UFC 129 Results: Dana White "No Real Criticism" for Victorious Georges St-Pierre

Nick CaronMay 1, 2011

The main event of UFC 129 saw Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre, successfully defend his title against Jake Shields, winning the fight in a rather undramatic, unanimous decision.

UFC President Dana White has gone out of his way in the past to talk about how he wants his fighters to finish fights, but this is now the fourth consecutive time that St-Pierre has brought his opponent to a decision in a five-round fight.

The last time he finished an opponent was in January 2009 when he stopped BJ Penn by TKO after the fourth round.

Still, even after the event, Dana White did not have harsh words for his champion in an interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

“He was dominant, I think he won the fight,” White said. “There’s something wrong with his eye, but if you’re looking for criticism from me, which it sounds like you are, the only criticism I have is that he was throwing a weird overhand right. Which I’ve never seen him do.”

“I was trying to figure out why he kept throwing the same punch all night. He was throwing it hard like he was trying to knock him out. Like he was trying to force the knockout.”

Helwani went at it a little deeper, describing that many fans believe that St-Pierre has now gained a reputation as a fighter who doesn’t try to finish his opponents. But White didn’t take the bait.

“No one said anything to me as I was leaving. Everybody said, ‘Great fight,’ and nobody said anything negative about the fight, whatsoever, to me.”

Perhaps no one said anything to the President of the organization, but if he looks around the internet today, he will be bombarded by opinionated writers who have been harshly criticizing the champion.

“Georges St-Pierre keeps winning. He isn’t catching anybody with any exciting front kicks or anything, but he’s a winner.”

The truth is that the welterweight division has been completely cleared out by GSP and there are very few, if any, fights remaining at 170 pounds that would be of much interest to fans. But the UFC President believes that there are other opponents who could give him a run for his money.

“There’s always going to be fights at 170 that are interesting,” he explained. “There’s always going to be new guys coming up. [Nick] Diaz is out there.”

But as the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, Diaz is in an interesting contractual situation. Despite Zuffa owning both organizations, we have not seen any fighters compete in the other organization.

When asked if the fight between Diaz and St-Pierre could happen, the UFC President was rather cryptic in response.