7 Reason Georges St-Pierre at Lightweight Is a Horrible Idea

A few days ago George St-Pierre's trainer stated that GSP could actually make 155, and then GSP confirmed it.  GSP also shot it down though and seems to want to stay at welterweight.

This is a blessing as GSP shifting downward into a lower weight class would have been horrendous for himself and the UFC as well.

Some fans where excited when they heard that he might be able to make weight, but even if he did, he would still face a number of problems after doing so.

Just because a fighter can make weight doesn't mean they should, as in GSP's case.

Here are the seven reasons why it would be a terrible idea for GSP to drop to lightweight.

GSP Doesn't Have a Lot of Extra Fat He Can Cut

Let's face it.  GSP doesn't exactly have a lot of body fat he can cut.

While many UFC fighters cut weight to give themselves a massive size advantage, St-Pierre has never been one of them.

He happens to walk around 15 pounds above the welterweight limit.  So he walks around 185 pounds and seems to always have very little fat on his body.

If he was to fight at 155 pounds, he would need to cut about 30 pounds to make the lightweight limit.  Even though he says he could do it, there is no telling what that kind of weight cut would do to his body.

He might end up overshadowing almost every lightweight in the UFC, but if he can't go five rounds let alone three, it wouldn't mean anything.

Fans want to see GSP have new challenges, but looking downward on the scale just isn't the answer.  If GSP is able to take on bigger fighters like Thiago Alves and control them easily, then he could dominate them.

That is if he could keep up with them, which brings up the next point...

GSP Would Have to Keep Up with the Lightweights Pace

It's no secret that the lower in weight a fighter is, the faster the pace they can keep.  This is why most bantamweights can easily put on a Fight of the Night while heavyweights might be sucking for air in the second round.

If GSP cut weight, he would have to deal with the speed of the much lighter men and have to keep up with them.  Considering that weight cut tampers with stamina, that might be a problem.  

GSP, who is known for his cardio, might be busy just trying to chase down a lightweight so that he can get his hands on them.  By the time he caught them, he might not even be able to do anything.

If GSP did cut weight and that did happen, it would damage his credibility and make him look weak.  Where as intelligent fight fans would know that it was just the welterweight champion's body betraying him, casual fans might think that he finally jumped the shark.

Of course, if GSP jumped down in weight, there would be some other issues as well...

GSP Might Be Considered a Bully Picking on the Smaller Guys

When a champion is so dominant in his division, he usually moves up to face bigger challenges, and is applauded by the fans for doing so.

The only exception to this are guys like Frankie Edgar who are so undersized but dominant that fans applaud their heart, but want to see them matched evenly.

And that is something that resonates in many fight fans.  The idea of fair play.  The want to see two men who are matched in weight and height compete to see who is the better combatant.

If GSP jumped down in weight, he would essentially be going backwards.  Fans don't want to see a dominant champion move down to face smaller men.  It doesn't captivate the attention the way that moving up does.

For a man who already has negativity aimed towards him because he doesn't finish his opponents, GSP doesn't need any extra bad press or opinion placed upon him.

A Fight with Frankie Edgar Would Be Hard to Sell

If GSP did cut down to lightweight, he would probably get an immediate title shot.  The man simply doesn't need to "earn" the right to challenge for another title.

Many fans want to see Frankie Edgar move down to featherweight.  It doesn't matter that he has beaten Gray Maynard and B.J. Penn twice, they still want to see him fight someone his own size.  Dana White even said that he wanted to see Edgar make the move.

Edgar doesn't cut a lot of weight, so it's not like it would be impossible for him to make the cut.  However, he doesn't want to.  And who can blame Edgar as long as he is winning?

With that said, if GSP did fight Edgar than it would be a fight between a welterweight and a featherweight.  Even if the fight ends up being the most competitive of all time, it'll be a hard sell to the fans.

Anyone who looks at the promotional poster might have a hard time believing that the two men would be facing each other, and it would most likely damage the buy rate.

And that isn't good for anyone.

If GSP Leaves the Welterweight Division, There Will Be a Gaping Hole

The fact is the welterweight division is stacked.  It doesn't seem like that because GSP has walked through so many of the top fighters in the division, but it is.

If GSP left tomorrow, there would be great fights and a champion would emerge in the end.  With that said, there would still be a missing component.  It would feel like all of the challengers who couldn't take the belt from GSP were just given a chance to fight for it between each other.

This could still happen one day, of course.  St-Pierre could retire having never lost the belt and some of his former challengers could fight over the vacant strap.

With that said, it is a little different from seeing GSP give up the belt, but continue to fight on.  Instead of him giving up fighting either because he is getting older or because he has no more challenges, it would seem like he just didn't want to fight any more welterweights.

It would make any welterweight championship matches feel hollow when the former champion might be fighting on an event right before or after it.

GSP Still Has Interesting Matchups at Welterweight

Even though GSP has fought almost every fighter there is in the UFC's welterweight division, he still has a few fights that could generate interest.  Chief among them is the Nick Diaz fight, but there are others.

He could possibly fight Carlos Condit, assuming Condit wins his next fight, whenever that is.

Jake Ellenberger might also be one fight away from a title shot as well.

Even though it seems like GSP has cleaned out the welterweight division, there are constantly new challengers coming up and new fights to make.  Until GSP defeats every possible challenger or decides to retire, there will always be a matchup at 170 that fans want to see him in.

Even though there are some attractive dream matchups in the lightweight division for fans who ignore size and height, there are plenty of fantastic ones in GSP's weight class as well.

Instead of looking into a possible fight outside of the weight class, entertaining ones can be imagined right from where the champion already fights from.

If GSP Leaves the Division Fans Might Get Nick Diaz as a Champion

This might happen regardless of whether GSP leaves the division or not depending on how their fight goes.

That is if there fight comes off this time.

They were supposed to fight before, but it was called off because Nick Diaz didn't show up to the press conferences.

It wasn't the first time Diaz has caused problems and it won't be the last.

It is hard to imagine him being the champion of the welterweight division, and he might be if he beats GSP, but he almost certainly will be if St-Pierre moves down in weight.  And the truth is, no one can count on Diaz to help the company or to do what is needed to grow the sport.

Not his coaches.

Not his camp.

Not Dana White.

Not the journalists that set up media days.

And most importantly, not the fans.

GSP may be "boring" in how he wins fights compared to Diaz, and even how he is outside the cage, but he is also a great representation for the sport.

And while MMA is growing bigger, fans could use all the good examples they can get.