UFC Welterweight Champion – George “Rush” St. Pierre

The next UFC championship title fight is going to take place in the welterweight division on March 27th of 2010. The reigning welterweight champ George “Rush” St. Pierre of Canada will put his title on the line against Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy of the United Kingdom. While Hardy will prove to be a tough opponent with great technical striking I expect that the current champion St. Pierre will prove victorious because he is an extremely well-rounded fighter in excellent condition. The current UFC champ (St. Pierre) won his last fight against Thiago Alves by unanimous decision after five hard fought rounds in July of 2009; which brought his winning streak to eight-in-a-row. Hardy is coming off two decision wins against tough opponents Mike Swick and Marcus Davis proving that he is a force to be reckoned with.

My overall prediction for the fight is that George St. Pierre will be victorious in the second via submission. This prediction is based on witnessing both fighters perform in the octagon. Dan Hardy’s main strength lies in his technical striking and resilience to being taken down to the ground, but he hasn’t faced an opponent with as much athleticism as St. Pierre yet. I expect that in the first round the combatants will trade standing up to get a feel for things, then St. Pierre will outwork Hardy for the takedown and begin to wear him out. In the second round I think that Hardy will get caught in an arm-bar to give St. Pierre his ninth straight win in the octagon.

Without overlooking the “punchers chance” that always exists with great strikers, one can’t help but wonder who might be next in line to fight one of the most dominate UFC champions of all time. Some candidates consist of Anthony Johnson, Paulo Thiago, Martin Kampmann and Carlos Condit just to name a few. There have also been rumours of a “super-fight” between the welterweight champion George St. Pierre and the middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, which is an idea which makes me nervous for St. Pierre.

All other things being considered though, I hope that George “Rush” St. Pierre will remain the UFC welterweight champion of the World for the duration of 2010 and onward.

On a similar note, I would like to end this post by saying that Canada produces some great mixed martial artists.