If Georges St. Pierre is able to beat Jon Fitch on Saturday at UFC 87 -- and most people, including myself, believe he will -- it will solidify his claim as the best welterweight in the world.
St. Pierre is already among the first names mentioned when people discuss the world's top pugilists. But he has yet to successfully defend his title as undisputed champion. In the same position a little over a year ago, he was shocked by huge underdog Matt Serra, and his mental toughness was subsequently questioned. Could it happen again?
From the looks of GSP's past two fights, the answer is an emphatic "no." He utterly demolished a pair of former champions -- the last two to hold the belt other than him -- in succession. Fitch's abilities and perfect record notwithstanding, St. Pierre just seems like he's on another level. The French Canadian has said that personal distractions were the main explanation for his uncharacteristic performance against Serra and that they are history. There appears to be no reason to think otherwise.
Based on this, I would definitely rank him (though only slightly) above B.J. Penn in pound-for-pound rankings. Heck, I'd be hard-pressed to even rank Anderson Silva above him. Among UFC guys, I'd put Silva and GSP as 1 and 1a.
Sure Silva hasn't lost in what seems like forever. But setting aside past results, if the two were to square off right now, I think it would be a pretty even contest. Almost as even as St. Pierre vs. Penn, which is actually the fight that is rumoured to be on tap for the end of the year.
The question that remains is who's left to challenge the top spot in the 170-pound division? I think we have to look outside the UFC to answer that question. Two guys who are trying to lay claim to that are Carlos Condit in the WEC and Jake Shields in EliteXC.
Condit was a winner Sunday night at WEC 35, making it through a real tough test against Hiromitsu Miura. He survived judo throws, submission attempts and a ton of punches to be up on the judges' scorecards through three rounds. He then escaped a close call after being mounted and after Miura swung and missed standing up, Condit capitalized with his knee before finishing Miura in the fourth for his third title defence.
Shields, meanwhile, won his first welterweight belt at the previous Saturday's EliteXC event with a relatively easy submission of top-ranked Nick Thompson. It was his 10th straight win, which included a victory over Condit, and he hasn't lost since 2004. After the fight, Shields said he'd like to fight the winner of St. Pierre-Fitch.
GSP vs. Shields? That would actually be quite interesting; unfortunately, it likely won't be happening anytime soon. Nevermind they're in rival organizations; Silva and Penn likely have first dibs on facing St. Pierre next. And Thiago Alves would probably have something to say about it too.
And, of course, there's also that possibility that Fitch wins Saturday…
