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George St Pierre Gets UFC Title ShotMatt Serra is out with a injury for the Dec 29 fight against Matt Hughes (the most dominant welter weight in UFC history). Hughes is a machine. He has won 41 fights with the same wrestling style over his career which says something for the guy. Most fighters with one style get picked apart early in their career but Matt has proven he can over come almost anyone. He's a strong, hard working, tough farm kid with a "Must Win" mentality. And all the power to him! He had a ton of fans prior to the UFC's Ultimate Fighter series where he coached and then came off as cocky and a bully. Call him what you will, anyone with wins over BJ Penn, Carlos Newton, Georges St Pierre & Hayato Sakurai is a machine. No matter what happens in the future he is a champion and a role model for MMA fighters. His work ethic and ability to find a way to win are incredible and as a competitor you just have to respect the guy. However.. He has also lost to BJ and GSP and the win against Newton, well, that's tough call as he was asleep at the same time he slammed Carlos to the mat. The win could be argued either way. In no way shape or form am I taking away from his abilities because I have watched him from early in his career and all I can say is "Wow", but the power of the media has him beat. When a guy wins 41 fights most of them are televised which hurts him. Your style is known and your best moves you use to win are visible. Enter BJ Penn and George St Pierre. BJ beat him the first time they fought (and I was there!). BJ had lost the title fight at 155lbs to Jens Pulver. He was ticked off. So BJ, being BJ, said I'm moving up a weight category to win the 170lb title. Unheard of at the time. Hughes called him disrespectful for it. But BJ was able to rattle Hughes with a punch to the head while he was on top and then grab him from behind in a rear naked choke. Matt could have got out but he was still dummied from the punch and had to tap out. Wow. NO ONE saw that coming. Side note, I got a photo with BJ that night, it was amazing. This was before UFC got to where it was today. Myself and a buddy met him outside of Mandalay Bay by himself waiting for a cab. How times have changed. BJ ended up leaving UFC due to "reason unknown". A lot issues with himself and UFC and the title got vacated. Hughes recaptures it after that. An up and comer in George St Pierre is tearing up the competition and gets a title fight. GSP dominates the first 2:55 of the fight against Hughes. But GSP frees an arm and Matt (when did he learn BJJ? ) grabs an arm bar and GSP taps with 1 second left in the first round. That is a mistake on GSP's part and more importantly his corner. No way should he have tapped like that. Suffice, he lost. Rematch. Guess who was there! George controls the whole fight. Has an answer to everything Matt throws at him. Now, here's where the idea of the televised fights comes in. GSP knew every move Matt had from studying video and it was obvious. He controlled the whole fight and beat him 3X in my opinion. 1 - leg kick that Matt claimed was a groin kick and got a time out 2) End of round 1 Matt is out but saved by the bell 3) GSP gets the TKO. WOW! GSP dominates. Now he has huge crowd support. Enter Matt Serra. Always liked him but never thought he'd make it far. Low and behold he wins ultimate fighter series of 'has beens". Proved to be a great team mate and a coach. Good on him. Well done Serra. He wins the series and a chance at GSP. I missed the fight aginst GSP as I was in Thailand but was surprised when I heard he won by TKO. Congrats to the millionaires who bet on him cause the odds were nuts! Enter Politics. GSP deserved an immediate title fight / rematch. But Dana White wrapped up Matt and Matt to coach the Ultimate fighter series and fight for the title as a wrap up for the TV show on Dec 29. Lots of animosity on the show between the two. Built up a good fight that had Hughes being the favorite. However Serra is now hurt. Dana picks up the phone and GSP says "Yes" on short notice and we have a blockbuster on our hands. Great rubber match! Reality check, limited time for GSP to train for a real fight. And Hughes has done his homework for sure as he hates to lose. There is question as to George's mental stability when it comes to big fights. He blew it against Hughes the first time and Serra 2 fights ago (he dominated Josh Koschek whom I refuse to chat about cause I think he's over rated). Both were pressure fights for different reasons. Question is, can he over come the mental barrier? Now if you think cage fighting is just a "fight", go to a gym with a cage. Walk in and close the door. That alone will freak you out. Now pretend there are 20k people watching, a few million on TV and a guy who wants to smash you 20' away. Not easy and GSP has a few things to control in his head when the added pressure of a title is involved. Hughes will be ready for Dec 29. Guaranteed. He's mentally tough and a warrior. Will George? Mack's bet? I am a betting man and I like George St Pierre! Other articles by this author »
