GSP = LNP
By James Frederick William Rowe
Georges St. Pierre is an energetic, skillful young athlete, who is most likely going to be on the top of the ladder in the UFC’s WW division and in MMA-wide polling in the division for a long while barring a repeat in line with his defeat at the hands by Matt Serra. But one thing that is not considered is a simple, embarrassing fact:
Georges St. Pierre is a habitual lay and prayer.
Joe Rogan would have us believe that GSP has the best wrestling in MMA. This is hyperbole, but few can deny that just as Matt Hughes once dominated by his wrestling, GSP’s ability to manage to take down his opponents at will and keep them there is the secret to his success. It is also the secret behind a style which is increasingly becoming boring and predictable.
Evaluate his recent record. Of his last seven fights, GSP has won six. Of those six, he has won three of those by decision, one by submission, and two by (t)ko. At face-value, this doesn’t seem all that LNPish, but with the exception of Hughes, isn’t it? Consider that his victory against Serra is undermined by the fact that Serra was coming off surgery and ring-rust. Plus, Serra has always been so uneven at MMA as to make any victory against him a questionable achievement, regardless of Serra’s ability to shock audiences from time to time. Likewise, Penn was not stopped in the ring, but his corner threw in the towel as they didn’t want to see him get hopelessly beaten again by a man who couldn’t finish him, but who could pound on him without mercy for those final five minutes. So even if it was technically a stoppage at the 20:00 mark, was it really? I say ‘no’, especially when one considers GSP’s complete lack of a desire to finish Alves and Fitch who were treated to much the same affair as Penn. We can forgive GSP the last round in the Alves fight due to his groin injury, but what about his complete lack of desire shown to finish Alves before? What about Fitch? He looked vaguely – stress vaguely – more interested in finishing Koscheck, but he also seemed content with his decision in that fight as well. Pair his unwillingness to finish those two with the inability to finish Penn in the traditional manner and the marginally inconsequential victory against Serra, and a very different picture is painted of his six victories: A picture which has moved me to conclude that a GSP that finishes fights will not be making a return any time soon.
Now, GSP cannot be faulted for effectively employing his skills in the ring. I’m not calling for GSP to necessarily take this off the ground. But neither the sport nor GSP benefits from being a champion who doesn’t put away his opponents. A real champion is marked not only by wins, but how he attains those wins. A GSP that wrestles opponents to the ground and then overwhelms them to attain decisive victories is something all of us could get behind, but not so much the GSP that lies on top like a nipple-tweaking blanket. We do not want another Tito Ortiz and neither should GSP emulate that (in)famous fighter in pursuing championship defenses without regards to how he wins those fights. Moreover, GSP also has a good submission game. Why has Hughes been the only one to suffer attempts at a sub? Can’t we see submission attempts be made more? In the Koscheck fight, the reason I consider GSP to be vaguely more interested in finishing the fight is that he tried to hook a kimura for a long time. Why not at least give the fans the benefit of an attempted submission?
I am going to conclude all of this with a prediction which might serve to push aside some of the nay-sayers who will probably come out and defend GSP vociferously in line with the recent trend towards hailing him as a top-three pound-for-pounder. If GSP is next fed a top contender at WW, as opposed to an unworthy opponent, he will win by decision and will do so by his wrestling. If my LNP analysis is wrong, then GSP can go a great way towards disproving my belief by approaching the next fight with an aggressive style. Sadly, I do not think I am wrong, but I would love for GSP to do so as I want to see entertaining, engaging fights (which GSP has been able to perform in the past), not five rounds of pinning. After all, can’t we expect this from a guy who famously proclaimed “I am not impressed by your performance”?
I believe he tried an arm triangle on Alves. In fact, I seem to recall him ending up on his back after trying a few too many submissions, which is when Greg Jackson warned him not to do anything fancy. In regards to BJ Penn, who has finished him? The Fitch fight came very close to a finish, and he tried an RNC, and discredit Hughes and Serra all you want, but they were both second round finishes.
Im not sure why people are attacking him like this after two decisions in three fights, but I think its a bit overboard. I guess you really are only as good as your last fight though
GSP is a plain pussy. He does nothing special, but rely on his brute force to sit on his opponents until the end of 25 fucking minutes. Not to mention the guy comes off as an ignorant moron. He promotes his gay sex style every fight since serra 1. He’s a absolute pussy. Fuck canada. Fuck GSP.
Can’t say I agree at all. LnP is where you hold onto the top position unable or willingly doing nothing to stall. GSP is anything but LnP. He destroys guys on the ground. Just look what he did in his last fights to Alves and Penn. You are either a new fan or an ignorant one if you cannot tell the difference between LnP and GnP.
I know one way to change your opinion- actually go back and watch all the fights (I’m convinced you haven’t)
And remember few lower weight fighters have knock out power.
Sorry, but this article is completely absurd.
Georges is always attempting to pass guard or strike. It is pretty simple for any fan of the sport, or human being in general to realize that Georges smashes and can beat many of them at their own game.
Sure he has trouble mowing through the best competition because he is ALWAYS fighting the best guys. Check out FightMatrix.com and their division dominance rankings for proof. He is ahead of everyone in MMA by a significant margin.
YOu mention the Alves fight. He attempted numerous RNC’s, an arm triangle and an an armbar where he pulled his groin and ended up on the bottom. Most of the submission attempts caused him to lose position and Thiago escaped. If you WATCHED the fight you would notice this. You should also note that Georges outstruck and knocked down a fighter considered the best striker in the welerweight division.
Against Fitch GSP attempted a RNC right after he decked him in the third round. Georges again ended up on the bottom and needed a nice escape to get back to his feet. He brutalized Fitch in that fight and almost ended it numerous times. Georges just lacks big KO power and Fitch is incredibly tough.
It’s a little frustrating to hear an MMA “journalist” talk about Lay N’Pray and not give one good example of it in reference to GSP. He simply does not blanket fighters and stall. If you want to gain some respect as a journalist you first have to know what is fact and what is fiction.
Call GSP boring all you want. That’s an opinion that can actually be argued by some, but your drivel is just a sad representation of GSP.
How on Earth was GSP lay n’ praying against Fitch? He absolutely battered him for 5 rounds – knocking him down numerous time. If I’m not mistaken all three (or at least 2) of the judges gave GSP not one, but two 10-8 rounds.
He didn’t finish him because Fitch is tough-as-nails, but to call that lay n’ pray is absurd.
I may need a stat tracker for 100% accuracy on this but of the past 22 or so fights gsp has had a fight go to decision 1 more time than BJ penn, and BJ penn lost half of his fights that went to decision… your not a real MMA journalist if your saying the words lay n pray and gsp in the same sentence, wrestling is very fundemental in MMA and I would be willing to bet my life savings that you could not take Alves down with a pulled muscle in your legs. ( look at every fighter after they fight gsp’s lay and pray) seriously just look at how bad they are beat up
btw gsp has won all of his fights that went to decision
literally the worst mma piece on the internet… literally.
Im a cage fighter. Ameture but still a cage fighter. What this sounds like is anohter person who hasn’t been in the cage running their mouth about a great and very accomplished fighter. You try to talk about RNC’s and LnP’s. When in fact you can’t even do them yourself. Oh, and on the BJ Penn fight, the corner thru in the towel because Penn said he was done and couldn’t do nothing with GSP. You probly should watch the fight before you try and and bash it!!