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GSP's MMA career started at UCC 7 on January 25th, 2002. His first fight was a tough one, he was up against 4-0 Ivan Menjivar. GSP took Menjivar down and delivered some nasty ground and pound. The fight was stopped by verbal tap which seemed to be disputed by Menjivar. GSP had won his first fight and showed great athletic potential.
GSP'S second fight was for the UCC welterweight title against champion Justin Bruckmann, who was 4-1 at the time with a win over David Loiseau. GSP dominated the ground game and ended up submitting Bruckmann by armbar in the first round. GSP had won his first title.
GSP cruised through his next 2 fights with Thomas Denny and Travis Galbraith, also in the UCC.
Next, GSP moved on to a very anticipated match-up with Pete Spratt at TKO 14. Spratt was 7-4 at the time, having already fought in the UFC with a win over Robbie Lawler. GSP dominates Spratt in impressive fashion, pulling off one of the most beautiful sweeps I've seen in the process. GSP takes Spratt's back and secures a standing rear naked choke to end the fight in the first round. A very exciting fight.
On January 31st, 2004, GSP made his octagon debut at UFC 46. He was up against a very game opponent, Karo Parisyan (10-2). Karo had already won his UFC debut vs Dave Strasser. GSP was coming in with a big reputation from Canada, being undefeated and having won a title.
GSP took the fight to Karo, getting the better of every position. Karo came close to pulling off one submission but GSP powered out of it. GSP goes on to win a dominating decision which leaves Karo busted up and exhausted. GSP instantly becomes a contender in the division.
GSP then goes on to win a lopsided tko against Jay Heiron, which propels him to a UFC title shot with Matt Hughes. Matt Hughes at this time is already a dominant champion.
GSP shows good potential on the feet with Hughes early, landing a nice spinning back kick to the midsection. Hughes eventually gets the take-down and secures an armbar. GSP showed his potential but also his inexperience in this fight. GSP loses his first UFC championship fight.
After GSP's first loss, he goes back to Canada to fight for the TKO welterweight title against Dave Strasser. GSP dominates Strasser and wins by kimura in the first. GSP wins his second welterweight title.
GSP now makes his move permanently to the UFC, his first fight back is with Jason Miller at UFC 52. GSP absolutely destroys Mayhem for 3 rounds, almost catching him in submissions and pounding on him.
Next GSP faces Frank Trigg. Hughes was stated as saying he thought Trigg was going to win. GSP dominates Trigg and submits him by rear naked choke in the first round. Title implications were thought to be on the line for this fight, but GSP was asked to have another fight.
The UFC re-signs Sean Sherk (29-1-1), to be GSP's next opponent. This was a very anticipated match-up at the time. GSP dominated Sherk in all positions, and surprised people by taking Sherk down, even though Sherk could not take GSP down. GSP finished the fight in the 2nd round by TKO after breaking Sherk's nose.
It was thought again after the Sherk fight that GSP would be fighting Hughes for the title, but that was not the case.
The UFC re-sign's BJ Penn and sets up a fight that has hardcore fans buzzing. BJ Penn (10-2) was best known at the time as "the guy who beat Matt Hughes" and he was marketed as such. BJ put it on GSP in round 1, breaking his nose and poking him in the eye. GSP comes back and grinds out 2 hard fought rounds edging out a close 29-28 split decision. This fight showed GSP's heart and his ability to fight through being hurt.
Finally, GSP fights Matt Hughes (41-4) for the UFC title again. GSP does what most people expect, and tears Matt Hughes up with a tko in the 2nd round. GSP used his superior stand up to land a huge head kick which put Hughes down, and shortly after finished him with gnp. A very impressive dominating win over a legend in the sport. GSP wins his first UFC title.
GSP's first title defense, against Matt Serra couldn't have gone any worse. Serra (8-4) Had just won his season of the Ultimate Fighter which granted him a title shot. GSP gets rocked early and finished by a series of blows to the head. His worst nightmate had come true. He lost his first title defense to an un-ranked opponent. Serra was a 10:1 underdog.
The loss to Serra caused GSP to question himself but it only made him stronger. He started becoming a much better Wrestler.
