GSP, Lesnar dominate at UFC 87

The last time that Georges St. Pierre defended his UFC welterweight title, it quickly turned into the low point of his career. Already facing a number of personal issues away from the cage, he looked sloppy and distracted as Matt Serra defeated him by brutal TKO. This time, things were different—before an enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd at Minneapolis’ Target Center arena GSP brutalized Jon Fitch over five rounds to win an easy unanimous decision.

After a dominant takedown to open the fight, followed by a barrage of GSP punches it looked as if Fitch wouldn’t make it out of the first round. He managed to survive, though generated little offense the rest of the way as the champion had his way with him both on the ground and in standup striking exchanges. Fitch landed enough counterpunches to open a cut near the champion’s eye, but never even came close to winning a round. Fitch had to gut his way through another tough moment in the 4th, where a big knee followed by a flurry of kicks and punches had him on the verge of a TKO loss yet again. It may have been the champion’s strategy that saved him, as GSP decided to take Fitch down again rather than continue the striking onslaught as the round closed.

In the final round a game Fitch kept swinging for the fences at every opportunity, but the slick boxing skills of St-Pierre resulted in him getting the worst of his power punching efforts. After a couple of minutes, GSP took the fight to the ground and kept it there for the duration. Despite being beaten and battered, Fitch kept fighting—he kept looking for submission opportunities, but didn’t have the strength left to exploit a couple of apparent arm bar chances.

And there’s very likely not another athlete like Brock Lesnar even within the ranks of fight sport competitors. In his 3rd professional MMA bout the amateur wrestling legend turned WWE champion displayed a brutally effective new fighting style along with stellar patience and cage control as he obliterated tough and highly experienced Heath Herring. Lesnar received a thunderous ovation from his adopted home state as he entered the cage to the sounds of Motley Crue’s “Shout at the Devil” and quickly brought the crowd back to their feet within seconds of the opening horn as a powerful straight right sent Herring to the canvas.

Overall, Lesnar’s performance bordered on “amazing”—a serious case could be made that he won all three rounds by 10-8 margins, though all three judges scored the fight 30-26. He repeatedly took down and threw around the 6’4” 250 Herring like he was a welterweight, and controlled the fight to such a degree that his opponent didn’t land more than a half dozen strikes during the entire fight—and none which were particularly effective. Lesnar’s win gives a much needed boost to the UFC’s barren heavyweight division. While it may be premature to consider him a top 10 heavyweight, should Lesnar continue to develop and do such a good job of “fighting within his abilities” his potential in the sport is limitless.