Ares Mixed Martial Arts: UFC, Strikeforce news & articles

November 25, 2009 by Eric Jarrod

With Dan Hardy recently being dubbed number one contender for Georges St-Pierre’s UFC Welterweight Title and Josh Koscheck campaigning for a shot at GSP, this is a good time to explore the contenders in the UFC welterweight division.

Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy

Because Georges St-Pierre has cleaned out the serious contenders in the UFC welterweight division, Dan Hardy and Mike Swick recently fought for a shot at the title. With a unanimous decision victory, Dan Hardy earned the title shot. Hardy is undefeated in his last seven fights (4-0 in the UFC); he is a heavy-handed striker, so he does have a puncher’s chance against GSP. That is the only chance he has. Hardy can match neither GSP’s striking nor his grappling. St-Pierre will likely take down Hardy easily and drop elbows and punch Hardy through the mat, or St-Pierre may take it easy on Hardy and simply submit him.

Josh Koscheck

Josh Koscheck and Georges St-Pierre fought in August of 2007. St-Pierre proved to be the more dynamic striker, and St-Pierre was able to out-wrestle the former NCAA Division I National Champion. Since that time,
GSP is 5-0, with wins over some of the best welterweights in the world (Matt Hughes, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, and Thiago Alves). Koscheck has five wins and two losses since his fight with St-Pierre. One loss coming to fellow welterweight contender Thiago Alves. St-Pierre has improved as a fighter in the last two years, and Koscheck has not improved enough to persuade fans that the outcome in a rematch would be different than the outcome in his first fight with St-Pierre.

Jon Fitch

Since Jon Fitch’s first UFC fight, in October of 2005, Fitch’s only loss was by decision to George St-Pierre in August of 2008. Since his loss to GSP, Fitch has two wins in the UFC octagon, against Akihiro Gono and Paulo Thiago. Although Fitch proved to be no match for GSP, he managed to take GSP to a decision, and his MMA career overall has been quite impressive – including a win over fellow welterweight contender, Thiago Alves. In his last fight with GSP, Fitch took a 5-round beating. UFC commentator Joe Rogan has been known to say that sometimes fighters are too tough for their own good. That was the case when Fitch fought GSP. Fighters cannot take the type of beating that GSP handed to Fitch in their first fight often. It would likely be best for Fitch’s career to never step into the cage with GSP again.

Thiago “Pitbull” Alves

Thiago Alves had won 7 consecutive fights before suffering a decision loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100. Alves is a huge welterweight; he sweats off absurd amounts of weight to make the 170 lb welterweight limit. Alves is one of the most powerful strikers in the welterweight division, and his takedown defense has been much-improved in his past several fights. Alves easily decisioned Josh Koscheck, a former NCAA Division I national wrestling champion, in October of 2008, albeit Kos took the fight on short notice. The Pitbull’s loss to Jon Fitch was over three years ago, and Alves is much-improved since. GSP’s win over Alves at UFC 100 is still relatively recent, and it was a dominate win. Alves will likely not get another shot at GSP’s UFC welterweight title anytime soon.

Unless the UFC can sign Nick Diaz or Jake Shields, there is no true contender in the UFC welterweight division. Georges St-Pierre will need to seek middleweight opponents for a challenge.