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St. Pierre dominates in Montreal

STEPHEN BRUNT

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 1:49 AM EST 20/04/08

The largest live crowd in UFC history watched George St. Pierre win the welterweight title with a second-round win over Matt Serra ...Read the full article

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  1. j wilson from vancouver, Canada writes: GSP was fantastic.

    When you see anyone in any sport who performs at the level that this guy does, you dont have to be a rabid fan to appreciate it. He has great, overwhelming skill.
  2. George S from Toronto, Canada writes: I tried to watch this sport a while back with an open mind and I just can't believe that we pay money to see this pure type of violence- what was most disturbing for me was the bloodthirsty crowd shouting for an injury. I watch hockey and the fighting is turning that game into a joke as well.
  3. Sadakat H from Canada writes: What to you classifies as a sport?

    Anyways, just fyi. MMA combatants learn their skills at a young age and enhance them throughout their lives. They are in better physical fitness than any other athletes in the world. They have to be more dedicated to their competitions. They do not rely on drugs as they have in baseball. They are very professional in their behaviors. You do not get the arrests at nightclubs or on ice sucker punches.

    As well, even a monkey knows that they took the ice out...
  4. Daryl Hergenhein from Canada writes: Great event and congrats to GSP for a great performance. To those who poopoo MMA as glorified cockfighting, if you don't like it don't watch it. Your comments are not neccesary, they offer nothing except evidence of your cerebral self congratulatory ignorance. Many MMA fighters come from white collar backgrounds and choose this sport to test themselves physically and mentaly. So crawl back to your overpriced overcrowded urban restrooms and leave this message board to the fans.
  5. Andrew E from Canada writes: Daryl Hergenhein from Canada writes: Great event and congrats to GSP for a great performance. To those who poopoo MMA as glorified cockfighting, if you don't like it don't watch it. Your comments are not neccesary, they offer nothing except evidence of your cerebral self congratulatory ignorance. Many MMA fighters come from white collar backgrounds and choose this sport to test themselves physically and mentaly. So crawl back to your overpriced overcrowded urban restrooms and leave this message board to the fans.

    While I'm not an MMA fan, I don't object either. But pay no attention to George S, Daryl. He's anti-anything that the CBC doens't endorse. He's a regular anti-gun ranter, hates Steven Harper, and I'm sure he owns the complete Michael Enright collection, and is snug in his Yonge and Davisville condo listening to David Suzuki as we speak.
  6. The Wight from Canada writes: Daryl Hergenhein 'Many MMA fighters come from white collar backgrounds and choose this sport to test themselves physically and mentaly.' Rory Stringer of TUF 3 has a couple of degrees, but other than that ... the number of MMA fighters with any kind of advanced education beyond the odd Phys Ed Degree is pretty slim. In researching this tonight, I came across an ad for Bodog fight, showing a fighter literally dripping with someone else's blood. The caption: 'Do you ever contemplate the force needed to break an arm? He doesn't.' Yep, solid family fare.
  7. REV eighteenseventeen from Canada writes: All you have to know how to do is wrestle. St. Pierre was a wrestler that is why he won. Anybody that knows greco-roman wrestling can see that. Greco- roman wrestling is much more civilized and has been around for eons. I guess folks just love their WWF mixed in with real class. HaHaHa
  8. REV eighteenseventeen from Canada writes: For the record St. Pierre would not be able to touch many of the greco-roman olympic wrestlers in the same weight class. He could try all his fancy moves, he would be tied up like a pretzel. Sorry to burst your blood thirsty bubble folks.
  9. John Deriso from Edmonton, Canada writes: While I respect the right of anyone to do what they will, I do question the wisdom of a sport that does involve bleeding as a matter of course. Not only is it unsanitary, it's probably more violent than necessary.

    At any rate, congratulations to Pierre for punching someone in the face a lot.
  10. J A from Canada writes: To Popeye, the fights and violence in hockey have caused many more injuries than MMA. If you want to watch human cockfighting, a hockey fight is closer to it, in my opinion.

