GSP

Georges St. Pierre is one of my favorite fighters.  I love his desire to be the best.  I love his work ethic.  I love the fact that he isn't as naturally talented as fighters like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, but he prepares so hard and so intelligently, and in such a way that he is able to beat anybody he fights.

With that being said, GSP was dominated last night, and Johnny Hendricks was robbed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.  Johnny beat him down from the end of round one to the end of round five.  It was a total annihilation.  I didn't have the exact punch count, or the exact significant strikes count, but I, and everybody who watched that fight, knew that Hendricks beat GSP's butt, and was robbed by of the UFC Welterweight title.

Hendricks legitimately hurt GSP in the second round.  He landed a huge punch, and GSP was barely able to stand up, as his legs literally looked like Jello, as he fought to keep his equilibrium and balance after getting absolutely rocked.  Georges even admitted in post-fight interviews that he didn't even remember much of that fight after round 2.

Hendricks continued to land punch after punch, and knee after knee.  He took GSP down.  Hendricks landed shots while they were down, and Hendricks hurt him.  Total annihilation.

I realize that the scoring system of the judges may be conducive for a GSP victory.  Any scoring system that has GSP fairly winning that match after getting beat down as badly as he did needs to be reformed, because no intelligent person who saw that fight was able to honestly say he won.  No intelligent person who saw that fight was able to say that GSP beat Hendricks up, which is the whole object of the game.  But the contrary was certainly true.  So why is it that the opinions of the ones that matter most, the judges, did not reflect that?

The scoring system needs to be reformed.  For starters, take downs themselves, need to be worth less.  Takedowns should be worth nothing, if nothing is done by the fighter who gets the take down, or if the fighter on top gets hit by the fighter on the bottom, which happens quite frequently.  The punches that are landed, and the submissions that are attempted after a takedown should be worth significant points, not the takedown itself.  Takedowns are worth far too much on a scorecard.

Punches and kicks that injure a fighter should be worth significantly more than any other strike.  By injure, I mean anything that causes a fighter lose his footing because of a loss of equilibrium.  Johnny Hendricks' punch in the second round effected GSP for the rest of the fight.  So how is it that that is unable to be reflected on a scorecard?

GSP is my favorite fighter, but that doesn't prevent me from "calling a spade a spade."  Hendricks should be the champ.