It’s the co-main event at UFC 100, but it would be the main draw at any other pay per view put on by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  In his 3rd title defence with the belt, Georges St. Pierre takes on challenger Thiago Alves on Saturday.  It once again is an enormous test for GSP.

St. Pierre has been nothing short of dominant his last 3 fights.  It started with his win over Matt Serra at UFC 83 to regain his belt and was followed by a 5 round smashing of Jon Fitch and a TKO win over BJ Penn.  Not once in those 3 fights was there ever really any worry GSP was going to lose the fight…he was so dominant in all 3 fights that he has cemented himself as 100% the best 170 pound fighter on the planet.

So what makes Alves different from Serra, Fitch and Penn?  Plain and simple, it’s his strength.  Alves is a HUGE welterweight, who made Matt Hughes look small in their fight at UFC 85.  You can make it a 7 fight win streak inside The Octagon for the 22-4 Alves; his last fight was a unanimous win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 90.  Alves bullies his opponents around, plain and simple.  His stand up is devestating and he packs KO power in his fists and his knees. 

He’s also extremely hard to take down.  Just ask Hughes and Koscheck.  Both are extremely accomplished wrestlers, and both struggled immensley to take the bigger Alves down in their fights.  Granted, Koscheck had limited time to train for the fight, but the 4 time All American couldn’t use his trusted technique to score any points.  Whereas St. Pierre avoids takedowns using dexterity, Alves uses sheer strength to block attempts.

So how does this fight shake down?  I think it’s a fairly even draw in the stand up game.  Alves has more power, but will have trouble connecting with the elusive St. Pierre.  But Georges is a much more accurate striker and works his jab to set up his overhand right and superman shots.  Plus, St. Pierre has his lightning fast kicks, so I’ll call the stand up game a wash.  It’s the take down aspect that will decide this fight. 

GSP has taken down his last 3 opponents at ease, throwing Fitch, Serra and Penn all over the ring.  Will he have the same success against Alves?  Well…he may not throw the big man around, but I do belive he’ll have a high success rate in taking him down.  Why?  Because St. Pierre doesn’t rely on power in his take downs, he relies on good positioning and a quick shoot.  Georges is quicker than Alves, and because of that, I think he’ll score with take down attempts and start working the ground and pound game.

GSP wants to finish fights, but finishing a guy like this is going to be tough.  However, Alves has had questionable cardio in the past, so the opportunity may be there in the so-called championship rounds (4 and 5).  Remember, Alves has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and is dangerous on the ground.  To me, St. Pierre wins with take downs and his devestating ground game once again because I don’t see Alves being able to A) take GSP down and B) block the furious, calculated attack of the Welterweight Champion.

Friday, we preview the main event…Brock and Frank in a Heavyweight Championship bout!

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