GSP has been out for more than 18 months since his last fight against Jake Shields. St. Pierre will be defending his title against current Interim champ Carlos Condit. This will be a very interesting match. Condit will be one of GSP’s more well rounded opponents to date. However, Condit isn’t going to bring what GSP hasn’t already faced.
Condit’s last fight against Nick Diaz showed that he is a very cerebral fighter. He executed his game plan perfectly and didn’t fall into Diaz’s antics, which have gotten many other fighters flustered. Condit has a great chance to shock MMA fans and win the title. What he needs to do to win is to immediately go after GSP at the opening round. Condit needs to put on the pressure, but stay away from the takedowns. GSP tends to spend the first couple of minutes sizing up his opponents before he pulls the trigger. Since GSP has been out for some time, Condit will need to take advantage of GSP’s ring rust. The early pressure from Condit will keep GSP at bay.
One of the biggest questions people have for the current champ is how he will perform coming back from a serious injury, and will he still be able to dominate the division? A true champ will always come to win and GSP has more than enough tools to maintain the title for some time. Condit will be a tough test for the champ, but GSP will prove too much for the challenger once the champ gets into his grove.
My Picks:
Georges St. Pierre beats Carlos Condit
Martin Kampmann beats Johny Hendricks
Francis Carmont beats Tom Lawlor
Nick Ring beats Costa Philippou (fight cancelled)
Rafael dos Anjos beats Mark Bocek
Mark Hominick beats Pablo Garza
Patrick Cote beats Alessio Sakara
Chad Riggs beats Cyrille Diabate
Sam Stout beats John Makdessi
Rodrigo Damm beats Antonio Carvalho
