There are some who believe that Georges St-Pierre has nothing left to prove at 170 pounds, and that's why he should consider moving up to 185. However, GSP recently explained to the media that it's not that easy. He said that if should ever move up in a weight, he must be sure that his work is officially done at 170, because he won't be able to move back down. Plus, the current welterweight champion added that he has always been hesitant to move up because he has many friends who fight at 185, and he would never consider fighting any of them.Watch below at St-Pierre talks about the pros and cons of leaving the welterweight division behind.
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
I think GSP moving up is the only logical thing for him to continue to challenge himself . The GREATS have continuous motivation to find new challenges . Michael Jordan is the perfect example .
What's the use of moving up if he's not going to fight any of his "friends"? Last I heard, he and Anderson Silva were friends. And let's be honest, that's why everyone wants him to move up.
GO WANDERLEI!!!
I agree, there will always be fights at 170, some new guy will work up the ranks enough to be interesting (Hardy), but he's run through all the top guys with ease. Maybe Fitch, Koscheck or Alves could improve enough to be more of a challenge, but it's not like GSP is resting on his laurels. He looks better every fight. At 185 so many fights are interesting because he'll actually have to fight naturally bigger guys. GSP is sharp everywhere but his biggest strength has to be overpowering athleticism. If he's dealing with guys naturally larger for most of their lives MAYBE he wont be able to man handle guys like he does. Maybe even get forced into a couple striking matches. Honestly though aside from the Spider and Nate Marquardt he could beat everyone else fairly easy.
who isn't he friends with? Everyone loves him.
i think the person he REALLY means in nate marquardt... i mean he wants a rematch with a. silva sooooo badly. it would be so crappy for nate if georges moves up and automatically gets a title shot. that would be twice in a row for nate. and if georges wins, how will nate ever get the title?
is it just me or has GSP been wearing the exact same sweater for the past couple months now.
I don't think anyone cares if he doesn't fight Cote or Kang, but not fighting Marquardt at 185 could be a problem.
I've never been a huge fan of GSP or his fighting style, but I'm becoming a fan of his honestly and intelligence. He has a better grasp of the english language than most American fighters ... and it's not his first language.
Im not impressed by your performance
So, he is cutting what 23 lbs to fight at WW and he says he is concerned about his health when moving up to MW? LOL ... he isn't fooling anyone. He doesn't want to fight Anderson Silva and get knocked out. Period. That loss might ruin him for life. He's proven that he'll do anything to have an advantage even if it's outside whats permitted in the sport so it wouldn't shock me that he is afraid of a loss. He is fighting for a legacy not to test himself. I'd respect him a lot more if he moved up and got owned than if he never moved up at all. Watch ... is Silva makes a permanent move to LHW then GSP will all of a sudden move up and fight there. Pfffft.
johnny from mars? gsp is a true champion, not some cry baby with a pink towel that quits when things get tough. champions dont quit in the corner.
gsp belongs at ww. he owns it, its his til someone takes it away. forget mw
Lol. He's not concerned about moving up due to health issues. He just wants to move up naturally, increasing muscle mass but staying light on his feet. He's concerned about moving up to 185 in 'a month' or so.
Rumble cuts more weight than that. He was walking around at 220 last month, but is usually around the 200 mark.
you're referring to bj with the pink towel and quitting richie, but at least bj has moved up to fight gsp. let's see gsp move up to fight a. silva. and gsp even cheated against bj. and he's been injured and all of a sudden is heavier and lean. you've never been on steroids?? you feel the need to convince everyone about that gsp??
i like gsp as a person and he's a real talented fighter. but i don't buy his pretty boy image. alex rodriguez was a pretty boy for years. i think gsp isn't 100% natural. that's just my gut feeling.
Never said he wasn't a true champion but the facts are the facts and he did cheat. Whether it gave him an edge is debatable but what isn't debatable is that 1. he cheated and 2. he cheated more than once. Let's just talk about something here instead of going back and forth like fanboys: Will GSP actually move up to MW so he can fight Anderson Silva? I say that he won't because he is afraid to lose and is fighting for a legacy not to test himself and prove he is the best in the world. Fighting Dan Hardy and laying on him for 5 rounds won't prove that and neither will rematches with Alves, Fitch or Koscheck. He's already cleaned out the division yet he is still cherry picking opponents he is WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY bigger than ... he wouldn't have a size advantage at MW which is why he'll never move up. He's afraid to lose: I believe that.
You sau champions don't quit then why did GSP tap from strikes against Matt Serra? Go ahead and make some excuses for him ... he quit because it was for the best long term of his career. The first Penn vs GSP fight was really close and could of went either way. GSP dominated the second fight even though he admitted he cheated, the commission said they know he cheated and his corner man Phil Nurse admitted to illegally greasing GSP. Guys like Couture, Anderson Silva and Penn have moved up in weight to test themselves against the best in the world but GSP hasn't and probably never will do it ... can't say for sure what the real reason is but I think it's because he is more interested in his record than testing himself against the best. Look at Penn's record and you'll see the guy has never had an easy fight from the first say he started fighting. The dude fight Machida in an open weight fight and was outweighed by over 40 lbs Machida was actually a HW in that fight (225 lbs) ...