    To Andrew E, people from all political spectrums like this sport. Liking MMA has very little to do with political beliefs so stop thinking that only 'conservative' minded people are fans of MMA because they aren't.

    To REV, if GSP were fighting someone who just knew greco-roman with MMA rules, the greco-roman wrestler would get killed. Why? They don't kick or punch people in greco-roman wrestling and GSP is well versed enough in wrestling to avoid take-downs and neutralize the guy. If they were fighting by wrestling rules, yes, GSP would probably lose, but this is MMA were talking about over here.
  11. Brendan Caron from Canada writes: If you want to lay the blame for this then lay it where it belongs... Bruce Lee! Don't speak ill of the dead.
  12. JOHN PALANDRA from Toronto, Canada writes: Why do people have to come on blogs only to whine and complain. What a sad life you live that you feel the need to scribble your concerns everytime you dont agree with something.

    Anyways enough energy has been wasted, on to the event which was wildly entertaining. Highlight of the night for me, aside from all the great fighting, was the guy who did the Rocky speach at the end of his fight 'If I can change, and you can change...' Classic!
  13. Ken Murray from Canada writes: Just some facts for those out there who think MMA is a brutal modern invention signifying the collapse of Western civilization. 1. For REV eighteenseventeen, GSP was actually trained in Karate. Everything else he learned later in life. He still thinks of himself as a karate fighter first. In MMA, wrestling is important but without striking skills a pure wrestler would lose 9 times out of 10. But more to the point, try not to talk about things you don't know about because you will get exposed by those who have the knowledge. 2. Boxing, the 'sweet science', that bastion of all that is good and pure in combat sports, has been proven to cause more devastating, long-term injuries than MMA. In MMA, if you take a few good shots to the head you WILL go down and the ref WILL stop the fight. Boxers take more shots directly to the head, both in a fight and over their lifetimes, causing concussions and other neurological injuries. Talk to any ex-boxer who slurs his speech and tell me it is safer than MMA. 3. For those in the 'wrestling and boxing have been around for thousands of years' crowd - notwithsanding that that is hardly an argument in their favour - MMA has actually been around just as long. In the ancient Greek Olympic Games they had a sport called the Pankration, which was essentially MMA - a combination of wrestling, boxing and grappling. It was also, for the uninformed, the most popular event at the Olympics for hundreds of years. MMA is not new, it is no more barbaric than boxing, wrestling or any combat sport, and is no more dangerous than any other combat sport. If you don't like it, fine. But please climb down from your self-made summit of self-congratulatory and magnanimous superiority.
  14. bill williams from Canada writes: -

    As soon as someone gets killed, or is rendered a 'vegetable', let's be prepared to do a showy job of banning this nonsense. It has no place in a civilized society.

    -
  15. V K from Toronto, Canada writes: Wow, what a night. Spectacular fights with the exception of the Quarry-Starnes bout. Congrats to Quebec for having to foresight to recognise a sport that is growing and is on the brink of mainstream. The Bell centre was packed and Montreal benefitted from hosting this event.
  16. Leafs fan from Ottawa, Canada writes: Ken Murray - interesting post, thanks for the info. Maybe REV should also be aware that GSP does train with the Canadian Olympic wrestling team, and that he outwrestled a former NCAA Div 1 champ (Koscheck) two fights ago. Come to think about it, Matt Hughes was also a decorated wrestler before coming to UFC and we all know what happened in their last match. Anyways, congrats to GSP on this victory; he is a true champion in every sense of the word and the UFC could not have a better ambassador representing the welterweight class. Fantastic athleticism. I don't want to get into it with the posts above claiming that this is such a barbaric, ungraceful sport. I will offer some counter-evidence, however. Go watch the Franklin/Lutter fight again where Rich breaks away from that arm-bar in the second round (I think). That was a fantastic maneuvour that I don't quite think any 'monkey' is capable of.
  17. A D from Canada writes: Popeye Dillon from North Vancouver, Canada writes: Did they pull the ice in the Bell Centre for this goof ball event? If they did the Habs are going to lose game 7. 21,000 members of Darwin's missing links to watch the Ultimate Dog/Cock fight. I hear people talking about this as a sport. To me they're nothing more than a few monkeys who've learned to mimic sign language.

