Hughes vs. St. Pierre: Legacies on the line

Hughes vs. St. Pierre: Legacies on the line at UFC 79

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>As we get ready for one of the greatest UFC cards in history at UFC 79: Nemesis, it would seem important to remember one sentence that was uttered awhile back.

“I wasn’t impressed with your performance,” said Georges St. Pierre after he was brought into the Octagon following Matt Hughes’s TKO victory over B.J. Penn on September 23, 2006. The first thought many fans in the know had as soon as the words came streaming out of St. Pierre’s mouth?

Was that just Georges St. Pierre talking, or was this some kind of a joke?

Yes, Hughes had almost succumbed to a triangle choke by Penn. In addition, he got beat up a little on his feet early in the encounter. But Hughes had once again demonstrated his toughness in an amazing comeback where he eventually gained the crucifix position on Penn and started raining down unanswered punches to his face until the referee was forced to step in.

In other words, Hughes had just finished what was perhaps the signature victory in a storied career. So for a fighter to indicate that they weren’t impressed was odd in and of itself. But for St. Pierre to say such a thing— a Canadian known for being unbelievably gracious and classy— was downright peculiar.

Still, those words were proof that St. Pierre had already changed something since his last match up with Hughes. It was clear that he wanted the world to know something. This time he wasn’t going to treat Hughes like royalty. But we digress. First up:

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre I on October 22, 2004

Coming into UFC 50: The War of ’04, Matt Hughes was a legend. He held a 35-4 record. He had won 14 of his last 15 (the lone loss to B.J. Penn via submission) and had stopped 11 opponents during that streak. And the names he’d defeated throughout his career—Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Carlos Newton (twice), Hayato Sakurai, Joe Doerksen, Akihiro Gono, Dave Menne—showed the kind of fighter he’d been throughout his time in MMA.

Dominant.

So there was clearly an aura of invincibility that followed Hughes wherever he went. On the other hand, that aura had taken a hit when a lightweight by the name of B.J. Penn had needed only 4:39 to defeat him by submission approximately nine months earlier.

Then there was Georges St. Pierre. St. Pierre had literally dominated the competition to this point in his MMA career. He was 7-0 and had stopped every opponent but one. St. Pierre was powerful, great at ground and pound, and ridiculously athletic. The word that described him best?

Explosive.

Though Hughes was clearly the favorite coming into the match up—how could he not be?—make no mistake. . . St. Pierre had a following that believed he could defeat the man from Iowa. Unfortunately for him, apparently he wasn’t a member of that following.

Said another way, St. Pierre had always idolized Matt Hughes. So when he came into the Octagon to fight for the welterweight title vacated by B.J. Penn back in 2004, he wasn’t sure if he could win. Forget the fact that he was actually winning the fight against Hughes in the first round; he thought he was losing.

And as Hughes always says: This game is half mental.

Thus, it was only a matter of time—one second before the bell ending the first round tolled, actually—before St. Pierre made a mental mistake. In the end, Matt Hughes won via armbar.

What could’ve happened for Georges St. Pierre versus what did

St. Pierre could’ve folded. That doubt in his head could’ve overtaken him. Instead, he went on to win four straight in dominant fashion over guys like Dave Strasser, Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, and Sean Sherk after the loss. And then came his opportunity, a fight that would decide who would get the shot at Matt Hughes for the belt that Penn had vacated so long ago. Could St. Pierre defeat B.J. Penn, the last man to take out Matt Hughes?

The answer: Yes. But it was a rather controversial decision. Still, with blood flowing freely from a nose that Penn had decimated in the first round, St. Pierre managed to get the win based on takedowns and ground control in the second and third rounds. Here’s the thing, though. Afterwards, St. Pierre recognized that he had cleared a hurdle, beating a legendary fighter in a tough fight where he wasn’t able to bully him. Sure there were plenty of people thinking that St. Pierre might have won the sporting event, but not the fight. It didn’t matter.

Because the win did something for St. Pierre’s confidence, even if it didn’t necessarily do the same for the masses. Next up: Matt Hughes.

Well, not so fast. First, St. Pierre had to give up his title shot due to a groin injury to guess who? That’s right: B.J. Penn. We talked about that one earlier, though, so let’s move on.

Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre II at UFC 65: Bad Intentions on November 18, 2006

Since defeating Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes had gone on to stop the legendary Royce Gracie, Joe Riggs, Frank Trigg (in one of the most dramatic endings ever), and of course B.J. Penn. That didn’t matter to Georges St. Pierre, though. At least not from what was coming out of his mouth.

“I gave him too much respect. I was going into that fight to survive, but I have no excuses - he beat me fairly and squarely,” said St. Pierre regarding the last time these two had hooked up in the Octagon. “Next time it’s going to be a different story because I’m a different fighter now.” So the pattern was set. St. Pierre was mentally in a different place this time around.

Or was he?

Soon after saying he “wasn’t impressed,” with Hughes’s performance against Penn, St. Pierre apologized for the statement.

So was he losing the head games things again? Only the fight would tell. And oh boy, did it ever.

In sum, the last match up between these two was very different. First, Matt Hughes seemed a little too willing to stand and trade with St. Pierre, which was clearly a mistake. The Canadian fighter dominated the stand up for the entire first round. And when Hughes did go for the takedown, it was to no avail.

In fact, only the bell saved a downed Hughes from being knocked out in the initial stanza. That was okay, though, because one big kick in the second round floored the champion again. And several strikes later, this one was in the books.

Georges St. Pierre was the new UFC Welterweight Champion.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Hughes at UFC 79: Nemesis

So as we come into the third and likely final chapter in this saga at UFC 79: Nemesis, one has to wonder if legacies are on the line. Matt Hughes is one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters in history. If St. Pierre wins the trilogy and then goes on to be dominant—save the Matt Serra fight he already has been throughout his career—where does that put him in the annals of MMA?

You’ve got to believe that Matt Hughes will take a different approach this time. He’s going to go all out for the takedown. Can he come through against a man that followed up a devastating loss to Matt Serra by dominating an elite wrestler like Josh Koscheck on the ground?

He has to. If not, St. Pierre will almost assuredly win.

But never put anything beyond Matt Hughes. He’s as crafty as they get. Whether people like him or not, he has as much heart as anybody. And in those tough matches, the ones that seem as if they could go either way, Hughes always seems to come through. You see, the doubt that once crept into St. Pierre’s head coming into that first fight with Hughes never finds its way to the man from Iowa. Then again, he did get beat badly the last time these two went to war.

This should be a fun one for sure.</div>

 

GSP is gonna hurt Hughes!!! Just like this.



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haha

I'm putting my money on Hughes.

 

I think I'm going to go see that one too.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing @ Dec 20 2007, 08:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>haha

I'm putting my money on Hughes. </div>

So how much did you lose?