Jon Fitch was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s latest edition of The Fight Hour today, and had some interesting things to say in regards to the heat Georges St. Pierre is taking for his lack of finish lately. Fitch is no stranger to such criticism, having gone to nine straight decisions spanning three and a half years. Did Fitch defend GSP and his actions in his fight against Jake Shields at UFC 129? Not exactly:
“A little bit,” Fitch replied, when asked whether the criticism of St. Pierre is warranted. “I think, you know, I deserve some of that criticism too. But when he’s dominating somebody that well, I think it’s up to the champ to put a little more pressure on somebody in the fourth and fifth round. When you’ve secured a pretty solid lead on the scorecards after three rounds, I think a little bit more pressure, because he never really opened up more than a couple jabs and an overhand right. I mean, double up on the right, something.”
Some have seen it as a lack of killer instinct on GSP’s part. That point was disputed by St Pierre’s coaches Firas Zahabi and Greg Jackson on separate radio shows yesterday (transcription by Zach Arnold of FightOpinion):
“He’s just as sharp as he’s always been,” responded Mr. Zahabi in an Monday interview with Mauro Ranallo. “You know, his eye was injured, you could see it half-way through the third round, there was a swipe at the eye from the right side to the left side. It’s on the internet, the video’s on the internet, it’s everywhere. I retweeted the video, somebody sent it to me. It’s clear as day and when you fight with one eye, your depth perception is very well altered.”
Zahabi went on to explain why GSP didn’t go for the finish :
“That’s just textbook. when you stun a guy, you don’t jump on him. You make space because when you jump on him, you create a clinch, buying him time to recover. It’s textbook. In boxing, when you stun a guy you’re supposed to check the guy, you’re supposed to keep him at arms length and keep punching, keep working. But, you know, he did the right thing. Let the guy get up, hurt him again, put him back down, knock him back down, knock him back down, make space, don’t let him get into a clinch. You don’t want to get tied up on the ground with Jake Shields, that’s not the way you’re going to knock him out, so. Georges was definitely working for a knock out that night.”
Greg Jackson added this on Monday’s edition of Beatdown on Sherdog:
“I felt like if we could do enough damage standing up and then some good ground ‘n pound, Georges might have a good chance of submitting him. He could also knock him out on his feet. We were trying to finish but I think what threw us off of that whole plan was Georges’ eye. When he got that eye poked and he couldn’t see things happening, he just wasn’t himself, you know what I mean? He had to really step up and be brave and focus on staying calm & relaxed and just using that jab as a range-finder and laying down that right hand to punch. But I think at that point, Georges just wanted to make sure that he didn’t get caught with something silly.”
Both coaches had a lot more to say on the issue on the respective shows. You can listen to the Zahabi interview with Mauro Ranallo here and the Jackson interview here.