LeeMobile

George St. Pierre: UFC Champion

That’s right folks! George St. Pierre, from Montreal, has won the UFC Welterweight Champion belt tonight against all american Matt Hughes.

Why does this matter so much to me? Because Matt Hughes said plenty of nasty things about Canadians, and that the entire fight itself had somewhat of a USA vs. Canada slant. During the whole ordeal, there were moments when you could hear the crowd chant “USA USA USA”. Secondly, George St. Pierre is a wickedly exciting and athletic fighter. Third, he’s such a polite and friendly guy compared to his opponent. Watching him fight is beautiful.

He seems to be the complete package. A monster in the stand up game, and really strong on the ground too. I hope he stays to defend the title for many more fights to come.

Posted in Fighting | 1 Comment »

Oh Canadians!

So as some of you may or may not know, I absolutely love Mixed Martial Arts… aka that sport where two guys beat the crap out of each other in a steel cage… aka the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Well, not so much the UFC… I prefer to watch Pride as it’s the premier international league set in Japan. But anyways, I digress…

In a lot of ways, I think the UFC execs has been doing some dumb moves that mimic pro wrestling or Don King boxing fights. This means putting together absolutely lopsided bouts, or hamming and hyping up fights that really shouldn’t be hyped up. Of course, this lands them huge wads of cash and plays to the audience… but at the same time this removes from the sport. I don’t want to watch pro-wrestling, and sometimes this gives it a pro-wrestling-esque feel to it. I know I whine, and what they’re doing is probably really good for the popularity of the sport, but it removes the “class” of it that’s felt in other leagues (such as in Pride Fighting Championship).

Anyways, what’s been bothering me more specifically is the UFC’s openness to manufacture a feud between Canadians and Americans in the ring. They seem to pull in Canadian unknowns and pit them against Americans who are “superior” on paper.

My point is that two events ago, their main fight night was labelled “USA vs. Canada”. Now do we really need to call it “USA vs. Canada”? Why not remove the nationalism from the sport and focus more on the fighters themselves, rather than where they’re coming from. That’d be like promoting this year’s Stanley Cup Final as “Canada vs. USA”.

More recently, this week’s airing of Ultimate Fight Night pitted 3 different and “unknown” Canadian fighters against 3 American fighters who were slated to win. I’m not sure what the reasoning for this is, but it seems like the UFC execs are trying to put up some American fighters on a pedestal and maybe make Canada look bad. Well, boo-frickin-hoo… because our Canadian boys crushed their opponents. This brought a lot of joy to this canuck, as their precious plans were foiled, and also because I was really surprised to see the caliber of contenders we put out considering we have only 1/10th their size in population.

Anyways, I’m eagerly awaiting a title match between a Montreal fighter by the name of George St. Pierre to fight the current all-American welterweight champion Matt Hughes. St. Pierre is the number one contender who has fought his way up the ladder and has earned himself a title fight. He’s basically ready to become the new champion and usher in the next generation of fighters. The UFC have thrown all sorts of fighters at him in an attempt to avoid giving him a title shot, and he’s come out winning each time. Essentially, there’s no one left in the UFC for him to fight except the champ.

Instead of giving him what’s due, they setup some joke fight where the current champ fights an old “legend” who should really be retired from the sport. Hughes vs. Gracie was a joke, with the Hughes (the current champ) crushing his opponent in the first round. I don’t even think he suffered a single blow. In all fairness, St. Pierre should have gotten his shot at the title, even if he is a Canadian.

Alright, so all that I’ve written is a conspiracy theory I’ve made up. No, I don’t wear a tin foil hat. But I can only guess that this is what’s occurring in the UFC from their actions.  This is pure commentary from a fan watching what he sees on TV.  But the coincidences really make me wonder…

I just wanted to say that our boys are doing an awesome job, and that it makes me a proud Canadian. It makes me happy to see that we do so well in this sport that’s exploding in North America too. I really hope St. Pierre gets his title shot and his belt, that would make for one sweet summer.

Posted in Fighting | No Comments »