GSP/Alves UFC 100 preview

Written by Grady Roy   |   Saturday, July 11 2009

Don't let the 'man panties' fool you:  GSP is a badass.  Thiago Alves may represent the most formidable challenge of his UFC welterweight title reign. (Photo: UFC)

When GSP enters the octagon at UFC 100 he will be more than defending his title for a third time, he will be solidifying his legacy.  “I don’t fight to be champion because I got the belt.” He says.  “I fight to make my mark in the sport and in the octagon”.  

MMA fans believe he has already done that after earning his first title from Matt Hughes—arguably the most dominant champion in the history of the weight class-- at UFC.  The legacy of a champion is defined, however, by his title defenses and George St. Pierre will be defending his belt against a very worthy opponent in Thiago Alves at UFC 100.

Alves has acknowledged that GSP is “the best in the business”.  He has gone on record stating that St. Pierre in complete in every way, but at the same time claims “I’m going to go right through him” Alves thinks the mixture of his Muay Thai and tough takedown defense will be a puzzle that GSP won’t be able to solve.  “I’ve got all the tools, I’m as strong as him, I’m as fast as him, and I’ve got the best camp behind me.  I’ve been through a lot of things to get me to this point—and I’m sure he did too—but it’s my time” states Alves.

GSP is 12-2 in his UFC career, and had fought the best of the best.  Of his 14 fights 8 have been against former or current champions including three fights against Matt Hughes, two against BJ Penn and Matt Serra, and one against Sean Sherk.  In addition many of the other fights were against fighters ranked in the top 3 of the welterweight division including Frank Trigg, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koshcheck.  In other words, GSP enters with a wealth of experience, and will treat it as being just another day at the office.

Alves also comes in with quite a bit of experience having fought 11 times in the UFC.  And even though he has only fought one former champion (Hughes), he completely dominated him.

This is a really hard fight to predict because these two fighters are consummate warriors, and it is easy to see either one walking away with the belt.  Alves has all the tools, and in many ways he looks like he is built to fight GSP.  Knowing what both fighters bring to the war, the one mystery that remains concerns Alves’ conditioning—can he go the distance? Alves looked fantastic in both his fights that went the distance (winning both by decision.  Nevertheless, he’s yet to go beyond 15 minutes in the UFC.

GSP needs to enter this fight firing away with fast jabs quick combinations while trying to setup the takedown.  Of course by taking it to the ground GSP will be aware that it could be a long, grinding fight, but the goal should be to wear Alves down constantly for the first few rounds knowing that he’s facing an opponent that’s never gone beyond three rounds. The further the match goes, the better the chances of the champion winning this matchup,

On the other hand, Alves will want to try to turn the fight into a slugfest and go for the KO.  Everyone witnessed what a lucky punch can do when Serra swung for the fences and scored a win over GSP with his magical shot.  Alves should likewise try to test GSP’s jaw.  He needs to stay away from GSP’s quickness and jab because that will only open up opportunities for takedowns, but instead use good hard leading strikes and leg kicks before circling away.  Alves can use his great boxing skills to slip the jab and counter with hooks and then follow with some cleanup flurries.

Most importantly, Alves doesn’t want to get involved in the ground game too much--if he is taken down, he’ll want to scramble back up as soon as he can.  With GSP’s god-like wrestling skills, Alves will simply lose rounds fighting off his back.

This is one of the most anticipated fights of the year for us SAVSCI staffers.  We don’t have a clear favorite, but we will say Lesnar and Mir have to follow this matchup, and will have to put on a LEGENDARY bout for anyone to remember that UFC 100 wasn’t all about GSP and Alves’ historical battle.

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