Dissection by Dallas: Georges St. Pierre x Dan Hardy

Good news and bad news:  the bad news is that I'm picking Hardy, but the good news is that I'll even make a case for GSP winning.

St. Pierre will probably range from proficient to deadly in the striking department and eventually devour his adversary with a seemingly insurmountable assailment of elite wrestling, just like he's done with almost every other welterweight, and just like the vast majority of the world expects him to.

But what fun is that?

I don't know or care if my desire for Hardy to vanquish GSP with his trademark left hook is based on the fact that Hardy isn't being given a chance, or because I watched The Karate Kid too many times and I can't get over how training with the Shaolin monks in China seems so cosmopolitan, worldly and Bruce Lee-ish, or just because Dan Hardy has gotten me so amped-up for this fight with his infectious enthusiasm and fearless courage that it's blinded whatever fleeting sense of reason I have left.

When I saw Hardy bouncing around on his toes in a semi-fighting stance while GSP was on the scales at the weigh-ins yesterday, electric, exuding an unnerving air of confidence and practically beating his chest like a bloodthirsty, war-crazed Apache indian, it literally gave me goosebumps.  My anticipation to finally see the fight shot through the roof, and I couldn't wait to see them staring each other down, face-to-face in the cage, to finally find out if this mohawked madman can sink his teeth into the sea's biggest fish like he claims he can.

St. Pierre constantly reiterates that he's not overlooking Hardy, he thinks he's the best in the division, and he thinks Hardy's his toughest challenge yet--so I can't say that Georges is taking him lightly.  GSP is the best welterweight wrestler to walk the face of the earth, and Hardy's weakness is his takedown defense and his ground game, as every one of his losses barring a DQ has come via a submission or a dominant grappler who contained him to a decision.

I've harped on it before, but I believe that Hardy's stand-up is much more formidable than he's accredited.  Besides Alves, St. Pierre adopted the reputation for being a great striker mostly versus shorter wrestlers who faced an enormous height and reach advantage, and these measurements will be equal for on the second time in GSP's career, as Josh Koscheck is the only fighter that GSP did not enjoy a significant length advantage over.

Hardy also excels at delivering lightning-fast combinations in the pocket, only one of which need to find their mark to at least disrupt if not daze the champion, and all the while the UK brawler maintains excellent balance and implements active head-movement.  Hardy's going to be hunting for GSP's chin, and I think he'll find it.  Of course the scenario of a positional stoppage against the fence due to a fearsome sequence of elbows from GSP is the most likely outcome, but I'm going with my heart and picking Dan Hardy to swipe a blow that catches GSP on the chin, and jolts the champ just long enough for Hardy to pounce with torrential flurry to end the fight.

Hoping beyond hope that your chosen fighter will achieve the impossible is one of the strong emotions that got me hooked on MMA.  I'm still addicted to the sport for a reason.

Prediction:  Dan Hardy by KO