VS

UFC 74 Respect
Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck
Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 10PM EST
St Pierre -250
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Georges St Pierre (13-2) is pissed. I mean pissed. He should have never lost to Matt Serra. He became a champion and did not work like one in his first title defense at UFC 69: Shootout. He will be making his first MMA fight against a cocky Josh Koscheck (9-1) who is one of the most improved fighters in the world. However, that will not be enough. Koscheck is a wrestler with improving all around skills but he does not have the skill set to even compete with a fighter like St Pierre at this time.

Everyone is hyping the fight but this fight will not go past the first round as Georges St Pierre is so determined to will back the UFC Welterweight title back that he has trained like a demon. He has refocused his trained similar to how he won the title against Matt Hughes in first place at UFC 65: Bad Intentions. He is more focused and dedicated to getting back on top that St Pierre has the Eye of the Tiger look in his eyes.

St Pierre has much better stand up with the ability to kick (unlike Koscheck) and in jujitsu there is no comparison in skills. It is basically a blue belt level fighter versus a black belt. In addition, Georges has been working with world class caliber wrestlers to counter Koscheck’s wrestling skills and ground and pound attempts. Koscheck has even admitted that when all else fails he will rely on his wresting but to be a MMA fighter you need to have it all in mixed martial arts and St Pierre has been able to train for this strategy.

What has Koscheck done to train for St Pierre? His boxing. Well there is no way in hell that Koscheck can match St Pierre’s power and especially his kicks. If Koscheck wants to stand up and trade punches with St Pierre is will be over. He tries to take down and shoot in on St Pierre he will get knocked out with a knee. Josh Koscheck is not on St Pierre’s level in skill and mental attitude. He is brash and talks a big game; but that’s about it.

Bottom Line: I do not see any possible ways for Koscheck to will. St Pierre is pissed and trained like he has never trained before and that is a scary thing. Koscheck’s win over Diego Sanchez at UFC 69 was a surprise but he does not enough skills to beat a 100% healthy and 100% strong-minded St Pierre in this NHB matchup.  Great fighters in mixed marital arts lose but never lose twice and St Pierre is a great fighter and Koscheck is still learning to become one.

Is takes more then a cocky attitude to win against St Pierre. Georges St. Pierre wins with a first round knock out.

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