Ben Askren thinks it's insane to say GSP has the best wrestling for MMA

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His thoughts on Georges St-Pierre and the UFC welterweight champion's reputation for having the best wrestling in MMA.

Ben Askren
"The notion that he's the best wrestler is insane to me.

I'd go right for Georges St. Pierre. I don't think there's a real clear cut challenger after Hendricks. Maybe Hendricks gets hurt and I fight him right away. But there's no clear cut challenger that Georges St-Pierre hasn't already beat at 170, so I don't see why I can't just jump in there and beat somebody up:rolleyes:."
Source:
http://www.mmamania.com/2013/8/25/4...hat-georges-st-pierre-is-the-best-wrestler-is




Georges St-Pierre as a purple belt
When Georges was a purple belt, in his 6th professional prize fight (his very 1st in the UFC), he outgrappled Karo Paryisian who was an international judo champion and black belt under Gokor Chivichyan and Gene LeBell. Karo was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

GSP also put on a clinic against Frank Trigg, a NCAA Division I wrestler for the University of Oklahoma. Trigg's previous fight was against Matt Hughes for the title. Frank was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

St-Pierre put Sean Sherk on his back and finished him with elbows. Sean had over 400 amateur wrestling matches. The Muscle Shark was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

Georges out grappled Baby Jay in their first fight. At the time of the fight, Penn had already been a world champion in BJJ and even HW champ Randy Couture said he had trouble holding him down in training. The Prodigy already had defeated Hughes to become UFC WW champ prior to fighting GSP. Baby Jay was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

In ADCC, Georges outgrappled Otto Olsen. Otto was an NCAA Division I National champion and 3 time All American.


Georges St-Pierre as a brown belt
When Georges was a brown belt, he won the takedown war against Josh Koscheck and controlled him on the ground. Josh was a NCAA Division I National champion and 4 time All American. Kos was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

In their 3rd fight, GSP tossed Matt Hughes to the ground, placed his nuts on Matt's forehead, and simultaneously applied an armbar and triangle choke on the former champion, forcing Hughes to scream TAP, TAP, TAP at the top of his lungs. Leading up to the fight Matt had offered to teach Georges how to defend an armbar on TUF. Matt was a 2 time NCAA Division I All American and had the best wrestling in MMA until Georges surpassed him. Hughes was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

In their rematch, St-Pierre annihilated Matt Serra, a BJJ world medalist, on the ground. At the time of the fight Matt was a 2nd degree black belt under Renzo Gracie. Serra was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

Georges beat Jon Fitch everywhere including on the ground. Jon was a black belt. GSP was the first opponent that ever passed Jon's guard. Jon was captain of NCAA Division I Purdue's wrestling team. Fitch had the second best top game in the UFC at that time. Fitch was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

Georges St-Pierre as a black belt
When Georges was a black belt, he destroyed Baby Jay's guard during The Battle of champions. BJJ world champion Penn was known for having a legendary guard and he couldn't handle Georges' top game. Penn was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

GSP took Alves down over 10 times in their fight. Something that Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck struggled to do in Thiago's 2 previous fights. Thiago was also a brown belt under Ricardo Liborio. Alves was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

St-Pierre won the takedown war against Josh Koscheck in their rematch. As noted above, Kos was a 4 time NCAA Division I All American wrestler. In addition he was a brown belt in BJJ. Kos was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

Georges won the takedown war against Jake Shields in their fight. Shields was an All American wrestler, a Cesar Gracie black belt and world medalist in BJJ. Jake had 10 submissions in MMA fights. Jake had the second best top game in the UFC at the time of the fight. Shields was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

Georges St-Pierre as a black belt 1st degree
When Georges was a black belt 1st degree, he outgrappled Carlos Condit who has the best bottom game that incorporates striking from his back. Carlos was a brown belt in BJJ and had 13 submissions in MMA fights. Carlos was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

GSP made Nick Diaz, a Cesar Gracie black belt, crawl away from the ground fight on 3 separate occasions. Nick is known for having one of the best bottom games in MMA. Nick had 8 submissions in MMA fights. Diaz was ranked in the top 10 in MMA at the time of the fight.

St-Pierre vs. Hendricks...there is only one way to find out. Time will tell.





Source:
http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f2...jj-coach-discusses-strategy-big-rigg-2523281/






 
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Like those before Askren is confusing mat wrestling with cage wrestling, GSP would lean him real good.

That said Hendricks is a real threat because you can't teach KO power or avoid it forever.
 
GSP would outstrike him... soo it doesn't matter

to beat GSP you have to be better at both aspects of the game...
 
Good post but I seem to remember in the Kos rematch GSP pointedly not being able to take Kos down, and then resorting to jabbing him to death.

Not saying much really but I personally feel like Kos is his equal as a wrestler/take down artist.
 
If Hendricks doesn't beat GSP, I'd love to see Askren vs GSP, just so GSP can smother him and tool with Askren for 5 rounds.
 
Good post but I seem to remember in the Kos rematch GSP pointedly not being able to take Kos down, and then resorting to jabbing him to death.

Not saying much really but I personally feel like Kos is his equal as a wrestler/take down artist.

Lol are u sure u watched that fight? U make it sound like that was his back up option. GSP punched the absolute piss out of koscheck that night, koscheck literally had nothing for him. Not sure how the ref and doctors let that one keep going. Koscheck hasn't been the same since either.
 
yeah i was gonna say its clear askren is a better wrestler ... on a wrestling mat. but george is the total package and that hurts to say cuz i loves me some funky ben. but even koscheck and hendricks accomplishments dont stand up to askren's in reality. askren never placed below 2nd in the nation in his weight class and then went on to become a Pan-American champion and American national champion and a world champion before entering mma.

ben might seem boring to the people that dont enjoy watching the grinding wrestlers but the dudes grappling is legit as fuck. the only real worry i have about ben is hes been so dominant on top that im not real sure how he handles a nasty guard in mma. i would still pick gsp to win the fight but id never bet against ben askren scoring at least one td.
 
Tonycpa, that GSP takedown highlight vid you posted is great. However, I'm curious about something. At the beginning Eddie Bravo is talking and seems frustrated, almost even pissed, that GSP is able to take guys down "at will" like he said despite not wrestling in High School or college. Do you know when Eddie said this? It's interesting to me because of Eddie's own grappling accomplishments (he wrestled in HS and his ADCC win over Royler Gracie come to mind).

Recently, GSP revealed to Joe Rogan on his show/podcast (Joe being Eddie's good friend) that his Karate background is what really helps him with his shot (double-leg in most cases) because it helps him cover the distance so lightning fast. It makes sense when you consider Karate point fighting and getting in as quick as possible on your opponent. So, by now Eddie Bravo should have some remote idea of just HOW GSP is able to do what he does with his takedowns. :icon_idea
 
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