Pierre started in the sport.
Granted, many UFC fans will remember this writer discounting similar disparities when breaking down the experience factor for Hughes-Penn II. But just looking at the numbers when breaking down Penn’s experience sets up a straw man argument because he has faced such a wide variety of opponents, almost all of which were huge fights, and that gives him a unique kind of experience. In other words, Penn has seen it all in the sport after 14 fights. St. Pierre cannot make the same claim. Edge: Hughes. Mental
St. Pierre is far from a mental midget, as he showed when refusing to quit in a gut-check win over Penn. But it is impossible to successfully argue that he has any sort of mental edge over Hughes heading into this fight for two simple, albeit related, reasons.
First, Hughes’ owns a definitive submission win over the French-Canadian. That has a huge impact on their respective pre-fight psyche, particularly since St. Pierre appeared to be controlling the action early. The net result is that a little devilish fellow called “doubt” will be sitting squarely on St. Pierre’s shoulder whispering in his ear as the action gets underway. Those whispers will become loud screams if Hughes is able to put St. Pierre on his back and pass his guard.
Second, St. Pierre’s actions in the trailing several months suggest that the fight has gotten under his skin. It is significant that he appeared tremendously uncomfortable in Hughes’ presence during the filming of “TUF 4: The Comeback.” In fact, he was so uncomfortable that he chose to leave the gym shortly after Hughes arrived. It was unclear at the time whether that was a bit of gamesmanship, a move strictly designed to hype the fight for the television audience or a display of nervousness. But St. Pierre’s odd decision to enter the Octagon and disrespect Hughes after the champion defeated Penn was completely out of character for a guy widely considered to be one of the nicest, most respectful gentlemen in the sport.
At the end of the day, it seems as if Hughes has gotten into St. Pierre’s head, or at least under his skin. Edge: Hughes. Intangibles
At the end of the day, many of the above advantages and disadvantages wash themselves out. But there are two areas that could very well decide the outcome of the fight, and neither of them have anything to do with technique.
Since submitting prior to Hughes fully extending on the armbar at UFC 50, GSP has worn a huge question mark over his heart. That may sound harsh, but that is the reality of the fight game. This writer does not think he needs a pacemaker to keep his ticker alive. But he didn’t even attempt to free himself from the armbar before submitting, and that still must haunt him to this day.
Granted, he showed good resolve by fighting through tremendous early adversity against Penn. He definitely had every opportunity to quit in that fight, but he hung extremely tough. So, questions surrounding his heart may, in fact, be completely erased. Still those questions never existed with Hughes. Think otherwise? Go back and watch Hughes-Trigg II or Hughes-Penn II. He holds the edge in this department.
But where questions remain concerning St. Pierre’s heart, there is no such question regarding his overall fighting form heading into UFC 65. The way he dismantled Sherk shows just how good this guy is right now. The fact that he was much more competitive against Penn compared to Hughes (completely discount the third round of Hughes-Penn II because gassed out or injured, a full strength Penn was giving Hughes a beating) shows that he is truly at the top of his game.
Hughes looked like a monster against Gracie and Joe Riggs. But he looked downright befuddled, if not desperate, against Penn. One must wonder if that is just a case of Penn having Hughes’ number or possibly the whole “styles make fights” adage, or is Hughes starting to slip after 45 professional fights? Is he starting to deteriorate? Is Penn his only real nemesis? Edge: St. Pierre.
November 18 will answer all the questions one way or the other because GSP and Hughes will both undoubtedly show up as finely tuned and prepared as they can possibly be for a bout. St. Pierre has his mind set on a 170-pound coup d’Etat. Can Hughes quash the rebellion and affirm his rule?
I can’t wait to find out.
__________________
" ... Those who win every battle are not really skillful - those who render others' helpless without fighting are the best of all." - Sun Tzu
Thanks for the very comprehensive breakdown of two of MMA's best fighters. You really know your fighters. After all is said & done it could come down to who is the better man on that given day.
Thanks again for the posting it really gives quality insight into some great fighters.
