Unfinished Business

"Every little change in the way fight went sent St. Pierre into panic at worst and confusion at best"



Huh?



What fight were you watching?



"blurred the vision in his left eye. However, in my opinion it still has a little to do with the fight going to distance."



So blindness in one eye for over half the fight has little to do with how the fight turns out?



Sorry, I don't see how you can come to such a conclusion.

The only way for GSP to get a finish last night was to land a clean overhand right. Even if he had four eyes, he couldn't finish Shields with something else.



GSP was strictly following the gameplan, and nothing else.

GSP just ain't no trained killa thats all.

How about a NC due to eye injury followed by a rematch? He was trying his best to make our money worth that was why. And still, he managed to win. Or if you think he won because the judges liked him?

I gotta disagree with that too, I thought at the end of the first round he looked like he was getting looser and more aggressive in the first and second round then for the last 3 he just went back and was content to pick him apart instead of really engage like it looked like he was going to do at the start of the fight.

@ Anton



I'll have to disagree with you on this one, Anton. GSP's depth perception would have been horrible last night; starting in about the third. I put all those misses and there were a lot of them, down to simply not being able to line the target up in his sites.



As to him following a game-plan - that's not news, nor a bad thing. It's actually a smart thing and something that GSP does better than anyone; with the possible exception of The Spider.



And I too - saw...no...confusion or panic in GSP, last night.



I agree with you on it being a boring fight and that GSP needs to start finishing his fights, but I'll cut him a lot of slack for his performance last night, based on the eye. And even on this point, GSP himself, knows his performance last night was not stellar and that he needs to start finishing fights.

It's amazing how some people can look at something and see two totally different things.



You see a performance that leaves a lot t be desired from a fighter who was panic and confused.



I saw a fighter with the heart of a champion who over came a injury that gave his opponent a huge tactical advantage.



And you seem to think there is something wrong with following a game plan that avoids exposing yourself to the one way your opponent can beat you.



I call that smart. Until the eye injury, Shields "a top 5 welterweight" couldn't touch GSP.



You can dislike a fighter style because he doesn't finish fights. You don't find it entertaining, that's your opinion.



But to write your 'observations' with obvious bias and inaccuracies, just to support your opinion, is not just sophism, it doesn't do justice to a great champion.

It was a poor choice of words regarding the eye but I agree with your point. There was no way GSP was going to KO someone Hendo couldn't. While I do also agree that GSP was following the game plan too closely I don't think he was confused by knocking Jake down with strikes other than an overhand right. The fact is Jake showed drastically improved stand up and was doing well even in the first and second round. Couple that with his chin and his superior ground game (which I was disappointed not to see him really attempt) and GSP's only chance at victory was a decision.

Dude, the title was on the line... If i couldnt see out of my left eye, and already had the belt and knew i was getting the decision, a) i would not go crazy on the guy, id be keeping my distance so i dont get knocked clean out by a punch i didnt see coming b) be a little preoccupied with keeping that eye from getting further injured.

There is NO WAY you can say that losing half your vision doesnt effect the fight.

the eye or not the eye who gives a shit....gsp does not owe you or me or anybody else anything, is he p4p yes, is he fighting top competition yes. i agree he was hesitant even when shield seem to be hurt but he just didnt want to get caught in the exitement of the "finish" and lose to some sort of jj move, at the end of the night the mission is to remain champ, would i liked to see gsp go in there and ktfo shield you bet your ass, of course but we all knew he doesnt fight like that hes a tactical fighter, he fights smart that just his style deal with it or just dont buy his fights that simple. and since we are criticizing why hasnt anybody talked about or boy shields mister i havent lost in 6 years, mister i have 15 straight wins against the likes of okami and condit, mister am gonna mount gsp and sumit him, boys he looked like crap. he didnt even get a take down or really tried after he realized it wasnt happening. oh and the eye did make a difference

when you panic you completely lose your gameplan...GSP never panic. The only thing I criticize him for is opting to use his "improved" boxing the whole fight. He was a headhunter with his punches, and that was his biggest mistake...GSP has evolved into a technical, skillful fighter, it's amazing to watch him fight, but I wish he would of thrown more combinations and "head kicks"...Shield's head was exposed for some kicking.

bias to who? Come on. Read every other of my GSP-related article... I consider him uber athlete and a great Champion. Left more to be desired? Hell yeah - a finish, that's what desired. And GSP was in panic after his eye got hurt, and didn't know what to do with Shields going down.



When he kicked Shields and didn't turn his "killer mode" on, that's when I realized his eye is far from being the issue.

