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A mixed reception for Georges St. Pierre’s return?
By Zach Arnold | November 13, 2012
It’s interesting to see the reaction internally in the MMA business about the return of Georges St. Pierre. Ticket sales for his return in Montreal (against Carlos Condit) are OK. They’re not off-the-charts, but completely respectable. On top of that, I don’t think there’s much doubt that St. Pierre will draw at least 600,000 PPV buys. Of course, the card underneath the fight isn’t the most eye-catching menu in the world but it’s serviceable.
What’s more intriguing is that since St. Pierre has been on the sidelines, there are a few notable fighters who are willing to take their digs at St. Pierre. Martin Kampmann is one who decided to throw St. Pierre under the bus in a recent interview. Kampmann says that Carlos Condit isn’t a quitter but that St. Pierre’s showing against Matt Serra is somehow proof that when things get tough, St. Pierre is a frontrunner who will quit.
If there were any concerns about St. Pierre winning convincingly against Condit, the public isn’t buying it. St. Pierre remains a solid -350 (7 to 2) favorite for the fight, which is slightly lower but not off the normal favorite status GSP is in for his high-profile fights as champion. Kampmann, in comparison, remains a slight underdog to Johny Hendricks for the semi-main event fight. Don’t put the cart before the horse?
And then there’s the public negotiations happening with Anderson Silva about a potential fight against either St. Pierre or Jon Jones. St. Pierre’s probably the safer fight for him to take and he’ll probably make the same amount of cash for that bout as he would if he fought Jon Jones, who is a bigger-sized opponent.
As this video from Ed Soares demonstrates, they’re considering a 178-pound catch-weight fight against St. Pierre. If you had to make the odds for a Silva/St. Pierre fight, who would be the favorite and by how much?
Topics: Canada, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 7 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I’d favor Anderson Silva for obvious reasons (undefeated streak, size advantage, no long injury related layoff) and I’d expect GSP to enter at about +200. I think there’s a lot of people out there who dislike GSP, and that combined with Anderson’s domination of opponents and finishing record will move the line slightly out of what it should be and a bit too far into Silva being favored.
Personally, I’ll reserve judgement for an opinion on the fight until after we see GSP fight Condit. That knee injury could have decimated his explosive power double, and if that’s the case, he’s dead meat against Anderson (though he still would likely beat Condit).
Depends on where the fight is held at. If its at 185 (as Matt Hughes wants) then I’d favor Anderson. If its at a catch weight of 178 or lower, and GSP is still the best at transitioning to wrestling in MMA, than I’d favor GSP personally (although Anderson will still be a favorite on the books).
Zuffa would canibalize future business for a super fight. I do not like it.
I am going to the theater for this PPV. Should be able to determine quickly what people think of GSP still.
He does need to finish the fight to get some fans back.
Anderson doesn’t want to fight Jones, because he knows Jones can beat him. Therefore, he (Anderson) is going to push hard to fight St. Pierre, which I don’t think George has a chance at beating Anderson. Anderson is too big and strong for George.
The only fighters who could move up in weight and beat the champion…. Or least have a serious shot at it…. Are Jones at Heavyweight and Aldo at Lightweight. And I would say Aldo would still be a big underdog against most of the Top Lightweights. He might match up better to Edgar and beat him…. But that size difference between the bigger LW’s would hurt him.
So really Jones is the only guy who I can see doing it and being successful long term. Then again, he is taller then most Heavyweights anyways….. So his body frame would help him.
Shane Carwin/Roy Nelson scratched. Carwin claims knee trouble.
Gray Maynard/Joe Lauzon scratched. Maynard claims knee injury. Jim Miller vs. Joe Lauzon now at UFC 155.
Figures. Hasn’t Nelson been saying for months that Carwin was going to not show due to injury? Either he has a crystal ball or he already knew and was telling people not to get excited. Unlike when they scratched Liddell/Ortiz, apparently they have no one in reserve this time. Big surprise.
Miller/Lauzon borders on “who cares” territory. I feel shocked that they haven’t fought already.