What made GSP so ahead of the curve?

[Iron Nick]

Because he's one of the most intelligent, disciplined and self-critical fighters to have ever existed thus far.

There are tons of stories from people who've trained with him talking about how much of a perfectionist he was in training.
One thing that always stuck with me is that he worked with a scientist when analyzing BJ Penn and the guy he worked with apparently looked at the frames from the tape on multiple UFC fighters, judging their reaction speed, revealing that BJ Penn had the fastest reaction time in the UFC back then.

 

[smiles mma]

i seeked out the best coaches including s&c.
along with his intelligence and athletism his coaches game planned perfectly

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

GOAT and it isnt close, period.

lol at Toner lurking in this thread like a pathetic little loser like always, poor kid.

 

[Askren’s chin]

Because he's one of the most intelligent, disciplined and self-critical fighters to have ever existed thus far.

There are tons of stories from people who've trained with him talking about how much of a perfectionist he was in training.
One thing that always stuck with me is that he worked with a scientist when analyzing BJ Penn and the guy he worked with apparently looked at the frames from the tape on multiple UFC fighters, judging their reaction speed, revealing that BJ Penn had the fastest reaction time in the UFC back then.

i seeked out the best coaches including s&c.
along with his intelligence and athletism his coaches game planned perfectly

PERFECT FIGHTER!!!!

 

[Askren’s chin]

GOAT and it isnt close, period.

YES! ONLY 1 TYSON FURY!!!!!!

 

[Barteh]

GOAT and it isnt close, period.

lol at Toner lurking in this thread like a pathetic little loser like always, poor kid.

Lol @ anybody saying it's not even close when talking about the GOAT discussion. There's solid arguments for and against Fedor, Silva, Jones and GSP. It's definitely close as hell and that's why so many people disagree on the subject.

 

[JustBleed69]

TRUE GENIUS

Appreciate the GSP love but dude, settle down.

 

[bjpenngoat]

His level.of comp was terrible. I guarantee if you put Vincent luque in the 2008 ww division we would be talking about him as if he were Fedor. When you fight titans like koscheck, hardy, alves and serra you tend to look way better than you are even if you aren't finishing them and getting KO'd by jounrneymen LW .500 fighters.

 

[rodkek]

That he knew how to jab and level change

 

[WhosTheBoss]

Because he knew a lot of tings.... and was never intoxicated

 

[krelianx]

He is highly intelligent, ambitious beyond belief, an insane perfectionist, but also openly insecure. He feared failure so he trained in his weaknesses with dilligence to make sure he always had a way out. He did not simply lean on what he was strongest at, but made sure that every part of his game was developed to the best of his ability. As a result he would often outperform specialists at their own game, and had an adaptive capability that none could match, to this day. DJ is the closest, but GSP is more polished and less error-prone still.

He trained boxing with Freddy Roach, Muay Thai in thailand, BJJ with Renzo and Danaher, etc. He trained gymnastics for balance and flexibility. He was always training and kept in shape, even when he didn't have to, until today. He never let ego, fame, family, or money derail his sense of focus and ambition: he wanted to be the greatest martial artist he could be. Everything else was secondary. And he accomplished it.

 

[mmacrisis]

It was his team and the desire to continually learn and change. Lots of fighters have skills but stop evolving, GSP never did.

 

[DagOban**]

Was good at everything, well balanced, trained hard and good fight IQ.

 

[Askren’s chin]

Appreciate the GSP love but dude, settle down.

View attachment 845455

GSP IS GREAT! MUST RESPECR AND LOVE GSP!

 

[Askren’s chin]

Was good at everything, well balanced, trained hard and good fight IQ.

WOW! GREAT MAN and FIGHTER!

 

[DagOban**]

WOW! GREAT MAN and FIGHTER!

Why are you yelling?

 

[Figgy]

What made GSP special and set him apart from guys like Fedor is that he knew how to avoid a fight. He knew how to contain another man at his size for 25 minutes often times using wrestling to hold you there. His ability to jab and rack up an accumulation of bruises on himself and his opponent and getting points for that also counts a lot. To do all this takes a ton of physical stamina and you need a good fight I.Q to not get that dreaded loss. GSP learned his lesson with Serra when he tried to fight. After that he knew it would be best to get him on the ground right away. You could tell he was mad at Serra because he actually knee'd him. We usually don't see that kind of rage out of George.

 

[jimmy dakine]

How was GSP so much better than not just his contemporaries, but also modern fighters? It doesn’t make sense he was so good. Was it his athleticism? Was it his work ethic? What are your thoughts?

it was his style, which is the same as Khbibs, engage on the feet until the take down was there and then ground n pound.....of course skill is needed to do that.

 

[Evenflow80]

He was a perfectionist. He himself said it

 

[GSP_37]

OCD and being smart and being a former garbage man.