I have to agree. I respect GSP a ton for his accomplishments.... With that said, he's more of an athlete than a fighter these days. I'm not sure how anyone can disagree with you when u say that anytime something that was not a part of the gameplan happened, he seemed a bit confused. I'm not sure if confused is the right word, but I cannot think of a better one. Basically, if it wasn't part of his plan, he was content to sit back and wait for things to "fall back in place."

Bias toward the idea that finishing a fight is the measure of a champion.



I love a good finish? Who doesn't? But who finishes Jake Shields? Dan Henderson couldn't do it at 185.



You are taking one thing that is fact, GSP didn't finish, and the making all kinds of statements, as if the your one fact backs them up. It doesn't.



It's your opinion that you saw a panicked fighter. It's our opinion that not following Shields to the ground was a mistake.



Did you ever think that Shields was going down as a decoy to draw GSP in? And how come no one is talking about the sudden appearance of GSP's overhand right?



Opinion's are like b*ttholes. Everyone has one. Even me. Ir's my opinion that, disappointment at what was not a highlight reel fight had colored many fans opinion of what really happened.



People used to put down Ali because he didn't knock people out the way Foreman did. Or Micheal Jordan for not passing enough. Or Kareem for not playing defense.



I hope GSP keeps fighting EXACTLY the way he does and stays at 170, because if he does, no one will beat him for years.



Anderson Silva has the UFC record for wins and title defenses, but even if he doesn't lose, he'll retire with a year or two. And then, about a year after that, GSP will take both records.



And eventually, if he does keeps winning, the broader picture will emerge. Do you think every hit DiMaggio had during his 56 game streak was a homerun?

How about the tactical advantage GSP had against Koscheck? He never capatalized on that either.

GSP was getting more lose indeed , but i dont know if he would have been able to finish Shields takeing the eye injury aside.

Is the killer instinct that is missing for GSP not his eye.



But hey i'll take GSP as the WW Champion over Jake Shields ANY DAY!!

It did seem to me that GSP was a slightly less than Brock lesnar after an injury. I fail to understand why people think GSP is always got a reason for being so safe when he does it over and over and over and... you get the point. He always cannot figure out why he can't be more aggressive and the reason is his instinct.

Agreed. And what makes it worse is his redundant apologies followed by an excuse.

Look at what Mark Hominick did against Aldo with far more injuries. Mark is a warrior and GSP is an athlete.

Not to discredit Hominick, because I love him to death as a fighter and fellow Ontario Canadian, but fighting for a belt is drastically different than defending a belt. When you fight for it, you put it all on the line, no matter what. Mark is a warrior indeed, but he was fighting for his dream and wasn't going to let some bumps and gashes stop him.



Hominicks injuries looked worse then they were. GSP lost sight in one eye. Put a patch on your eye, better yet, throw some vaseline over it and walk around your house and do every day things. You will find that you don't have the depth perception and precision to do most if not all of the things you try to your 100% ability.



GSP is a Champion. Decision or not. He wins. He stopped Shield's streak.



On a brighter note, I think GSP lost his killer instinct sometime ago. He could of broke Hardy's arm if he wanted, but something inside of him, perhaps the nice guy side, said no, let it go.

Got to agree with falcon. EVERYONE on this site would be talking about how stupid GSP is if he followed Jake to the ground and got submitted. GSP always follows the gameplan which is why he kept throwing that ugly overhand right. Man I was screaming for more leg kicks!

Leg keeps expose you to Shields grappling. It's a lot easier to grab a leg and take someone down than it is to grab an arm.

@Warheadchief



He had a leg. Remember the first round? It was like the first minute.... He did nothing. I'm positive GSP would have been alright.

It just boils down to GSP becoming a Koscheck and relying too much on that overhand right. People didn't notice, but GSP ****ed up Jakes jaw. At the end of the fight, you can see Jake trying to loosen up his jaw as it was probably pushed into his throat. Either way, maybe GSP fixed that massive under bite of his.

It's hard to hit what you can't see and it's even harder to avoid being hit, when you can't see.



For GSP to have hung in there, finished and win without the use of both eyes is, in itself, impressive. I give The Champ all the props in the world and take nothing away from him for, what was, a boring fight.



And if we are handing out criticism of GSP for his inability to stop Shields and wow us or his hesitancy, which I put down to they eye, then how about some criticism for Shields for not getting on his bike and going after Rush; given that he had hurt him that badly. One could easily make the argument that Shields should have laid it all on the line in 5th, attempted take-downs, closed the distance more, forced it up against the cage...heck, jumped guard, but he didn't.



