Georges St. Pierre: Does he deserve to be Canada's Best Athlete for a Third year in a row?
Posted on December 23, 2010, 05:23 PM by Ryan VenturaPersonally, I am a huge fan of Georges St. Pierre. Not only does it make me very proud to say he is a fellow countryman (WAR CANADA), he is a great ambassador for the sport of MMA. If you are looking for honor and respect, the true Martial Arts spirit best represented in the game today, look no further. GSP is a marketers dream when it comes to Mixed Martial Arts. He’s a clean cut French-Canadian guy, with a respectable personality, handsome looks for the ladies, and a positive role model for the children. In the corporate world he is the face of Under Armour, the face of Gatorade, and was the cover boy in Canada (and internationally) for the first UFC Undisputed video game. Now with all the good qualities that Georges St. Pierre possesses, he received a lot of criticism from the fans regarding the most important thing of all, his fighting style.
You can argue that St. Pierre is the ultimate athlete. His dedication to training, personal improvement, and the coaching staff that he has behind him is unmatched. Freddie Roach for boxing, Phil Nurse for muay thai, Renzo Gracie for BJJ, and of course Greg Jackson for general MMA. Does his all-star team of coaches help make him a world class fighter / athlete? Of course. But does it make him exciting and entertaining? Long-time fans of MMA have seen in the past GSP’s brilliance. We remember his flashy strikes, his ability to incorporate his Kyokushin Karate black belt background into his stand up and wrestling. We remember the many wars he has been in, the dominating performances, the spectacular display of technique and athleticism.
When GSP beat Matt Hughes in their rematch at UFC 65 for the Welterweight Championship back in 2006, we always knew he was a special fighter, but that night a star was born. But fresh off his title victory, he defended the belt against underdog Matt Serra and was TKO’ed in the 2nd round. To this day, many fans consider this one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Georges quickly redeemed himself in the rematch against Serra, this time in his hometown of Montreal. Of course he first had to go through a young Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes for a third time. Since losing the title back in 2007, St. Pierre has been untouchable. He has won eight fights in a row in dominating fashion. On paper GSP is quite a dominate figure, but at the end of the day is he someone that makes you jump out of your seat and surprises you?
All the greatest champions in sports are remembered for their “it” moment. Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Fedor Emilianenko, what do they all have in common? They have faced adversity; they have been to the brink of defeat, yet somehow they have won and come out on top. At the end of the day, we remember the greats for these moments, even to the point where we forget about their win / loss record. Yes, GSP has lost and is not unstoppable but he has YET to be brought to that place where the other greats have been. Until we see GSP truly get tested and destroy his opponent in devastating fashion, in my opinion you can’t really put him up in that list of champions. He is pound-for-pound one of the all-time greatest no question, but like I said fans can forget about numbers. We remember “the moment”, the stories we’ll grow old with, and tell our grandchildren about.
So does GSP deserve to be voted as Canada’s Athlete of the Year for a third year in a row, beating out Major League Baseball players, Stanley Cup, and Olympic Gold Medalists? I say, why the hell not? And if you don’t want him to win it, you should have voted against him, and not complain about him winning. He can be the most popular sportsman in this country, but he still has a long way to go to truly win the hearts and minds of the diehard MMA fans.
RCV
Pictures: CombatLifeStyle.com
Comments
It seems that his main competition would be Sidney Crosby (NHL) and Joey Votto (MLB).
GSP is widely recognized as one of the top 3, if not the #1 pound for pound mixed martial artist in the world, as he has been for the past 3 years. RCV just made an argument that you all should be familiar with as MMA fans. GSP is certainly a worthy candidate.
Because of the structure of the NHL season, both this season and last season must be considered for Crosby. This season, he leads the NHL in goals and scoring by a large margin, and seems like a pretty easy MVP choice if the season were over today. Last season, he led the NHL in goals and was second in scoring. He was not named MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy) however.
Joey Votto led or was in the top 5 in almost every meaningful hitting category last year and was named NL MVP. He is only the third Canadian to be named MLB MVP.
As an MMA fan, I would like to see GSP win again. Crosby has a strong case, but since he finished the season second in the MVP voting, I don't see him winning it. Votto on the other hand was recognized as the best in his sport, and while I find baseball painfully boring, I think he will win the award, if only because people get tired of seeing the same guy win again and again.
To be honest I was really surprised to see him win for a third time. I mean Sidney Crosby in the NHL is tearing it up and also he was the hero for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics.
GSP does deserve the title of Canada's Best Athlete, but there are times when I think it's a popularity contest. Also because this was an online vote, many people from outside of Canada probably voted for him too.
There is a good point to this article, aside from maybe his win over Hughes he really doesn't have anything that would be defined as a shining moment, but personally, I have no problem with that. St-Pierre will be the first one to admit he's not a finished project as far as being a fighter goes, and I'm happy to take any and all journeys for greatness right along with him.