    Popeye, MMA is more athletic than your grown up marbles (AKA Golf, I can bet you are one). 2 minutes of MMA or any combat sport is equivalent to days of other 'athletic sports'. Popeye, stop walking and start some serious sport.
  18. I-am Right from Canada writes: To REV - It's great that you have an opinion, however, opinions should be based on some semblance of reality.

    His last two previous fights, he destroyed top tier wrestlers....leafs fan adequately dealt with Rev's ignorant post.

    To those who trash the UFC and MMA....who cares....the UFC doesn't need you and isn't trying to convert you....mma fans don't give a rats a*s that you prefer to watch lawn bowling.

    MMA is the future and the future is here now! GSP rocks.
  19. The Wight from Canada writes: Ken Murray: 'In the ancient Greek Olympic Games they had a sport called the Pankration, which was essentially MMA - a combination of wrestling, boxing and grappling.' Yep, and it often resulted in death for one or more participants. Arrichion won his match by systematically breaking the fingers (and perhaps an ankle) of his opponent, who had him in a choke hold. The opponent nearly passed out from the pain and submitted, but Arrichion was already dead when he 'won' the match. Again, solid family fare. A gory traffic accident will attract people, so the sheer ability to attract them doesn't necessarily imply quality. You also neglect to mention that when the Romans picked up the 'sport' it became standard fare for the coliseum and, like all bloodsports conducted there, was to the death.
  20. M Clark from Waterloo, Canada writes: Those who condemn mixed martial arts on some loose understanding of the original, 'no-holds-barred' UFC, completely overlooking the varied training (grappling, stand-up, wrestling, cardio) required to compete at this level, as well as the excellent referee work and current, stringent rules ensuring the long-term safety of combatants, cannot appreciate the excited frenzy surrounding last night's event. GSP is a champion in every sense of the word: polite, respectful, disciplined, and of course immensely well-rounded. As far as Canadian heroes go it's not hard to see why St. Pierre has become such a proud emblem for the very best of who we are, and what we want to share with the world -- and as such, why he rallies such staggering numbers of Canadians around his performances. To partake in last night's main event, even from just a bar in Southern Ontario, was to witness a fight with all commentary drowned out by the endless cheering of adoring fans. The feeling of togetherness that suffused the place when he won went beyond description: We were all so very, very proud.

    So let's leave the knee-jerk critics out of this discussion: To fellow fight fans, I hope that wherever you were, you all enjoyed the night as much as I did -- and let's hope UFC 83 is just the start of a long, proud history of such fight nights in Canada!
  21. Ed Anger from Winnipeg, Canada writes: I think that popeye needs more vaseline for his favorite sport...
  22. Big Cayman from South Toronto, Canada writes: Congratulations to Georges St Pierre, a class act and superior athlete. Having met him twice in Montreal I can say that he is worthy of praise and is man with a good head on his shoulders. What impresses me the most is that he is engaging and highly intelligent. He trains like the pro athlete that he is and his regiment includes fresh sparring partners who change in every round in real-time simulation. His training partners are total pros and include Montreal legend and world champ boxers Howard and Otis Grant. As someone correctly pointed out GSP has beat decorated wrestlers Josh Koscheck and Hughes, so please don't try and take away from his achievements by denying his skill against opponents strong at wrestling. St Pierre is a bonafide martial artist, if anything he is too far ahead of the UFC. He brings legitimacy to MMA and raises its profile vis-a-vis other combat sports. George is now a great Canadian athlete, way to go Georges!
  23. Moose Lion from Canada writes: MMA is no where near as violent or dangerous as boxing in my opnion (coming from a fan of boxing) and probably has less long-term damaging effects on the body. Though it may be difficult for some to watch you are probably better off breaking an arm or getting choked out than taking 12 rounds of constant head shots from a world class boxer.
  24. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: Can Georges St. Pierre skate? Maybe he'd like to play defence for the Habs.
  25. j wilson from vancouver, Canada writes: REV eighteenseventeen, you managed to show you know little about MMA or GR wrestling in a single post. Youre a rare talent.
  26. Sir Isaac Brock from Upper Canada, Canada writes: Wow, bill williams. Just because you are a 'globe insider' Does not mean your halfhearted and ignorant opinion has any weight here. Why would you join a conversation about a topic you seem to know nothing about? If you don't like MMA, that's fine, go back to your Golf, your SUV, and your safe and secure little life. No one is forcing these guy's in the ring. We enjoy it and it's completely legal. What is wrong with that? If there was not any demand for this, then you would not see a supply. Pure and simple. Bashing something just because YOU don't 'like it' demonstrates an enormous self involved ego alongside a staggeringly ignorant mind.
  27. Nick W from Halifax, Canada writes: To those of you who think MMA is barbaric and should be banned. Go watch your baseball.
  28. Royden Tanner from hongcouver, Canada writes: Does anyone know how much KALIB "THE COWARD" STARNES was paid for his shameless display of cowardice to the world?
  29. Dana Cruickshank from Canada writes: All sports are inherently dangerous, i guarantee the average pitcher spends more money on surgery than any MMA fighter.

