UFC 69 - Shootout ***SPOILER***

For the first time ever, I decided to spring for pay-per-view to see my home town boy Georges St. Pierre defend his belt for the 1st time. I ordered it in HD, which was quite nice.

First up for the big boys;
Sanchez vs. Koscheck
This was a rather dull fight. Not much action took place at all. The fight stayed upright - the only time Kos took Sanchez down was at the very end of the 1st round. Kos looked very impressive on his feet, certainly landing more shots than Diego. I sat there waiting for some exlosiveness to come from Diego, but it just never came. Bottom line is that Kos did exactly what he needed to do to get the decision - no more, and no less.

St. Pierre vs. Serra
This is the one that ruined my weekend. I am a huge fan of GSP, and like most everyone, thought he would get by Serra with little drama. Usually, GSP is incredibly precise and efficient. He lands direct crushing blows with both his hands and feet, and wastes very few shots. The initial exchanges didn't quite show the precision I am used to seeing, but it could of been GSP was just feeling out Serra. Then Serra swung for the head, GSP ducked, however Serra grazed the back of GSP's head, and this seemed to affect GSP more than it looked like it would. Serra immediately got in there and finished GSP off. A first round knock out for Serra?????? Are you kidding me???

Where do we go from here? I believe we will see Koscheck against Serra for Serra's 1st title defense. The winner of that bout should end up going against the winner of a rematch between GSP and Hughes.

I am dying to hear GSP's analysis of his fight. I am wondering where he thinks he went wrong. I still believe he is the best fighter in his weight class - he just had an off-night. Every great fighter has the an off-night. A loss should make him stronger. He's only 25, so he still has a long way to go in his career.

The welter weight class is extremely rich in talent, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the belt bounce around from one great fighter to the next. I would say this class is the hardest to dominate.

 

Okay, I've watched the replay over and over again to see exactly what happened. Here is the conclusion I came to; Serra swung at GSP's head. GSP ducked down, but not completely out of the way. Serra ended up nailing GSP on the back of the head - unintentionally. This is the blow that stunned GSP, and Serra quickly finished him off once he sensed that GSP was out of it. Now, it wouldn't be considered an illegal hit because Serra was not trying to connect with the back of his head, however the end result was that GSP suffered the consequences of an illegal hit. I am assuming that it is illegal to hit the back of the head because of how sensitive and vulnerable that portion of the head is - after having seen how it affected GSP. Also, after the fight when they went to GSP's dressing room, GSP was showing his trainer a spot behind GSP's head - I assume he was showing him where Serra landed.

The results are the results. Serra is now the Champ. My prediction is that the belt will change hands often over the next little while. I think Koscheck will take it away from Serra. You have to figure Matt Hughes will get a crack at the belt soon, perhaps against the winner of Koscheck-Serra. Hopefully GSP will fight the winner of that. Diego Sanchez may figure in there somewhere as well.

Did you see how happy Hughes looked over GSP's loss? That's because he was happy that he wouldn't have to fight GSP to regain his title.

GSP is still the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the world. I firmly believe that. I hope he keeps his head up and moves forward.