I am Canadian n I barely watch NHL but this year Crosby should hve gotten it just because of the Winter Olympics, scoring the game winner n getting Canada a gold
I think the most impressive part of the victory is that it seems to have pissed quite a few Canadian's off who see to think Crosby should have won and therefore are whining about it. It's cute that they say the voting is a sham and St-Pierre only won it to boost the company's relationship with the UFC, yet if they thought it was BS I'm sure they wouldn't even be talking about it.
i think dana white should win for being the best two faced f--ker in the whole world
@TheEnforcer,
Firstly Dana White is not Canadian and secondly being two faced isnt a sport or athletic event so how the hell can he win the honor of being Canada's Best Athlete? your comment makes no sense.
You really think he still has "a long way to go" (emphasis on "long")? Really? Sorry, that really suprises me considering everything he has done. But then again, I personally feel that his "it" moment came when he brutalized Penn during their second fight. Regardless, interesting thoughts.
I do personally think GSP has had that moment yet, where he has been taken to the brink of defeat, and came out on top.
Even Anderson Silva as dominated as he has been in his career, was about to lose his Middleweight Title. He losing the whole fight with Sonnen and out of nowhere pulls out a triangle. That is a moment for the ages!
All the great champions have these moments, GSP is great, but for me personally I haven't seen him truly tested yet. Only time will tell.
"the best athlete that eva come out from canada", so yes.
yes he definitely does. i agree with dana white's assessment of the wane gretsky thing. i'm from ireland and neither i nor anyone i know would have heard of any of the canadian athletes mentioned above so he's certainly the most famous. mma is an international sport that crosses all borders, hockey or any winter sports are more confined to certain countries. and considering his success in mma, he deserves to be canadian athlete of the year again imo, and he'd probably contend for north american athlete of the year too.
The article doesn't tell the whole story.
GSP was voted by fans to be the Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year. This is a fan voted award put on by the third tier (TSN and the Score are better networks) sports program in Canada.
I don't want to take anything away from GSP but he has never been and probably never will be named the Canadian Male Athlete of the year by the sportswriters in this country. Maybe one day someone from MMA will get the recognition of the mainstream and possibly will win the Lou Marsh, but I don't see this happening anytime soon.
So what you're saying that the fans opinion doesn't matter and the opinion of guys who probably didn't play sports, and sure as hell didn't fight in MMA, is what matters and what we should pay attention to? But then wouldn't that mean whoever the media members decide is the Canadian Athlete would be the Canadian Media Man of the year?
I 100% agree with your comments regarding the Sportswriters of Canada not selecting GSP as the Athlete of The Year. In a way the voting for CATY is sort of a popularity contest. Let's also keep in mind the people from outside of Canada that could have voted GSP, who knows.
I don't agree with Sportsnet being a third tier sports network, as a matter of fact I like The Score and TSN equally.
Well for one **** sydney crosby and i mean honestly other then SC i dont see could of won.... i say letm fight it out!
As a Canadian, although GSP accomplished a bunch in 2010, Crosby's high point output this year and last year and scoring the OT goal in the Olympic Gold Medal game is far more significant as a Canadian.
GSP is Canadian? He's Québécois to the core. I'm not a fan of Crosby but he defiantly deserves that title. Ovechkin is nowhere to be seen this NHL season.
Uh, dude the NHL is not a 2 player league. Henrik Sedin was the MVP last season (the majority of which was in this year), not Crosby, not Ovechkin.
This year, Crosby is the best, but I don't think it's enough to be the best for part of a year.
To me it's between Joey Votto and GSP, who were the best in their sports all year.
True. But i think you have to take into consideration of "Canadian". Whats more Canadian than hockey?
I think that OT winner for Crosby would have made the difference, also seeing as GSP only fought 2wince. But I think Votto may have been the most deserving, considering his feats were te hmost unexpected. Everyone expects Crosby to have solid years and for Canada to win the Olympics, and everyone expected GSP to beat his 2 oppenents this year. Votto on the otherhand sorta came outta nowhere, and has a goood story behind him considering he had panic attacks/anxiety last season and has to miss a bunch of games. I love GSP and Crosby, but Votto shoulda got it, hes from my city!
Dude this is an awsome article and i never knew he was in Kyokushin, I'm in Kyokushin thats awsome :D
About the question of him being canada's best athlete of the year does he diserve it? As a canadian i would have to say no, just to put it in a simple fashion mainly cause he only fought only twice this year. But i do understand why they would give it to him. He is the only canadian UFC champ right now, he coached Tuf12 and he dominated all his opponents this year, i guess thats a good reason.
......but then again i think Crosby earns the title this year cause of his outstanding performance at the olympics this year
crosby this year for sure
Holy crap! You mean to tell me there are other Canadian athletes?
Sidney Crosby is Canada's top athlete.
How can someone who competes 2-3 times a year be the "top athlete" ? Crosby competes 82 times a year.
You make a very good point as well.
No argument there
if you ask Canadians then maybe GSP is not best athelete of the year. If you ask 99% of non Canadians he is the only canadian athelete they are aware of.
Hahaha I know Steve Nash too.
Not all voters like all sports. The assumption in voting for the athlete of the year is that everyone watches all the sports represented by the nominated athletes.
There is no doubt that the voting is a popularity contest deciding which is better, an apple or an orange.
I agree. Also another point I have made with others in the comment box, what about the people who aren't from Canada who voted for GSP? I'm sure there was a lot of them out there who voted for GSP, but don't even live in Canada at all.