Georges St. Pierre at Middleweight: How Does He Stack Up?

Georges "Rush" St. Pierre, the current UFC Welterweight champion, is 22-2 in his professional MMA career and has gone 9-0 since his loss to Matt Serra in 2007, defending his Welterweight title six times.

Though he's been criticized recently as overly cautious, there can be no denying St. Pierre's dominance—since regaining the Welterweight belt in 2008 he has won 23 out of 25 rounds, not including his TKO victory over BJ Penn.  Whether by using his vaunted wrestling or newly dominant boxing, St. Pierre has proven that he has what it takes to defeat all challengers at Welterweight. 

While there are still fights to be had at Welterweight, Nick Diaz at UFC 137 and potentially Carlos Condit after that, St. Pierre is coming as close to "cleaning out" a division as we've ever seen.  Add to this the talk that St. Pierre will eventually step-up in weight for a superfight against Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, and the question has to be asked...    

How would Georges St. Pierre fare against the UFC's top Middleweights?

#5: Brian Stann

Brian "All-American" Stann, a former U.S. Marine and WEC Light Heavyweight champion, is 5-2 in the UFC, and has gone 3-0 since reinventing himself as a Middleweight in 2010.

Training with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Stann has vastly improved his all-round game, though he still prefers a striking first attack.  His power was apparent in his recent knockouts of Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago, sending both men packing in spectacular fashion.

At 6'1", Stann would have a meaningful size and strength advantage over St. Pierre, though he'd actually give up two inches of reach to St. Pierre.  Through his reach and quickness, St. Pierre would likely be able to beat Stann to the punch and use his devastating jab to keep the larger Stann at bay.  Should the fight go to close quarters, his wrestling and takedown defense would certainly be strong enough to dictate where the fight takes place.

My prediction: St. Pierre would use his speed advantage to keep Stann on the outside, with the occasional takedown to cement a unanimous decision victory.  GSP wins.

#4: Mark Munoz

Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz has gone 6-1 in the UFC since dropping down a weight class to Middleweight—using his power, top notch wrestling, and unrelenting ground and pound to wear his opponents down.  

Most recently against Demian Maia, Munoz demonstrated his ability to adjust on the fly, recovering from Maia's unexpected stand-up attack and out-grappling the jiu-jitsu ace.  He is a proven threat all over the cage.

Given his strength and NCAA Division I wrestling credentials, Munoz is not the man St. Pierre wants to be tied up with.  Instead, St. Pierre would need to capitalize on his superior striking and five inch reach advantage to keep Munoz away from him and avoid power shots.  He implemented this very game plan against Josh Koscheck to perfection, and I see no reason why he'd fail here.

My prediction: St. Pierre defends takedowns and peppers Munoz with jabs en route to a unanimous decision victory.  GSP wins. 

#3: Yushin Okami

Yushin "Thunder" Okami is 10-2 as a UFC Middleweight, and has used his world-class judo and stifling ground and pound attack to earn a title shot against Anderson Silva at this Saturday's UFC 134.

Okami has also shown improved striking in his last three fights against Lucio Linhares, Mark Munoz, and Nate Marquardt.  Against both Munoz and Marquardt he was able to dictate the pace of the fight, and strike his way to decision victories.

Okami presents an interesting challenge—St. Pierre certainly doesn't want to get dragged to the floor where Okami shines, but he may have a difficult time finding his rhythm against the southpaw, who has a knack for throwing-off his opponent's timing.  St. Pierre's best chance would be to control the cage and, much like he would against Munoz, use his boxing and persistent jab to keep Okami outside.  Okami, though, is successful nearly 50 percent of the time in getting opponents to the floor, and this would be no walk in the park.

My prediction: In what would be nearly a carbon copy of a fight against Munoz, St. Pierre would work to keep Okami outside, though he wouldn't be able to completely avoid going to the ground and taking damage.  I see St. Pierre taking a close split decision.  GSP wins. 

#2: Chael Sonnen

Chael Sonnen, the UFC's undisputed trash talk champion and one of the most polarizing figures in MMA, is only 4-4 in the UFC, but has a 25-11 professional record.

Perhaps best known for being the man who nearly beat Anderson Silva, Sonnen is the prototypical in-your-face, wrestling first, beat em' up fighter.  As demonstrated in his last fight against Silva, he is perfectly capable on his feet, but excels when he's on top of his opponent where he can work his relentless ground and pound attack.

Where Sonnen differs from Okami and Munoz is in how efficient his wrestling is.  According to FightMetric, Sonnen averages nearly four takedowns every 15 minutes and succeeds 62 percent of the time in taking opponents down.  This is where Sonnen presents the largest threat to St. Pierre.  Sonnen is essentially allergic to submissions, with eight of his 11 losses coming by way of submission, but St. Pierre isn't a particularly large submission threat.  Though I have no doubt he can out-fight Sonnen on the feet, I don't see how St. Pierre wins off of his back against Sonnen.

My prediction: Sonnen initially would have difficulty getting inside on St. Pierre, but ultimately his wrestling prowess wins out and he drags St. Pierre down into his world.  GSP loses. 

#1: Anderson Silva

Anderson "The Spider" Silva, current UFC Middleweight champ, is 13-0 in the UFC and has defended his belt a UFC record eight consecutive times.

Considered by many to be the #1 pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Silva is a threat everywhere in the cage.  He has dynamic stand-up, as demonstrated most recently against the likes of Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin, and, in the rare occasion that he gets taken down, he can defend himself off of his back, as proven against Chael Sonnen.

A fight against Silva is a difficult riddle to crack, though the blueprint seems to have been laid by Chael Sonnen.  The key to victory over Silva, it seems, is to constantly pressure him, put him on his back and relentlessly hammer him.  St. Pierre isn't the man to do it.  Though his wrestling is spectacular, he would be at a significant size, and slight reach, disadvantage, and I don't see St. Pierre being able to successfully work his way inside.

My prediction: St. Pierre works for takedowns and, though he may have some success, isn't able to keep Silva on his back long enough to take a decision.  On their feet, Silva counter strikes St. Pierre and utilizes his length to prevent St. Pierre from working his game plan.  GSP loses.