My thoughts on GSP vs Jake Shields on 4/30/11 at UFC 129 in Toronto.
Quebec native and UFC mixed martial artist Georges St-Pierre stands 5’10, 170 lbs. Quebec native and former National Hockey League enforcer Georges Laraque(notes) stands 6’3, 253 lbs. (though likely a few more since his last NHL game was back on January 17th). So before turning his focus to coaching on Season 12 of the Ultimate Fighter against noted Pittsburgh Penguins’ fan Josh Koscheck, St-Pierre accepted a friendly challenge from buddy Laraque to a three-round grappling match at the UFC welterweight champion’s gym in Montreal.After racking up 1126 penalty minutes and over 130 fights in his NHL career, Laraque’s toughness on the ice couldn’t translate over into the ring as St-Pierre won all three rounds. After the match, Laraque said he was impressed with the MMA star’s ability, despite the size difference: “That’s much harder than an NHL game or a hockey fight,” Laraque told Landsberg following the tilt. “It’s unbelievable, I couldn’t imagine fighting someone my own size. For his size, he’s stronger than me.” Give Laraque credit even thought he didn’t manage a single takedown of St-Pierre. Laraque is used to the NHL style of fighting where it’s grapple / grapple / grapple / hold / punch / punch / grapple / hold / linesmen break up fight way too early. The middle man in all of this was TSN Off the Record host Michael Landsberg, a mutual friend of the Georges that helped set up the match which was broadcast on Friday’s show. www.tsn.ca