If Penn and GSP fight again it might be a different outcome. It's not the same overweight and relying on talent alone Penn from that last fight. GSP will always have the size advantage over everyone at WW because he is closer to LHW than MW but I still think at the very least it'd be way more competitive than the last fight. If these guys had to weigh in right before going into the octagon GSP couldn't fight at WW. Fact.
OK ... Let's just take this one issue: He says he is worried about the health effects of putting on the weight properly to fight at MW permanently. He even mentions steroids and says he is a natural guy. If health is so important why would he cut more than 20 lbs to fight at WW? Wouldn't is be more healthy to fight at his current weight of just under 200 lbs? His answers and reasoning don't add up ... never have just like his explanation about why he greased against Penn (breathing exercise: LMAO!)
Johnny - First, who says his natural weight is 200Lbs.; YOU? 200Lbs. for GSP is his maximum weight not natural weight. Second, who says GSP cheated; B.J. crying mom at the commission hearing? LOL... Come on Johnny; this is getting old!
@Ted
GSP himself admitted that Phil Nurse illegally applied vaseline to his body during the fight. This is something the Penn camp was warned about prior to the fight by other recent GSP opponents. Dana White himself said that it was illegal and Phil Nurse should never be allowed to corner an MMA event again, Keith Kizer (NSAC commissioner) viewed the illegal greasing himself (had been warned before the fight that it would happen!) and as I previously mentioned GSP admitted it happened but said it was unintentional even though previous opponents warned the Penn camp and they in turn warned the commission ... THEN IT HAPPENED! Thats not just by chance that pre meditated and something he had been doing for a while.
I'm not saying it was on the same level as what Akiyama did against Sakuraba but it was still cheating. Cheating is cheating and no accidentally cheats for the first time.
I'm still asking the question: How is it that cutting 23 lbs is better long term for your health than cutting 8 lbs? It's not and the reason is little more than an rationalization so he doesn't have to fight Silva. Dude supposedly tore a groin against Alves but has added more lean muscle?
He's been closer to MW than WW for a looooooong time now. He can't push the MW's around so he doesn't want that division. I'd love to see Anderson SIlva make GSP look like a fool. Hopefully GSP won't deprive the fans of the best fights for his personal selfish reasons.
J-5 Usually you are right on man but in this case i see and feel some bitterness. Perhaps this analyzation of gsp is a bit biased? I ask b/c I am not sure. You say that gsp is way way way way way bigger than his opponents as if all the rest of the welterweights are true 170#ers. Fitch, Kos, Alves(he walks around at 200 ) the very same fighters you named, all make a sizeable cut, so come on that part of your argument doesn't hold water.
The Cheating thing all these bj penn fanboys latch onto with every fiber of their being is flat out ridiculous. The FACT that BJ QUIT that fight had NOTHING to do with the FACT that he got his ass whipped it was the vaseline that did it, not gsp. lol! Please people! After all that s*** talking BJ did before that fight, "George I am going to kill you!" "I am going to make you Give up!" I would be embarrassed too. S***, I am a BJ Fan and I was embarrassed for him. Instead of humbly accepting the ass whipping, he comes up with this greasegate bullshit as the reason for not getting a fair fight. That is when i was really embarrassed for the guy. I lost a lot of respect for him after all that. He and gsp are two of my favorite fighters but even when my faves lose, hey, they lose(GSP vs Serra 1). Take the ass whipping, go back to the drawing board and come back better. Like GSP did and finally BJ is there too. It made him realize something and look at the results Florian, Sanchez, the most devastating BJ we have ever seen. He and the rest of you out there needs to thank GSP for that not hate on him.
GSP has yet to cut twenty pounds to make weight and your jabbering on about him being way, way, bigger than his opponents is a LOAD OF S***! ALVES was at least 10 pounds heaver than GSP come fight time and he cuts from 205 compared to 185 for GSP at the time. Fitch and Koscheck both had a weight and height advantage over GSP in their respective fights. GET A CLUE. GSP has only put on 8 pounds of muscle since Alves and is now 193 pounds. Nate Marquardt weighs 215 pounds between fights and he is still lean, which means he cuts up to 30 pounds. Anderson Silva walks around at 225 pounds these days and is a natural LHW. The guy is six three and cuts over 30 pounds so he can be a giant against his opponents. You are so out to lunch because GSP there are still a few guys bigger than GSP in WW. Alves and Anthony Johnson both weigh over 200 pounds and AJ is a giant. Dan Hardy is just as big as GSP for Christ's sake. Hardy has a two inch height advantage and weighs just as much.
Johnny, i'd just be repeating what is already said. gsp isnt a huge ww, and let me tell you penn wouldn't be a small ww. Look at penns record outside of lw, nothing to be overwhelmed about. Theres only a one inch difference between penn/gsp vs. about 3" between penn and the lightweights. if i remember right, the size difference between penn and machida was about 20lbs., and machida wasn't near the fighter he is today.
Between fights a.silvas about 220, gsp 190, penn 180, and thats assuming penn isnt stuffing himself on poi and laulau, otherwise he'll weigh more than gsp.
silva should fight lhw, its a natural fit for him. gsp would be a small mw and wouldnt be near as competive.
i agree with weighing in on the bottom step, trouble is they know they wouldnt have any fights because most guys either couldnt make weight or would wilt in the first minute if they did make weight.
Johnny, its only you, penn and his mommy that think that way, seriously. if frankie edgar was a bigger guy he'd destroy penn, he has more skills in the standup and penn has no answer for a guy his own size when it hits the ground.