celticgrafix
02-04-2009, 06:09 AM
UFC 94 bore witness to the truly elite ascendency of the reigning welterweight king -- and the (forced) recognition of fallibility for the lightweight champion. And between the two, there were plenty of other winners and losers after the event. Let's take stock:
The Winners
Georges St. Pierre
It's almost impossible to overstate St. Pierre's performance Saturday. Virtually every conceivable dimension of fight preparation and planning was incorporated into an exhaustive game plan. And that game plan happened to be superbly executed by St. Pierre, a MMA virtuoso of seemingly limitless potential.
There are a number of methods to evaluate his accomplishment, but his repeated and diverse passing of B.J. Penn's elite guard combined with his ability to control and damage from side mount was simply otherworldly. Aside from solidifying St. Pierre as an all-time great, the methodical dismantling of Penn raises the bar for what one MMA fighter is capable of working effectively in competition.
The lightweight and welterweight divisions
As Jon Fitch pointed out before UFC 94 went into the history books, had Penn defeated St. Pierre, the title picture for two weight classes would have become quite a conundrum. To say nothing of how arduous it would have been to appropriately time fights to give Penn the ability to regularly defend both crowns, what might have happened if, say, Penn tore his ACL in training?
Not one, but two divisions -- two of the most dynamic in MMA -- would have been forced to either wait for Penn to heal or encumber matters by holding fights for the "interim" championship. With St. Pierre reaffirmed as the welterweight king and Penn back to his natural division, the UFC can heave a big sigh of relief that title fights won't be that hard to come by.
Lyoto Machida
The victory over Thiago Silva didn't likely earn "The Dragon" a title shot against Rashad Evans, but it will help to improve one severely lacking commodity most fighters covet: an exciting and compelling image. In a card uncharacteristically stacked with decisions, Silva -- often derided for using an offensive style lacking in violent reciprocity -- managed to dispatch a capable challenger in convincing and exciting fashion.
[+] EnlargeGeorges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn
Mark J. Rebilas for ESPN.comNo one disputes Penn's skills, but neither can the fighter or his fans deny his flaws after his loss to St. Pierre.
The Losers
B.J. Penn
Losing to the latest incarnation of St. Pierre is nothing to be ashamed of, particularly considering Penn was attempting to beat St. Pierre while spotting the welterweight behemoth 20 pounds. But that isn't the albatross hanging from Penn's neck. The much bigger problem for Penn is that he must now contend with the fact there was no messianic destiny written in the cards for him. His recently professed paradigm -- that his talent was sufficient for him to beat almost anyone if his cardio was ideal -- crumbled against St. Pierre. What Penn learned Saturday, painfully, was that his talent and cardio were mostly in place, and none of that mattered.
A more physically prepared, more capable MMA opponent thoroughly and methodically defeated him, even withstanding Penn's fail-safe, vaunted jiu-jitsu arsenal. This is the first setback in Penn's career in which "if only" no longer is in play. Not this time. Penn lost, and the defeat unequivocally proved he is not the best fighter competing in MMA today. More than any punch or elbow St. Pierre landed, that was the most crushing blow of the evening.
Penn apologists
No matter the social circle, any iconic figure is bound to attract the various levels of revulsion and obsequiousness that accompany fandom. In Penn's case, the strange mixture of braggadocio, accomplishment and failed promise has created a class of Penn fans unable to view him in sober terms. Rather than conceding to the duality of Penn's career -- that is, recognizing his achievements while candidly acknowledging his very real failures -- they resort to tortured logic and the concoction of pretext after pretext for Penn's inability to realize his presumptive destiny.
The newest canard being bandied about: St. Pierre's corner rubbed Vaseline on his back and shoulders between rounds and that use of the substance constitutes "cheating." (Notice that no one has said it changed the outcome of the fight?) The charge is true in that the corner clearly committed wrongdoing, but it's not the least bit clear how much Vaseline was used nor how much, if at all, it affected the fight. Most importantly, a champion like Penn deserves better than to have his shortcomings constantly re-examined because fundamentalists can't accept a bruising reality.
Thiago Alves
One has to wonder what thoughts are circling Alves' head at this moment. On the one hand, the enormous and capable welterweight is likely excited at the prospect of preparing for his first title shot. On the other hand, unless he's is deluding himself, Alves must be uncertain about how to win the fight.
Under the masterful oversight of Greg Jackson, the full talent of St. Pierre is now being brought to the fore. Alves might -- and this is debatable -- be considered the superior Thai boxer, but in light of St. Pierre's array of exceptional tools, would that small advantage really matter?
It's foolish to believe a St. Pierre win would be a foregone conclusion given the unpredictable maelstrom of an MMA fight, but it's equally foolish to think St. Pierre has anything less than a massive advantage in this matchup. It's a compelling fight that St. Pierre must win to claim full ownership of the division, but Alves has nothing St. Pierre hasn't already seen or can't solve in the training room.
Middleweights
As if climbing the mountain that is Anderson Silva weren't daunting enough, it looks as though a new wrinkle may soon be added to the middleweight class: Georges St. Pierre. Though his weight advantage certainly played a role in his defeat of Penn, there is little reason to believe St. Pierre won't excel even in a division of fighters who are naturally larger than him.
St. Pierre's physicality won't take him to infinite levels of success, but there is a real transcendent ability there. His unprecedented level of brute, physical athleticism, combined with technical acumen and the proper guidance from trainers and managers, make the move to middleweight all but certain should St. Pierre stop Alves and any other future welterweight challenger.