The two things I give credit for in that fight - GSP for hanging in there and banging out a win, against a savvy and dangerous fighter and to Jake Shields, for him (much better than expected) stand-up.



My concern - is that GSP's well earned, but (understandably) boring win doesn't turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. I haven't read or heard anything about the extent of the damage to The Champ's eye and hope that it's nothing too serious. We had a nasty scare with Alan Belcher this past year and of course, the damage suffered by Koscheck, has laid up and two great fighters for too long; with Belcher nearly having his career ended. I hope we don't have to worry about similar issues with Georges. That would suck more that the fight, last night.

You lose depth perception without one eye. It would be very hard to see punches coming.

GSP is the one with the belt, if his opponent isn't laying it on the line, and putting it all out there for the win, it makes no sense for GSP to take more risks then his opponent

I agree with that but GSP said he was going for the kill for how many times in a row now and that he was determined.

He was going for the finish. Remember the right? You saw it a million times. That was what he was trying to "kill" him with haha!

getting his eye messed up, o well, he had all his 2 eyes his last fights and he still didt finish, he had shields hurt and didt go for the finish, its just like what some people have said here, GSP has no killer instincts at all, his a smart fighter,but a fighter that only fights to win by points..........TWITTER DANA!!!! GSP VS DIAZ!!!!! SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM DANA!!!

GSP gets a lot of heat for his style of fighting and to be honest I don't think necessarily deserved. Sure it can be boring, not the most fan friendly, but it works. I mean of course as a fan I want to see this man finish people who doesn't want to see a finish?



Give this man a break, I'm not bias towards him or anything every fighter has their style. I mean in boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn't the most exciting guy to watch, but he keeps winning, people keep buying his PPV fights. You can even argue that Semmy Schilt in K-1 is the same way, he wins a lot, not in the most exciting fashion, but people love him.



Hate it or love it, GSP is still champion lots of you may hate, there's lots that love as well. But that's the beauty of being a fan of this sport you can have you own opinion, and say what you want.

This is the first time I've ever spoke out with displeasure for GSP. I've always considered myself a fan of his and still do. Its just the reality of the situation. When the fans in Toronto, of all places, are booing during the fight, there is something wrong.

That 'something wrong' was GSP not being able to fully engage due to his eye, and Shields not fully engaging and laying it on the line as some have stated and the fans inability to understand the full reality of what was occuring at the time. GSP cannot take the blame for the way that fight turned out. He'd hurt Shields bad a couple of times until his sight went and would probably have done alot more damage had his sight not been affected. I thought you to be one of the more savvy contributors Joey - I thought you would have seen it for how it really was.

yep, thats what we are doing. I like GSP but I just don't think he is a real fighter at heart. He seems like an amazing athlete and likes to win like an athlete. He is champ and until someone better comes along he is what 170 has. I think his hole is being exposed now though in that he doesn't seem to mentally want to commit to being a fighter and sooner or later someone will tap into that with all their chances at recovery.

Agreed. And I think Jake Shields realized that, but he was still unable to capitalize. Although he said he didnt want to "give to much away," Jake said before the fight that he thinks that its necessary to pull GSP into a fight... Meaning, not just a technical MMA match, but a real fight. I believe he is correct, however, who is good enough to do it? Apparently it wasn't Jake Shields, not on that night at least.

Good way of putting it.

Georges is taking WAY too much heat. He was phenomenal last night. He failed to finish because Jake has drastically improved his striking and has an iron chin. The only disappointment last night (unless you had unreasonable expectations) was that Shields didn't put any real effort into taking it to the ground. He only had @ 3 take down attempts. If anything, instead of bitching about how disappointing GSP was we should all be talking about how much Jake's stand up has improved, how amazing Georges' striking was and what a good kick boxing match we got to see you bunch of blood thirsty ghouls.

GSP fans are athlete fans. I like GSP but I am a fan of other guys like AS, Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Forrest Griffin, Damian Maia, BJ Penn, and my hypocritical side is John Fitch for some reason I can't figure out why(maybe because he needs fans).