    MMA is 2 people who are trained and aware, testing their abilities against each other. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is a danger when fans misinterpret this and start asking for a brawling bloodbath. That isn't what martial arts is about, it is about testing yourself in a safe environment. Fighting is also one of the most basic and defining instincts, all animals are willing to do it, and although our society has advanced beyond the point of killing each other because we can, fighting still calls into play the instincts that have made humans such sophisticated animals.

    In the end, MMA is the purest of all sports, just two people, no weapons no equipment.
  30. PANIC! At The Ice Floe from Ottawa, Canada writes: GSP is a class act. His offer to fight Sera in NYC was a honourable act.

    As for the posters against UFC...A good number of them also ridicule TV viewers. Pay no attention to them.
  31. Michael Tripper from Vancouver, Canada writes: As a Globe Insider I fully endorse and support MMA and the UFC and have for decades.

    Those who call it a senseless bloodsport are completely clueless to the history of the UFC and in particular the really old brutal days before Dana cleaned it up.

    Humans, especially men, are rather robust creatures who can stand to lose a bit of blood to test their own limits.

    Those opposed are rather ignorant and perhaps more than a little jealous that others are more robust than them.

    And I will put my way above average intelligence and creativity (tested and verified again and again over the years for employment etc.) against the weak whiners who would shackle and bind us to tyranny because we are too weak to fight back.

    Tell me fools, is it not good to be physical robust in order to defend yourself against thieves and violent offenders of all sorts or do you recommend we cave-in every time a bully shows up in our faces?

    MMA is a true human endeavour utilizing all our various physical skills, unlike boxing or soccer that cripple the participants before they even engage (boxing is just punching, no leg kicks, throwing, holds etc while soccer would be content with armless participants).
  32. nigel martin from Canada writes: I know nothing about this sport, so I find the comments interesting. In fact, there are very persuasive arguments in its defence. However, too many of those defending it above revert to sarcastic shots at those who (not surprisingly, really) question its validity. Telling people who you have never met to 'go back to their comfortable SUVs' etc, is classless and immediately raises questions about the legitimacy of the very sport you are trying to defend. Other comments are clearly rational and non-defensive and to those, I thank you for the clarifications.
  33. Michael Tripper from Canada writes: nigel, it would be nice if you did not attack those defending ther sport against those who classlessly denigrate the sport with sarcasm and other attacks - tit for tat I say - your attempt to take the high moral ground is a pointless ego exercise meant to elevate yourself and your opinions above all others.

    The place for political correctness is not in a MMA discussion.

