St. Pierre dominant despite injury

By Andy Samuelson

Sunday, July 12, 2009 | 3 a.m.

Georges St. Pierre wants to leave a legacy in mixed martial arts, but after his latest victory Saturday night the UFC welterweight champ may be running out of room to improve.

Despite a severely injured groin or abductor muscle, the popular Canadian fighter dominated the division’s top contender — scoring a lop-sided unanimous decision victory over Thiago Alves at UFC 100 at Mandalay Bay.

Even the judge’s scores (50-45, 50-44, 50-45) couldn’t describe how flawlessly “GSP” executed his Greg Jackson-constructed game plan that featured plenty of ground work.

“Thiago Alves was my toughest opponent so far,” said St. Pierre, who improved to 19-2 in MMA and picked up his 14th win in the Octagon — tying him with Randy Couture for the fourth most victories.

“He’s very young (25). This happened to me when I lost to Matt Hughes.”

St. Pierre was 23 when he lost in his first title shot.

But the way the 28-year-old is cruising right now, it seems few legitimate challengers remain in the 170-pound division.

Since losing his title to Matt Serra in April 2007, St. Pierre has lost only one round on the judge’s scorecards in six bouts.

The opponents are not too shabby either: Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn and Thiago Alves.

So what’s next for the reigning Canadian Athlete of the Year, who is also the first MMA fighter to be sponsored by Gatorade?

“I want to fight the best guy,” said St. Pierre. Right now I don’t know. I’m in a lot of pain. I’m gonna take a step back and then we’ll look at it.”

UFC commentator Joe Rogan didn’t wait to throw out the matchup that the 11,000 screaming fans in Mandalay Bay want to see: St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva.

“It's a question of timing," St. Pierre said of the possibility. "I walk around at 185 pounds. I am not that big for a welterweight either. … So if I move up, like I said, I don't fight to be champion anymore because I am a champion.

“If I do it, it's for a challenge, but I am going to have to take the time to gain weight and really take care of business."

St. Pierre did that Saturday, even if business was a bit broken.

The champ could tell immediately in the third that something wasn’t right because he’s suffered a similar injury in the past.

“It’s pretty bad,” he said. “I’m in real bad pain. I realized it when I was on the bottom and I heard my groin and abductor snap.”

But when St. Pierre informed his corner of the possible tear before the final round, he was greeted with little sympathy.

“Well then go out there and hit him with it,” Jackson yelled at him.

Despite not having a competitive past in wrestling, St. Pierre has proved to be one of the most dominating in the sport. Saturday he slammed Alves nearly a dozen times, a strategy that allowed him to avoid the Brazilian's dangerous strikes.

The fact that St. Pierre made the win look so easy, despite the critical injury seems to suggest the legacy “GSP” was hoping to leave is already being recorded for posterity.

“I said if he gets through this one, he’s in the running for the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” White said.

“Georges St. Pierre is an amazing human being, an amazing fighter and an amazing athlete. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Andy Samuelson can be reached at andy.samuelson@lasvegassun.com or 702-948-7837.