GSP's first fight back to the title is Josh Koscheck (9-1), who was known as a wrestling phenom. Some said Koscheck was the best Wrestler in the UFC at the time, and even Rogan was stated as saying he thought Koscheck was one of the best Athletes. GSP does the unthinkable, and out-wrestles Koscheck for 3 rounds winning him a unanimous decision.
GSP fills in for an injured Matt Serra and fights Matt Hughes (42-5) for the 3rd time, which creates a lot of Buzz because it came earlier then expected. GSP dominates the entire fight, mostly wrestling Hughes down and landing gnp while passing positions. In the 2nd round GSP finishes hughes by a slick kimura transitioned to an armbar. GSP wins the trilogy against the greatest welterweight of all time. GSP also wins the interim welterweight title.
With 1 loss left to avenge, and a championship title on the line, GSP takes on Matt Serra (9-4) in the rematch. GSP is again the favorite even though Serra won the first fight. GSP out-wrestles Serra and completely dominates him with gnp. GSP gets a tko stoppage in the 2nd from knees to the body. GSP regains the UFC welterweight title for a 2nd time.
GSP's first title defense is against Jon Fitch (17-2), who established himself as a top welterweight winning 8 fights in a row. It was thought Fitch would be GSP's toughest fight to date. GSP runs through Fitch in a 5 round war which leaves Fitch busted up. GSP wins his first title defense.
Next up is a superfight rematch between GSP and BJ Penn (13-4). GSP was the slight favorite but still a lot of people thought Penn would win. GSP tears through Penn for 4 rounds with superior wrestling, clinch and stand-up. Penn's corner is forced to call it quits and GSP remains champion with a dominant performance against another legend in Penn. GSP wins his 2nd title defense.
GSP's next defense was against Thago Alves (17-6). The hard hitting KO specialist was coming into the fight with a lot of momentum and confidence with his previous victories over Koscheck and Hughes. Again GSP was the favorite but a lot of people were giving Alves a good chance. Alves was generally believed to be GSP's hardest fight to date, having just demolished Hughes . GSP ran through Alves with takedowns and clinch work. The stand-up was evenly matched with GSP getting the only knockdown. The fight ended in a decision with GSP winning every round. GSP wins his 3rd title defense.
Now a dominant champion, GSP is an 8-1 favorite over his next opponent, Dan Hardy (23-6). Still fresh in his mind is the humiliating defeat he suffered against Matt Serra, who was also a big underdog. This time GSP makes no mistake, taking Hardy down for all 5 rounds to win a lopsided decision, nearly ripping Hardy's arm off in the process. GSP wins his 4th title defense, and people are starting to question whether anyone can give Georges a competitve fight.
Having beaten most of the top fighters in the division, GSP is now scheduled to a Coach on TUF 12 and rematch previous opponent and top contender Josh Koscheck
(15-4). GSP comes into the fight very motivated, having put up with months of trash talking by Koscheck on the show and in interviews.
GSP comes out and quickly establishes his jab, breaking Koscheck's orbital bone in the first round. From there the champion dictates the pace of the fight, using his superior striking, footwork, and wrestling to dominate all 5 rounds. GSP defends his title and ties Matt Hughes for the most title defenses at welterweight (5).
On April 30th 2011, GSP fought against former Strikeforce champion and top 10
p4p fighter Jake Shields (26-4). GSP completely controls the fight and cruises his way to a lopsided unanimous decision, breaking Matt Hughes record for consecutive title defenses, and establishing himself as the greatest ww of all time.
After the shields fight Georges suffered another injury and was forced to sit for over a year until Nov 2012, when he was finally set to fight top welterweight and former wec champion Carlos Condit (28-5), who was now the ufc interim welterweight champion.
Georges came out strong like he never left, and besides a brief scare from a headkick and gnp, gsp dominted the fight and resumed his place as the rightful king of the division.
Next up was Nick Diaz (26-8), who was actually coming off a loss. The fight was so highly anticipated that Diaz was granted the title shot anyways. This was a fight the fans asked for.
Georges completely shuts down Diaz for 5 rounds basically doing anything he wanted, mostly controlling him with his superior wrestling. He made Diaz look as if he didn't belong in the fight.