    See my comments above.
  34. Rob Rocket from Thunder Bay, Canada writes: This is an interesting discussion, but I agree that there are a lot of cheap shots being taken -- some of them remind me of little boys sticking their tongues out at each other. It seems common in all sorts of comment boards, from sports to global politics. By all appearances, this seems like a sport requiring tremendous courage and skill. It also sounds like it's brutally barbaric. Why do we love this sort of barbarism? Perhaps, among many other reasons, is that it's honest. Hockey claims to be a 'family' game, yet the level of goonery is incredible. Same with pro football...full of cheats and a desire to physically damage other people. This at least is a sport that Conrad's Kurtz would admire...barbarism, in plain daylight, not trying to hide. And if you don't agree with me, you're an SUV driving crybaby from Toronto who has a small weenie.
  35. nigel martin from Canada writes: Tripper,

    I am interested in the comments and I have been very impressed by St Pierre. If ypu really want to convince a sceptic about the value of this sport, or about any idea for that matter, then you are best not to crap on them. This is not being politically correct; this is being smart.
  36. DOUBLE J from Canada writes: To Rev.

    Thats a laugher comparing Greco Roman Wrestlers to MMA fighters. You see wrestlers get their buts kicked every day in MMA. I would bet the house that Olympic Gold medalist Kurt Angle will not last one round with Chuck Lidell. Im sure Lidell will break Angles jaw in record time if they ever do fight. How about Minnesota wrestling great Brock Lesnar loosing to an out of shape and injured Frank Mir.
  37. Elmo Harris from Niagara, Canada writes: Michael Tripper from Vancouver, Canada writes: I will put my way above average intelligence and creativity (tested and verified again and again over the years for employment etc.) against the weak whiners who would shackle and bind us to tyranny because we are too weak to fight back.

    Tell me you are holding back, Michael, because the above average intelligence and creativity you claim are not evident in your post.
  38. Sanjay Singh from Waterloo, Canada writes:
    To help bring Mixed Martial Arts to Ontario ... all of you people must help lobby to get Ken Hayashi sacked as Ontario's Athletics Commisioner. He and he alone is holding back MMA in Ontario.

    Help get rid of the chump.
  39. kevin joncas from Canada writes: Always amazes me that those professing a love for a sport are sitting on their fat a$$es in front of a TV watching a couple of people beat the crap of each other. We haven't advanced much from the Roman gladiators. Would be much more impressed if the proponents actually participated in the "sport". Mind you that would take real guts not chicken sh*** voyerism.
  40. Adrian M from Vancouver, Canada writes: I have to say that I am one liberal-type dude who loves watching this sport. Sure it's bloody, but it isn't mindless, and it isn't for the squeamish, so back off and look away if you don't like it. I have no trouble with these guys wanting to test their skills and brawn against one another in a controlled environment, and I have no issues with wanting to pay to watch them do so. I fail to see the harm in it. This is not a sport like hockey, where violence is a problematic sideshow that takes away from the point of the game. This is a sport about violence, and was never intended to be family fare. It is what it says it is and it doesn't aim to please everyone. Lots of people you'd never peg as fans are closet lovers of this sport. I've gotta say that I'm totally not a tough guy, nor do I have any pretensions to being tough. I'm your average nice guy: I lament war, I'm not violent in nature, I believe in human rights, I really like trees and animals, and I believe in volunteering, and I think working for a living is the only way to respect one's self. I'm a total wuss and would never want to be any different. But I believe that this is truly one of the World's great sports. It's three rounds of controlled, but pure and uncorrupted, male bravado with little or no colatteral damage to society. Men need this sort of thing in our lives. I don't like watching Newfoundlanders going out and clubbing seals but I love watching Georges St. Pierre going in to the Octagon to club another man senseless, and I predict that he will be in our sports hall of fame one day. One last thing, leave David Suzuki out of this, he is a great Canadian.
  41. Robert Lepage from Canada writes: I'm fine with MMA as a sport, I do it myself. What I can't stand is the blood thirsty fans and overly-hormonal competitors. It's just a sport; you punched someone in the face until he submits in a big octagon, big deal.

