2008-08-08 22:08:35
Everyone Is Looking Ahead to a Georges St. Pierre / B.J. Penn Rematch, Except Georges St. Pierre
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You might think that Georges St. Pierre has other things on his mind right now, other than his upcoming Welterweight title match against Jon Fitch at UFC 87.
There has been plenty of talk over the last month or so of a "big-money" match-up against Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn, likely at the end of 2008. Dana White has spoken about it as well, saying that he believes that such as fight would be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. You could see how such a match might occupy the thoughts of one of the best fighters in the world. However, St. Pierre has learned from his past mistakes, which is why he is not looking past Jon Fitch.
When Georges St. Pierre appeared at the UFC 87 press conference at the Mall of America yesterday, his demeanor could only be described as "icy". He made mention of the fact that he was taking his upcoming fight against Jon Fitch very seriously, and he had made the mistake of not preparing well enough in the past. St. Pierre is obviously alluding to his shocking (and I do mean shocking) first-round knockout defeat against Matt Serra at UFC 69. St. Pierre has publicly admitted that he didn't prepare well enough for that fight, and he paid the price. Serra was a MAJOR underdog in that fight, and ended up shocking the world. St. Pierre vowed to never let it happen again. He would treat every fight in the future as if it was his last and most important.
Since then, St. Pierre has re-established his dominance over the Welterweight division. He completely out-wrestling Josh Koscheck at UFC 74 - Respect, scoring a unanimous decision win. He manhandled Welterweight legend Matt Hughes at UFC 79, scoring an armbar submission victory. In his last fight, he completely destroyed Matt Serra, scoring a TKO after the ref decided that Serra had had enough. St. Pierre clinically took apart Serra, passing his guard with ease and completely imposing his will on his out-matched opponent.
This is what makes St. Pierre so great. He learns from his mistakes. He uses his losses and subpar performance as learning tools, and comes back as a better fighter. A 16-2 Georges St. Pierre is a much better fighter than an 18-0 St. Pierre would be. He took his two career losses (against Matt Hughes and Matt Serra), learned from them, and came back a better fighter. He completely destroyed Matt Hughes in their two rematches at UFC 65 and UFC 79. He obliterated Matt Serra at UFC 83 (it wasn't even close).
That being said, St. Pierre will do his best to make sure that he never has to learn from his losses again. He has prepared extremely well by all accounts for his upcoming bout against Jon Fitch. He has left no stone unturned in his training regimen for this fight, and looks to be completely focused and prepared. He has made the mistake of looking ahead before, and he won't do it again.
Everyone is talking about a potential fight between B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre in late 2008. Everyone except Georges St. Pierre, that is. Right now, Jon Fitch is his entire world. If you thought that Georges St. Pierre was going to be distracted heading into his fight this Saturday night, think again.
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