St.Pierre/Penn: The Force from the North

The story of Georges St. Pierre is a familiar one. St. Pierre grew up in Quebec, Canada with not much money. He was picked on at school and took up karate to learn how to defend himself. As he grew older, he worked odd jobs such as being a bouncer and a garbage man while he chased his dream of being UFC champion. 

Nearly 20 years later, GSP climbed to the top of the mountain — a true rags-to-riches story.

The UFC Welterweight Champion has earned some of the highest accolades from his peers and the media. Many consider GSP to be one of the top-5 pound-for-pound fighters in the world if not the best fighter in the world. At only 27, he is a two-time welterweight champion with wins over Matt Hughes, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk and of course BJ Penn. 

There is only one question that surrounds GSP and that is his mentality. He puts so much pressure on himself to not only win, but to win in dominant fashion, that sometimes he has not been able to handle adversity.

There is no question GSP could be the most dominant fighter in the UFC. He is the most athletic fighter in the organization's history and he has the drive and the skills to stay on top for as long as he wants. Tonight will the be the toughest test of his young career, but his history shows he could come out on top.

A "Rush" of Hype

St. Pierre got his first taste of mixed martial arts when he won his first amateur bout at the age of 16. It didn't take long for GSP to make his debut in the professional ranks and he didn't disappoint as he won five straight fights and a welterweight championship before making his UFC debut. 

Once he did make his UFC debut, he did not disappoint. St. Pierre drew the feared Judo practitioner Karo Parisyan for his first UFC fight. St. Pierre won a convincing unanimous decision in an eye opening upset. GSP then had an impressive knockout over Jay Hieron which led to his first shot at the welterweight championship against Matt Hughes.

With only seven professional fights under his belt, Hughes was too much of a challenge to overcome. Hughes showed why he was considered the best fighter in the world when he secured an armbar and forced GSP to tap with one second left in the first round.

The loss fueled GSP to work harder and the improvement was visible right away. St. Pierre racked off wins against tough opponents including Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk and finally BJ Penn. His wrestling seemed to improve by leaps and bounds every time out. 

The impressive streak of wins led to a rematch with Hughes for the welterweight championship. It would be the match that made GSP one of the most feared and respected fighters in the world.

Pound for Pound 

On November 18, 2006, GSP was back home in Quebec, Canada ready to face Hughes again. St. Pierre did not disappoint his hometown fans as he had a dominant performance against the welterweight champion. GSP hit him with crisp and quick strikes on his feet before winning via TKO in the second round. 

After the Hughes fight, everyone expected GSP to begin a reign of dominance over the welterweight division, much like Anderson Silva's dominance in the middleweight division. GSP's first defense was against the mandatory challenger, yet huge underdog, Matt Serra. Virtually all experts expect GSP to dominate, with only the chance for a submission keeping Serra in the fight. 

Then GSP became acquainted with Serra's right hand. Serra rocked GSP with a looping punch early in the first round and then jumped all over the champion to win by TKO just three minutes in to the first round.

The loss was devastating to GSP, but the Canadian came back stronger and better than ever before. His first test back was against wrestling powerhouse Josh Koscheck. GSP surprised everyone when he dominated the national champion wrestler at his own game, securing takedown after takedown on his way to an easy unanimous decision. 

GSP then went on to completely dominate Hughes and Serra to reclaim the championship. His finest performance to date may have been against Jon Fitch in his most recent defense. Fitch was 8-0 in the UFC when he finally met GSP. It was expected to be a hard fought battle, but St. Pierre dominated the fight, winning every round. At times he seemed like an elite professional boxer and at other times, an Olympic wrestler. 

The rematch with Penn could solidify GSP as one of the best welterweights of all time even though he is only 27 years old. The Canadian has been training with the best camp in the world, which is Greg Jackson's crew in New Mexico. GSP will also be going into the match with his newly acquired Brazilian Ju-Jitsu black belt. Another dangerous dimension to an already seemingly complete fighter.