UFC 129: Georges St-Pierre Is MMA's Most Boring Champion

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UFC 129: Georges St-Pierre Is MMA's Most Boring Champion

That's right—Georges St-Pierre is BORING. 

He's been boring ever since he tapped to strikes in his first title defense after claiming the welterweight championship.  I'm certain that from that statement, GSP fans reading this will have already labeled me as a "hater" in their minds—I am not. 

In fact, I used to be a fan of his earlier in his career—used to be. Ever since his loss to a relatively mediocre fighter in Matt Serra, he's become MMA's most boring champion.

In heated debates with proud GSP fans, I always hear the argument "He's a winner," "He hasn't lost a round in, blah, blah, blah."  My response to such low standards is: Who cares?

Fighting is more than just winning, isn't it? It's more than just being "technically" better than your opponent, is it not? To me it is, and if you're saying to yourself that there isn't more to it, imagine this: all fights on every future card end in unanimous decisions where the winner fights safe and "technically" dominates his opponent. 

Does that sound like something you'd pay $59.95 to watch?

There seems to be a double standard when it comes to GSP.  Fighters like Jon Fitch and Dong Hyun Kim are labeled as boring and have even been booed during some of their fights when they apply a very similar fighting style and strategy as GSP. 

Ahh, the "strategy."

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Another word that GSP fans love to cling to.  They talk about his "game plan" and how brilliant it is.  Really? Does it take a genius to figure out that Dan Hardy and Thiago Alves are weak on the ground?

Do you have to put much thought into figuring out that Josh Koscheck's strength is his wrestling and that his stand-up skills are sub-par?

Seems like having a good "game plan" is limited to just recognizing your opponents' weaknesses and trying to exploit them rather than focusing on your own strengths. 

Smart? I guess. Honorable? Definitely not.

GSP's lack of pride and "safety first" attitude is clearly displayed when analyzing his two fights against B.J. Penn.  In the first fight, GSP stood with Penn (clearly thinking that his stand-up was superior), only to win a VERY close decision. 

In the second fight, instead of standing with Penn, GSP decided that his safest way to victory was to subdue Penn on the ground for as long as possible. 

Smart? I guess.  Exciting? Definitely not. 

It's a good thing (for GSP) that the UFC didn't take the Pride name after buying the organization, because if they did, they may have had to cut GSP for the obvious contradiction.

The unreasonable love for GSP by his fans has become so ridiculous that they will tell you that any fighter with one-punch knockout power is a "brawler" and possesses no skill.  They'll tell you that GSP is not afraid to fight Anderson Silva and that Silva should be fighting as a light heavyweight, therefore, it's not a fair fight.

Yet they don't take anything away from GSP's wins over Penn, Serra and Sherk (much smaller opponents).  They'll tell you that GSP had no idea Vaseline was being rubbed all over his back in his second fight with Penn and even if he had, it wasn't against the "rules."

They'll tell you GSP is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world even though he almost always outsizes his opponents.  They'll tell you the reason he didn't finish Dan Hardy is because he's too "nice" and didn't want to break his arm or that Hardy's arm is made of rubber. 

They'll tell you that the welterweight division is the toughest division even though GSP has more rematches than any title holder ever.  They'll tell you that tapping to strikes is a very smart thing to do as to avoid serious injury. 

They'll even go so far as to tell you that they find his fights exciting.

Yes, I'm well aware that UFC 129 is sold out.  However, you may not be aware that the Toronto Maple Leafs also sell out each and every game—a team that hasn't made the playoffs since around the time when Chingy was lighting up the billboards.

As a Canadian, I too support Canadian athletes.  But when I spend my hard earned money to watch a fight, that's what I expect to see.  Not some gutless spandex wearing fake who fights in the safest possible manner. 

The good news is that the fans are slowly starting to recognize that GSP is more concerned about his endorsements and keeping the title than he is about putting on a good fight.  If you don't believe me, take a quick browse around any of the MMA forums and you can see the evidence for yourself.

The UFC must have also noticed this up-rise in disappointed GSP fans, hence the matchup with Jake Shields.  But why would the UFC even want Shields? He’s notoriously known for his dull personality and even duller fighting style.  He almost makes GSP look exciting, almost.  Come April 30th, Shields’ purpose in the UFC will be revealed.

I’ll let you come up with your own conclusions, but consider this: there is no way that the UFC would risk GSP losing in front of Canada's biggest stage against a former Strikeforce fighter.

Yes, GSP is the most boring champion to watch, but it doesn’t really seem to matter because the thing about Canadian sports fans is—they'll watch anything.

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