Sensei Tom
It's good info. I am a relatively new 'blogger'. I almost made a big mistake by taking someone elses info. then I noticed a copyright disclaimer. I went back & deleted the info. I was going to post. What kinds of issues can you get into when you do that. Can you copy stuff if there is no copyright notice?
Thanks,
Sensei Tom
It's good info. I am a relatively new 'blogger'. I almost made a big mistake by taking someone elses info. then I noticed a copyright disclaimer. I went back & deleted the info. I was going to post. What kinds of issues can you get into when you do that. Can you copy stuff if there is no copyright notice?
Thanks,
Sensei Tom
If it's just posting that somebody else has done and isn't copyrighted, then you can quote that person. Personally, I always try to give the credit for where I gleaned the information. However, it it's something that's copyrighted (such as in a magazine, newspaper, book, etc.) then you are taking a risk with copyright infringement. I can tell you one business that strictly enforces copyright laws is Harley Davidson. This industry, I don't believe, has the financial backing to enforce that kind of thing to the extent that HD does. Just one person's opnion.
That was a very nice breakdown and who ever originated it, I'd like to see them do the same thing with Vera and Mir.
__________________
" ... Those who win every battle are not really skillful - those who render others' helpless without fighting are the best of all." - Sun Tzu
That’s OK. It was still great info. I agree about giving credit. I think we should all try to give credit where credit is due if nothing more than common courtesy.
Thanks,
Sensei Tom
-Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre -> GSP
-Tim Sylvia vs. Jeff Monson -> Monson
-Brandon Vera vs. Frank Mir -> Vera
-Joe Stevenson vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima -> Stevenson
-Alessio Sakara vs. Drew McFedries -> Sakara
Preliminary Bouts:
-Nick Diaz vs. Graison Tibau -> Diaz
-Jake O'Brien vs. Josh Shockman -> Shockman
-James Irvin vs. Hector Ramirez -> Irvin
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Sherman Pendergarst -> Hardonk
(many of them are pure guesses since I don't even know who they are)
-Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre -> GSP
-Tim Sylvia vs. Jeff Monson -> Monson
-Brandon Vera vs. Frank Mir -> Vera
-Joe Stevenson vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima -> Stevenson
-Alessio Sakara vs. Drew McFedries -> McFedries
Preliminary Bouts:
-Nick Diaz vs. Graison Tibau -> Diaz
-Jake O'Brien vs. Josh Shockman -> O'Brien
-James Irvin vs. Hector Ramirez -> Irvin
-Antoni Hardonk vs. Sherman Pendergarst -> Pendergarst
I know the poster is only showing Hughes, St. Pierre, Sylva, and Monson, let's not forget that there is another great fight - Brandon Vera vs. Frank Mir, the former Heavyweight champion.
Frank didn't look so good losing to Marcio Cruz and against Dan Christison, barely winning by decision. Let's hope Frank is in much better shape this time.
Styles: NONE BUT IVE LEARNED SOME MOVES FROM THE UFC AND I THINK IM GONNA BUY TITO ORTIZ'S TRAINING DVD'S
Posts: 365
Home Country:
Here are my Predictions for this Saturday...
UFC 65: NOVEMBER 18 IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre ------> HUGHES
Tim Sylvia vs. Jeff Monson ------> SYLVIA
Brandon Vera vs. Frank Mir ------> VERA
Joe Stevenson vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima ------> STEVENSON
Alessio Sakara vs. Drew McFedries ------> SAKARA
Nick Diaz vs. Graison Tibau ------> DIAZ
Jake O'Brien vs. Josh Shockman ------> SHOCKMAN (coin toss)
James Irvin vs. Hector Ramirez ------> RAMIREZ (upset)
Antoni Hardonk vs. Sherman Pendergarst ------> PENDERGARST (coin toss)
Im really looking forward to Mir Vs Vera, the winner of this fight will be that much closer to a title shot. Im going to the weigh in to try and get some Autographs hopefully ill get Hughes and GSP.
UFC 65
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