GROUND AND POUND

Did you see Ultimate Fighting on Saturday night? If you didn't....TOO BAD! You missed one of the great fights in mixed martial arts! It was welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (above, right) vs interim champion, Carlos "Natural Born Killer" Condit (above, left). WHAT----A----FIGHT!!!!!!

Condit's a super talented bully-type who became obsessed with the thought of wrecking St. Pierre's handsome face. He trained hard for 9 months specifically to fight GSP. He turned down other fights, he watched recordings of GSP's matches, he studied with specialists and with his adversary's trainers and sparring partners, and he trained nearly to death, as only the most obsessed fighters can. Imagine how creepy it must have been for GSP to fight somebody who knew more about himself than he did. 

 Not only that but St. Pierre was out of the fight game for a year and a half, recuperating from a serious knee injury. Fans wondered if he'd have "ring rust." When he entered the Octagon he looked, for the first time in his career, worried. He knew that Condit was serious competition.

Condit's a truly great fighter. For one thing, he's one of the best back fighters in mixed martial arts. He doesn't just lie there while the guy on top pounds him, he fights aggressively from the bottom. When you're on top of Condit you've got a tiger by the tail. No doubt a lot of opponents wished they hadn't taken him to the ground at all.

St. Pierre took him down repeatedly, and paid the price with a face that looked horribly torn and raw. GSP had to work hard to avoid punches, submission holds, moves to wiggle out, and to deliver the ground and pound that could win the fight. There were zillions of expert moves and counter moves, executed so fast that they were almost a blur. I half thought GSP would die from an overworked heart that only just barely managed to stay in his chest.

Eventually Georges won by unanimous decision. I imagine most fans would find it hard to bring themselves to say that that the dedicated and resourceful Condit "lost"...he just didn't win. In the best fights you admire both fighters almost equally. Georges got the belt he deserved and entered the history books as one of the greatest UFC fighters ever.

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By the way, the top two pictures are of Condit and St. Pierre, but the animated gif is of two other fighters.