    For those of who trumpeting MMA as the greatest achievement of mankind, you are wrong. War is the most masculine and "robust" action you can ever do (according to your definition, but I suppose the prospect of death is too much for you wusses). This really is a no-holds barred match where the loser dies; it also requires much more thinking and instinct than going for an americana or kimura when the opportunity presents itself.

    By the way, my intelligence is atleast 63% higher than Garry Kasparov but my creativity levels are only about 4% less than Van Gogh.

    Pfft, kids with their testosterone.
  42. REV eighteenseventeen from Canada writes: J Wilson- How can you say I know nothing about GR wrestling. I have trained for a number of years in my younger days. Also done the street fighting thing. No more. Would you consider yourself a trained wrestler? How from my posts do you discern I know nothing about GR wrestling. True however I know little of this kind publicized here. No matter what there is always a tougher guy and men get old and their strength fades.

    Anyway the guy won because of his wrestling skill.
  43. Shane Mason from Canada writes: While I am not a rabid fan of MMA, I do appreciate the skill of the participants. And I have to say that, in stark contrast to many other sports, all of the events I have seen have shown the competitors to be respectful of one another. In boxing and hockey and football, the participants don't seem to be in control of their emotions, and are disrespectful and ugly to one another. Yet in MMA, the most blatantly violent of all sports, competitors respect one another before and after every fight, no matter who wins, and no matter that during the fight they are bashing each other half to death. That level of respect for each other is a refreshing breeze in a slurry of sports filled with angry atheletes that really should not be as violent as they are.

    That said, I cannot let the comments of "Sir Isaac Brock from Upper Canada" pass. Legality and supply and demand have nothing to do with the ethics of an activity, no matter what that activity is. Once upon a time, slavery was both legal and in high demand, and were your argument even close to reasonable, slavery would never have been abolished. Your specious argument is the typically accepted basis for pretty much all of the ridiculously unethical (perhaps even evil) behaviour our society finds itself participating in, and you should hang your head in shame for even thinking it, let alone voicing it.
  44. Paul Nicholson from Hamilton, Canada writes: What a guilty pleasure it is being a Globe forum addict. Most contributors can't seem to resist villifying those who disagree with them. I'm a fan of MMA, a die-hard left-leaning Liberal, and a hunter. We need to stick to the content of the articles we're supposed to be discussing and get away from stereotyping each other based on a single opinion.

    I can't add much to what other defenders of MMA have said, except to say that I watched the Bernard Hopkins boxing match followed by an MMA event, and I found the boxing incredibly boring. Boxers constantly grapple, rest, and circle the ring without any real action. There's no such rest for MMA fighters, which is why they can only handle three five minute rounds of intense combat, vs. 12 3 min. rounds of monotonous thumping for boxing.
  45. Brian H from Mississauga, Canada writes: What a Fight! GSP is a true champion. I was at the Bell Centre for the fight and while I had a great time. The crowd was absolutely wild. The biggest disappointment for me was the Kalib Starnes fight. Before the fight at least 19,000 of the 21,000 people in attendance cheered on the Canadian contestant (from Surrey B.C.). Kalib took a series of kicks to his left thigh and spent the rest of the fight running away from his opponent. Starnes was clearly in fear of his opponent an not courageous enough to take what he had comming. The crowd began chanting "Boooring, Booooring", still nothing, the other fighter was jogging on the spot taunting him and then tying up his own arms trying to get Starnes to do ANYTHING. After the fight he said it's hard to land a punch on a guy who's running away from you. It didn't take long for the fans to switch on Starnes as apparently the only thing he had going for him is that he was Canadian. By the end of the fight 20,199 of those in attendance were cheering for the other guy and booing Starnes mercifully (all save one, I think his parents were there.....atleast Mom was still cheering.....). This guy is a disgrace to MMA and all of his fellow fighters. I never want to see this guy fight again, and certainly would not pay to.
  46. Brian H from Mississauga, Canada writes: kevin joncas from Canada writes: Always amazes me that those professing a love for a sport are sitting on their fat a$$es in front of a TV watching a couple of people beat the crap of each other. We haven't advanced much from the Roman gladiators. Would be much more impressed if the proponents actually participated in the "sport". Mind you that would take real guts not chicken sh*** voyerism.
    ====================================================

    ??? You sir are a tool.

