With what UFC president Dana White is calling “the biggest event in UFC history,” with crowds expected to reach 23,000 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, fans are coming to see reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre defend his title for a fifth straight time.
St-Pierre will face Josh Koscheck for the second time in his career and many are predicting a win for the French-Canadian, but memories of the past, GSP vs. Matt Serra bout, prove that any fighter is one punch away from losing.
We at The MMA News want to ask, well “What’s next for the winner?”
Well duh, the obvious answer to that question is a match with former Strikeforce champion and #1 welterweight contender Jake Shields, who earned the title shot after defeating Martin Kampmann at UFC 121. But a match with Shields against either St-Pierre or Koscheck has very different meanings to the 170 lbs division.
Let’s look at what a win by Koscheck would mean for him and the rest of the UFC welterweights.
If Koscheck wins and manages to escape from Montreal in one piece before the fans lynch him, it changes the dynamics of the entire welterweight division. GSP will of course look to regain the title but everyone he’s ever defeated will look for a rematch now that they’ve seen he can be beaten.
For Koscheck a fight with Shields could cost him the title easily. Shields has already beaten a noted wrestler in Dan Henderson, and would likely dominate in a fight with Koscheck. This would open up the entire division offering chances to fighters who thought the title was out of reach, and give the UFC promotion new story lines to splash across the headlines.
A win for St-Pierre solidifies his position as one of, if not the, top pound-for-pound fighter in the World. So where does he go with a win?
For “Rush,” a match with Shields probably poses one of the greatest challenges to his fighting style. None of his past opponents can be truly compared to the style of Shields. Yes he’s fought Jiu-Jitsu fighters like BJ Penn and Matt Hughes, but neither matches Shields wrestling-Jiu-Jitsu base and neither fighter matches his size as Shields is coming down from 185.
The only opponent St-Pierre has faced recently who could compete at 185 was Thiago Alves, but we’ve seen how well the French-Canadian shut him, and Dan Hardy downm in his last two title defenses.
So a challenging fight with Shields could certainly see the title change hands, which if it does, will see both fighters rematching back and forth for the title, as both men will likely dominate the welterweight division.
If St-Pierre defeats Shields, then he’ll have cleaned out the competition at 170 lbs leaving the UFC promotion only one choice and that is to move St-Pierre up to 185 lbs to face Anderson Silva.
Making the fight between St-Pierre and Silva a title bout would be a mistake leaving the UFC with one champion, two belts and likely only two fights a year to defend either one. Making their fight a three round non-title match leaves the doors open for a rematch that could see the title on the line should St-Pierre win the first meeting.
A victorious GSP is always good for business, but at 170 lbs it leaves the UFC with fewer options for fights, making the move to 185 lbs the likely path for the fighter which opens up many options for the UFC to attempt.