Matt Hughes Thinks Georges St. Pierre Is Boring, Overpaid

[mcmainiac]

Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre had a great trilogy of fights in the Octagon, but their rivalry died down a bit after they fought for the third and final time, with Hughes seeming to have gained a grudging respect for the man who beat him twice.

Or maybe not.

A month after the fact, Hughes has weighed in on St. Pierre's unanimous decision victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 124, and Hughes is telling St. Pierre the same thing that St. Pierre once told him: "I'm not impressed by your performance."

"I'm going to say this, even though I'm going to piss a bunch of people off," Hughes wrote on his web site. "To me the GSP fight was boring and I'm even going to tell you why I think it was boring: because I believe GSP is on defense. Number one, he doesn't want to lose the belt and, number two, I think the UFC is paying him too much money and he doesn't want to lose that either. I don't know what's going on in his mind; but he just doesn't seem like he wants to finish anybody.

The criticism of St. Pierre not wanting to finish anybody is a common one, and there's some validity to it: St. Pierre's last five fights consist of four decision wins and one TKO in which he didn't actually finish B.J. Penn, although Penn couldn't continue after the fourth round. If what you look for is a finisher, St. Pierre isn't your guy.

Of course, St. Pierre could easily respond to Hughes by saying, "I finished you twice."

Hughes' contention that "the UFC is paying him too much money," however, doesn't have much validity. The UFC pays fighters largely based on how well they draw, and the reason the UFC pays St. Pierre so much is that he's their second-biggest pay-per-view draw, behind only Brock Lesnar. St. Pierre is paid a lot because he's really good at his job, and if the fans thought he was boring, they wouldn't keep buying his pay-per-views.

So Hughes' criticisms are likely to make St. Pierre react the same way he reacted when Hughes beat Penn at UFC 63: I am not impressed by your performance.


http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/01/06/matt-hughes-thinks-georges-st-pierre-is-boring-overpaid/

[Geo]

this only proves Hughes is reading  message boards and getting the general consensus of, and agreeing with 3/4 MMA fans these days...

these days winning is just a byproduct of him "fighting not to lose"

I'm praying Shields beats him just to make the division interesting again..

[benchmstr]

this only proves Hughes is reading  message boards and getting the general consensus of, and agreeing with 3/4 MMA fans these days...

these days winning is just a byproduct of him "fighting not to lose"

I'm praying Shields beats him just to make the division interesting again..

the division would just get worse....there is no fighter more boring than shields...

bench

[chaos]

the division would just get worse....there is no fighter more boring than shields...

bench

X2

After seeing GSP box the fuck out of Koscheks face I don't even think Shields will be able to take him down, let alone beat him.

GSP by decision.

[Geo]

Shields beating GSP would only open things up and make it more competitive amongst the top 3 or 4 contenders that are going to fall in line for a title shot.

let's face it,Serra beating GSP was a total fluke, but it was also the last time 170 was even remotely interesting..

170 right now is bottomed out.

[chixlegs]

Ridiculous criticism from Matt Hughes.  Hughes was very one dimensional -- he wrestled really well.  He was far more boring than GSP, who I don't find boring at all!  Also, the level of competition right now is much greater than it was just a few years ago when Hughes was the champ.

Also, GSP may not have "finished" his fights (4 out of the last 5) but he did beat the fucking shit out of each one of those guys.  He pounded John Fitch to a bloody pulp.  He humiliated B.J Penn.  He destroyed Hardy and punched Koscheck's face into a swollen mass of ugliness.  These guys he is fighting are tough motherfuckers.  To criticize GSP for anything at this point just seems silly to me.  He is the best fighter in MMA in my opinion.  Nobody can deny he is top 3.  I have him as the best, and I love watching his fights.

[K-1]

Matt sounding like a pure hater here.

He got stopped twice by GSP.

[benchmstr]

Shields beating GSP would only open things up and make it more competitive amongst the top 3 or 4 contenders that are going to fall in line for a title shot.

let's face it,Serra beating GSP was a total fluke, but it was also the last time 170 was even remotely interesting..

170 right now is bottomed out.

the opposite actually....its topped out.....they need new talent, and i agree with you on that....but shields isnt the answer...he is 10 steps backwards...

bench

[Geo]

the opposite actually....its topped out.....they need new talent, and i agree with you on that....but shields isnt the answer...he is 10 steps backwards...

bench

a topped out division would be a division with countless potential matchups for GSP...

a bottomed out division is a division with no potential match ups on the horizon...

and I'd rather have one guy (shields maybe) that has GSP's number bring new blood into the title picture than to just have another round of rematch's like we're probably going to see if GSP gets by Jake...




like it or not,  right now Jake Shields is probably the only guy left that can make 170  at least a little bit interesting.

[LatsMcGee]

I really think Matt Hughes is just jealous,  he probably just wishes ESPN cared about MMA when he was at his peak like GSP has now.   Just seems bitter,  bringing up the cash factor proves that.