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TSN Producer Andrew Nichols is in Montreal at the sold out UFC 83: SERRA vs. ST-PIERRE 2, where Quebec’s own Georges ‘Rush’ St-Pierre attempts to become the undisputed champion in a rematch with reigning titleholder Matt ‘The Terror’ Serra. Follow Nichols’ Blog as he reports from the Bell Centre.
8:00pm ET - Well, after some technical difficulties, I think we’re up and running for the rest of the night. The pre-show card started about 30 minutes early. Jonathan Goulet defeat Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO in the 2nd round. The Bell Centre is only 30 percent full, but the house is rocking. The crowd is thoroughly behind the Canadian fighters. More to come.
8:07pm ET - In the 2nd fight of the night, Cain Velasquez defeated Brad Morris. Morris was dominated throughout the fight, and was caught a hook he could not recover from. Canadian Sam Stout is on his way to the ring. The crowd is lit up. Stout will give GSP a run for loudest reaction of the night.
8:31pm ET - Stout vs Rich Clementi (Lightweights): Sam Stout lost a split decision to Rich Clementi. We’ve had to sort out some technical issues on site, but it appears we’ll be full steam ahead for the rest of the card.
8:44pm ET - Demian Maia vs Ed Herman, 3 Rounds (Middleweights) - 1st Round: Herman’s tights have a large sponsorship for Condomdepot.com… his nickname is "Short Fuse"… only in the MMA. The first round was slow paced, with a lot of ground and pound exchanges.
8:48pm ET - Demian Maia vs Ed Herman - 2nd Round: Herman has the advantage through most of the round. Out of nowhere, Maia slips Herman into a triangle submission hold. Maia has his man fall asleep in the hold and pounds away until the referee stops the fight. Winner at 2:27 of the 2nd round: Maia.

tsn.ca

Tags: 2, pierre, serra, st., video, vs

Stand-up striking is an area where St. Pierre may actually be a bit overrated. He certainly throws impressive looking strikes - Superman punches, spinning back kicks, etc. - but his numbers don’t rank him near the elite strikers in the game. St. Pierre lands 43% of his stand-up strikes, which is above the fighter average of 35%, but nowhere near the accuracy of Anderson Silva, who connects at a rate of 70%. He’s only knocked down two of his opponents (Matt Hughes and Jay Hieron), and as Serra proved, he can be knocked out.
One exceptional thing about St. Pierre’s stand-up, though, is the way he mixes up his targets. Most fighters overwhelmingly focus on the head, throwing about five head strikes for every strike thrown to the body and legs. A serial headhunter like Wanderlei Silva will throw nearly 10 head strikes per body shot. The consequence is that this makes their striking patterns more predictable and easier to avoid. St. Pierre’s striking is less predictable, as he throws only 2.3 strikes to the head per attempt to the body and legs.
However, it is on the ground where St. Pierre’s striking is strongest. Utilizing a relentless ground-and-pound attack, St. Pierre connects on 60% of his heavy strikes and lands them at a rate that is twice that of the average fighter.
There’s any number of ways to interpret the data and I don’t think these really tell the story of GSP’s striking. There’s a lot more to it than flash and grace. GSP has incredible offensive and defensive technique and really measures distance well, always coming inside and outside the pocket while changing angles. He may not have the accuracy of Anderson Silva, but that’s not saying a whole lot. And when you look at the roster of fighters he’s faced, realizing that he may not be able to hit as cleanly as he would like doesn’t really detract from his skill.

bloodyelbow.com

Tags: gsp, serra