I think this event proved something that will be the nemesis of all future GSP's, Jone Jones etc. The more dominate you are against your opponents the bigger the pressure. The level of performance expected quickly becomes unrealistic. And when media and fans turn you into something bigger than life eventually that pressure will defeat you. There is a hardly any other fighter in MMA than had more pressure than GSP that night. So no matter his skill set, this time pressure was his greatest opponent. He was expected to finish and dominate his opponent and even though the safe performance was good enough for mortals it wasn't good enough for GSP and his fans. I'm not bashing or defending anyone here this is merely a statesman that pressure will eventually defeat you and the greater you are the greater the pressure. It's a true paradox. GSP kept saying I'm at my best under pressure. I think this time the statement, on a long enough time line everyones survival rate drops to zero was more true. He is just not the type of fighter some people would like him to be. I mean can you image fighters like Fedor or Nick Diaz with one eye playing it safe? He is simply isn't that kind of fighter whether some people thing that is good or bad. One thing I have to say about the main event. It was least exciting fight on the card, but it was the most expected. So if you have high expectations you will have high disappointments.

First I would like to say congratulation to GSP for retaining his belt. Secondly the way I saw this fight is, GSP won and he retained his belt and that's all that matter in the end of the day. I have said this before and I'll say it again "Better to win ugly than to lose pretty."

Did you guys notice that through out the fight GSP was clearly physically stronger then Shields which isn't surprising.



What I theorize is that GSP wanted his knockout but is also prepping for a move to 185 lbs ... working on his technique and using timing and tactics rather then using brute strength where at 185 he probably won't have that advantage until he gets settled in the weight and gets used to the muscle.



There is alot of critical eyes on GSP's preformances and screams for him "Finish him" like this is a game of mortal combat or something... I actually admire him for his restraint in not going after shields on the ground like Fedor against Werum did and getting caught in the master gaurd of jake shields.



If you heard Jake shields corner during the fight Jake asked "Should I pull gaurd?" and his corner said not yet. I'm not disputing Jake wasnt hurt when he went down .... but how hard would it be to fake being more hurt then you really were to pull GSP in ...



Anton for a writer on the sport and being critical of GSP preformance you seem to have very little understanding of tactics.

*this is a repost from earlier in the thread because I spent awhile writing it and don't want it to get lost in the middle of the pack.*



Bias toward the idea that finishing a fight is the measure of a champion.



I love a good finish? Who doesn't? But who finishes Jake Shields? Dan Henderson couldn't do it at 185.



You are taking one thing that is fact, GSP didn't finish, and the making all kinds of statements, as if the your one fact backs them up. It doesn't.



It's your opinion that you saw a panicked fighter. It's our opinion that not following Shields to the ground was a mistake.



Did you ever think that Shields was going down as a decoy to draw GSP in? And how come no one is talking about the sudden appearance of GSP's overhand right?



Opinion's are like b*ttholes. Everyone has one. Even me. Ir's my opinion that, disappointment at what was not a highlight reel fight had colored many fans opinion of what really happened.



People used to put down Ali because he didn't knock people out the way Foreman did. Or Micheal Jordan for not passing enough. Or Kareem for not playing defense.



I hope GSP keeps fighting EXACTLY the way he does and stays at 170, because if he does, no one will beat him for years.



Anderson Silva has the UFC record for wins and title defenses, but even if he doesn't lose, he'll retire with a year or two. And then, about a year after that, GSP will take both records.



And eventually, if he does keeps winning, the broader picture will emerge. Do you think every hit DiMaggio had during his 56 game streak was a homerun?

Doh! It was suppsed to read...



It's your opinion that not following Shields to the ground was a mistake.

The main stream media likes to drum up controversy to stir the pot ... Saying that GSP's fans are disappointed that he doesn't get finishes.



I hope GSP doesn't take this garbage to heart because I and most people I know watch GSP fights because he is a thinking fighter not a brawler a master tactician that executes his strategy and doesn't let his team down by going off the rails and adding lib....



I recently read an article in :UFC magazine that was very insightful and well done.. GSP is his own worst critic and a perfectionist he is not just struggling to win fights but to obtain a level of artistry that I find profoundly inspiring.



GSP WIN Lose Decision I know you strive for perfection, respect and honor your fellow fighters and progress the sport. Fight on and I look forward to seeing you fight no matter what the outcome.

AS is a thinking fighter too, but sometimes you should think if you have an advantage and want a certain type of finish then go for it like AS does. Some thinking fighters have guts and others don't. It's like two master chess players and one sees a move he could use but is afraid to use it because there is a slight chance he could be outmanouvered a few moves down even if it's unlikely the guy you are playing against can beat you. Don't throw a punch opportunity because you might get hit back. AS beat Vitor because he took the chance and believed he was that much better. GSP seems afraid to ever put himself in a position that could really challenge him so he can get that coveted finish.