    By what reasoning do you conclude that just because someone watches a sport, they cannot compete in it? In fact, I would bet that you would not want have a confrontation with the average MMA "spectator". Fighters like GSP are students of their craft and will continue to watch and learn from other fighters.
  47. Brian H from Mississauga, Canada writes:
    How many of you bleeding heart critics actually send your children to Karate lessons every week and validate it to yourself as instilling self-confidence or providing a measure of self defence in your kids.

    This is the pinnacle of combat sports. These are not angry mindless men bashing each others heads in. They are often masters in their disciplines putting themselves to the ultimate test. This sport is also much safer than boxing, just ask Muhammad Ali........
  48. Rick C from Canada writes: REV eighteenseventeen from Canada writes: "For the record St. Pierre would not be able to touch many of the greco-roman olympic wrestlers in the same weight class. He could try all his fancy moves, he would be tied up like a pretzel. Sorry to burst your blood thirsty bubble folks.' Oh poor Rev....sorry but you are ignorant of the facts. Wrestling is one of the basic skills an mma fighter has to have. So clearly an Olympic caliber Greco-Roman wrestler would have a great foundation for mma fighting. You seem to be ignorant of the fact that GSP was going to participate in Canada's Olympic qualifying for wrestling. Freestyle not Greco-Roman though. In a straight-up wrestling match against an Olympic caliber wrestler an mma fighter would lose in all likelyhood. However in an mma fight an Olympic caliber wrestler would more than likely lose to a top level fighter. You see in an mma fight you can also punch, kick and use knees and elbows. Randy Couture is a good example to show the difference. He was an Olympic alternate for Greco-Roman wrestling. However to succeed at mma he needed to round out his game with striking and submission skills. No fighter versed in only one aspect of fighting will do well in mma.
  49. Thomas Morris from New York, NY, United States writes: I'm a UFC fan and there is none better than GSP. Class act, humble, gracious, talented. It will be a long time before he will get beat again. Our "professional" NBA, NFL, and baseball players could learn a thing or two from a guy like this.
  50. Rick C from Canada writes: John Deriso from Edmonton, Canada writes: "While I respect the right of anyone to do what they will, I do question the wisdom of a sport that does involve bleeding as a matter of course. Not only is it unsanitary, it's probably more violent than necessary.

    At any rate, congratulations to Pierre for punching someone in the face a lot."

    Congratulations on displaying your ignorance.

    St. Pierre actually punched Serra in the face very little.
  51. Rick C from Canada writes: The Wight from Canada writes: "Rory Stringer of TUF 3 has a couple of degrees, but other than that ... the number of MMA fighters with any kind of advanced education beyond the odd Phys Ed Degree is pretty slim. In researching this tonight, I came across an ad for Bodog fight, showing a fighter literally dripping with someone else's blood. The caption: 'Do you ever contemplate the force needed to break an arm? He doesn't.' Yep, solid family fare." First off your research was a little lacking. Rich Franklin was an elementary school teacher. Many UFC and mma fighters come from a university or college wrestling background. I'm sure many completed Phys. Ed or Communication degrees; but that is far from the only subject they studied. Most mma fighters are much more articulate than athletes in other sports. If you actually heard a sampling of UFC fighters speak you'd know this. The second part of your post simply shows you've fallen for the marketing hype. There is no doubt the smaller shows like Bodog play up the blood and brutality of mma fighting. It's the sport of fighting not dancing or lawn bowling. Most fights however don't include blood and very few include actual injuries. The answer for pretty much all mma fighters to the question "'Do you ever contemplate the force needed to break an arm?" is absolutely yes they have. It's part of their job and their training. A black belt in Jui Jitsu knows exactly how much force is required to break an arm versus simply applying enough force to get someone to tap.

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