The Winners
Georges St. Pierre
It's almost impossible to overstate St. Pierre's performance Saturday. Virtually every conceivable dimension of fight preparation and planning was incorporated into an exhaustive game plan. And that game plan happened to be superbly executed by St. Pierre, a MMA virtuoso of seemingly limitless potential.
There are a number of methods to evaluate his accomplishment, but his repeated and diverse passing of B.J. Penn's elite guard combined with his ability to control and damage from side mount was simply otherworldly. Aside from solidifying St. Pierre as an all-time great, the methodical dismantling of Penn raises the bar for what one MMA fighter is capable of working effectively in competition.
The lightweight and welterweight divisions
As Jon Fitch pointed out before UFC 94 went into the history books, had Penn defeated St. Pierre, the title picture for two weight classes would have become quite a conundrum. To say nothing of how arduous it would have been to appropriately time fights to give Penn the ability to regularly defend both crowns, what might have happened if, say, Penn tore his ACL in training?
Not one, but two divisions -- two of the most dynamic in MMA -- would have been forced to either wait for Penn to heal or encumber matters by holding fights for the "interim" championship. With St. Pierre reaffirmed as the welterweight king and Penn back to his natural division, the UFC can heave a big sigh of relief that title fights won't be that hard to come by.
Lyoto Machida
The victory over Thiago Silva didn't likely earn "The Dragon" a title shot against Rashad Evans, but it will help to improve one severely lacking commodity most fighters covet: an exciting and compelling image. In a card uncharacteristically stacked with decisions, Silva -- often derided for using an offensive style lacking in violent reciprocity -- managed to dispatch a capable challenger in convincing and exciting fashion.
[+] EnlargeGeorges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn
Mark J. Rebilas for ESPN.comNo one disputes Penn's skills, but neither can the fighter or his fans deny his flaws after his loss to St. Pierre.
The Losers
B.J. Penn
Losing to the latest incarnation of St. Pierre is nothing to be ashamed of, particularly considering Penn was attempting to beat St. Pierre while spotting the welterweight behemoth 20 pounds. But that isn't the albatross hanging from Penn's neck. The much bigger problem for Penn is that he must now contend with the fact there was no messianic destiny written in the cards for him. His recently professed paradigm -- that his talent was sufficient for him to beat almost anyone if his cardio was ideal -- crumbled against St. Pierre. What Penn learned Saturday, painfully, was that his talent and cardio were mostly in place, and none of that mattered.
A more physically prepared, more capable MMA opponent thoroughly and methodically defeated him, even withstanding Penn's fail-safe, vaunted jiu-jitsu arsenal. This is the first setback in Penn's career in which "if only" no longer is in play. Not this time. Penn lost, and the defeat unequivocally proved he is not the best fighter competing in MMA today. More than any punch or elbow St. Pierre landed, that was the most crushing blow of the evening.
Penn apologists
No matter the social circle, any iconic figure is bound to attract the various levels of revulsion and obsequiousness that accompany fandom. In Penn's case, the strange mixture of braggadocio, accomplishment and failed promise has created a class of Penn fans unable to view him in sober terms. Rather than conceding to the duality of Penn's career -- that is, recognizing his achievements while candidly acknowledging his very real failures -- they resort to tortured logic and the concoction of pretext after pretext for Penn's inability to realize his presumptive destiny.
The newest canard being bandied about: St. Pierre's corner rubbed Vaseline on his back and shoulders between rounds and that use of the substance constitutes "cheating." (Notice that no one has said it changed the outcome of the fight?) The charge is true in that the corner clearly committed wrongdoing, but it's not the least bit clear how much Vaseline was used nor how much, if at all, it affected the fight. Most importantly, a champion like Penn deserves better than to have his shortcomings constantly re-examined because fundamentalists can't accept a bruising reality.
Thiago Alves
One has to wonder what thoughts are circling Alves' head at this moment. On the one hand, the enormous and capable welterweight is likely excited at the prospect of preparing for his first title shot. On the other hand, unless he's is deluding himself, Alves must be uncertain about how to win the fight.
Under the masterful oversight of Greg Jackson, the full talent of St. Pierre is now being brought to the fore. Alves might -- and this is debatable -- be considered the superior Thai boxer, but in light of St. Pierre's array of exceptional tools, would that small advantage really matter?
It's foolish to believe a St. Pierre win would be a foregone conclusion given the unpredictable maelstrom of an MMA fight, but it's equally foolish to think St. Pierre has anything less than a massive advantage in this matchup. It's a compelling fight that St. Pierre must win to claim full ownership of the division, but Alves has nothing St. Pierre hasn't already seen or can't solve in the training room.
Middleweights
As if climbing the mountain that is Anderson Silva weren't daunting enough, it looks as though a new wrinkle may soon be added to the middleweight class: Georges St. Pierre. Though his weight advantage certainly played a role in his defeat of Penn, there is little reason to believe St. Pierre won't excel even in a division of fighters who are naturally larger than him.
St. Pierre's physicality won't take him to infinite levels of success, but there is a real transcendent ability there. His unprecedented level of brute, physical athleticism, combined with technical acumen and the proper guidance from trainers and managers, make the move to middleweight all but certain should St. Pierre stop Alves and any other future welterweight challenger.