It will come as no surprise to those who know me even a little bit that my favorite fight is a Georges St-Pierre fight. Of course, this current entry is being written with all heart, but it remains a fantastic fight that I think everyone should see. So far, no one has been able to resist my passion and excitement when it comes to watching UFC/MMA and I am capable of converting anyone into at least an occasional fan. I hope to get at least one person hooked with this entry.

I  have been a fan of mixed martial arts for about 20 years. I started at taekwondo with my dad when I was five years old and watching wrestling and other combat sports with him. I started following UFC pretty religiously many years ago and it eventually became sacred when Georges St-Pierre made his entry onto the international fighting scene. I have been following his career in awe for years. GSP is our local hero; he is a gentleman, a great athlete and a wonderful role model. Watching GSP fight is like watching your brother fight: part of your own heart and soul is in it.

My favorite GSP fight and all-time favorite UFC fight, that took place on November 18, 2006 at UFC 65 – Bad Intentions, Matt Hughes vs GSP 2.

Click here to watch the video

Here you will find random thoughts on the fight and the reasons for which I think this is an amazing fight.

Give me five
At 1m42s of the first round, GSP lands a spinning back kick on Hughes. That alone is pretty amazing, but the 2 fighters actually take a second out of the fight to high five each other after that exquisite hit. This is one of the most beautiful moments in UFC history in my opinion.

On the side
The blow that knocks Hughes out: a kick to the side of the head. At 1m16s of the second round, Hughes appears to be going for a takedown attempt which sets up GSP perfectly to land a powerful kick to the head. When GSP goes in for the kill and starts with the elbows in the ground and pound, referee Big Joe McCarthy stops the fight and at 1m25s, GSP is declared the new Welterweight Champion of the world.

Down low
In this fight, GSP uncharacteristically lands 2 back-to-back illegal blows to the groin of Hughes. At 2m22 of the first round, GSP catches Hughes in the cup with a leg kick that slides up Hughes’ thigh. There is a time out to allow Hughes to regain his composure, the fight resumes and 8 seconds after the first illegal blow, GSP catches Hughes in the groin AGAIN! GSP looks completely baffled or desperate, I’m not quite sure. The first kick looks like his foot grazes Hughes but the second kick appears to do some damage, even though Hughes went on to say during the post-fight press conference: “The second time I went down, it wasn’t really because of my groin, but it affected my legs more than my groin. I don’t know if it’s a nerve thing or what happened.” While it was not an intentional foul, GSP is at risk of losing a point on the scorecard if he isn’t careful.

Too slow
With only a few seconds left in the round, GSP lands a huge superman punch and Hughes goes down but GSP cannot finish him before the bell rings, announcing the end of the round. The irony in that would have been amazing, as Hughes submitted GSP with 1 second remaining in the first round in their first fight.

GSP’s confidence
As soon as the fight starts, it is easy to see that GSP is setting the momentum. He is clearly the aggressor and the more skilled and well-rounded athlete in this fight. His strength and confidence are so much greater than in their first matchup during which he did not even look Hughes in the face during the staredown:

Support from the fans
The crowd quickly goes from chants of USA to GSP, and at this point he was not even champion yet. Once, during an Anderson Silva fight that most people found boring because of its intellectual reach and less striking, the crowd started chanting GSP! GSP!… although I thought it wasn’t super classy, it was also AWESOME.

All smiles
Throughout the entire first round, Hughes keeps smiling at GSP; not smiling like I smile when I daydream about GSP, no — it’s a hybrid half mocking/half patronizing smile almost. Every time GSP lands a shot on Hughes, Hughes smirks at GSP. The gamemanship by Hughes in this fight is superb and goes to show you that the former champion was probably more concerned about losing than in the first bout.

GSP doesn’t go down, but Hughes does
The most impressive part of this fight is not only that GSP manages to take Hughes down at 3m49s of the first round and pass into half guard, but at 4m30s of the first round, Hughes attempts to take down GSP and GSP scrambles and manages to get out of it. During Hughes’ reign as welterweight champion, this has not happened often, as his strengths are takedowns, wrestling ability, physical strength and his favorite technique is “any type of grappling“. For GSP to be able to take him down, pass into half guard AND have great takedown defense against him is amazing and is a wonderful testament to the athleticism and hard work of GSP.

To this day, watching this fight still gives me goosebumps. I know the fight by heart; I could recite what the commentators say in my sleep. It is my feel-good UFC video and the one I watch before every new fight night to get pumped about the fight card. When the fight is stopped and GSP gets up, throws out his mouthpiece and collapses to the ground, overcome with emotion, I, too, am overwhelmed with emotion as I watch this epic fight in awe for the millionth time. GSP is truly the greatest champion the UFC ever had, has or will have.

Well, that, plus he’s really hot.

Georges St-Pierre : un grand champion dans l'âme