About Raymond Burton
Mack Kay And Ray Burton Are Owners Of http://www.FasterLeanerStronger.com Perform like a machine. Conditioning and fitness information for high performance athletes. Related
And here is another random article you might be interested in... Porter's Five Forces AnalysisIf you've ever listened to Warren Buffett talk about investing, you've heard him mention the idea of a company's moat. The moat is a simple way of describing a company's competitive advantages. Company's with a strong competitive advantage have large moats, and therefore higher profit margins. And investors should always be concerned with profit margins. This article looks at a methodology called the Porter's Five Forces Analysis. In his book Competitive Strategy, Harvard professor Michael Porter describes five forces affecting the profitability of companies. These are the five forces he noted:
These five forces, taken together, give us insight into a company's competitive position, and its profitability. Rivals Rivals are competitors within an industry. Rivalry in the industry can be weak, with few competitors that don't compete very aggressively. Or it can be intense, with many competitors fighting in a cut-throat environment. Factors affecting the intensity of rivalry are:
New Entrants One of the defining characteristics of competitive advantage is the industry's barrier to entry. Industries with high barriers to entry are usually too expensive for new firms to enter. Industries with low barriers to entry, are relatively cheap for new firms to enter. The threat of new entrants rises as the barrier to entry is reduced in a marketplace. As more firms enter a market, you will see rivalry increase, and profitability will fall (theoretically) to the point where there is no incentive for new firms to enter the industry. Here are some common barriers to entry:
Substitute Products This is probably the most overlooked, and therefore most damaging, element of strategic decision making. It's imperative that business owners (us) not only look at what the company's direct competitors are doing, but what other types of products people could buy instead. When switching costs (the costs a customer incurs to switch to a new product) are low the threat of substitutes is high. As is the case when dealing with new entrants, companies may aggressively price their products to keep people from switching. When the threat of substitutes is high, profit margins will tend to be low. Buyer Power There are two types of buyer power. The first is related to the customer's price sensitivity. If each brand of a product is similar to all the others, then the buyer will base the purchase decision mainly on price. This will increase the competitive rivalry, resulting in lower prices, and lower profitability. The other type of buyer power relates to negotiating power. Larger buyers tend to have more leverage with the firm, and can negotiate lower prices. When there are many small buyers of a product, all other things remaining equal, the company supplying the product will have higher prices and higher margins. Conversely, if a company sells to a few large buyers, those buyers will have significant leverage to negotiate better pricing. Some factors affecting buyer power are:
Supplier Power Buyer power looks at the relative power a company's customers has over it. When multiple suppliers are producing a commoditized product, the company will make its purchase decision based mainly on price, which tends to lower costs. On the other hand, if a single supplier is producing something the company has to have, the company will have little leverage to negotiate a better price. Size plays a factor here as well. If the company is much larger than its suppliers, and purchases in large quantities, then the supplier will have very little power to negotiate. Using Wal-Mart as an example, we find that suppliers have no power because Wal-Mart purchases in such large quantities. A few factors that determine supplier power include:
It's important to analyze these five forces and their affect on companies we want to invest in. The Porter Five Forces Analysis will give you a good explanation for the profitability of an industry, and the firms within it. If you want to know why a company is able, or unable, to make a decent profit, this is the first analysis you should do. Other articles by this author »
About Chris Mallon
Chris Mallon is the editor and publisher of the Undervalued
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