UFC 87 Recap: GSP Defends 170lb Title; Florian, Lesnar come up big.

John Fitch is ridiculously tough. Before fighting GSP at the Target Center, he was tied with Royce Gracie for the most consecutive wins in the UFC. Unfortunately, being tough and gritty alone doesn’t make you a champion.

By COED Staff

Fitch fought valiantly for five rounds against what is arguably the greatest athlete in all of MMA and one of the most dynamic fighters of all time, Georges St. Pierre. Pierre proved to be faster, stronger, and more technically skilled then the American Kickboxing Academy member and beat him standing and on the ground.

Early in the first round the Champ almost had the challenger finished, checking a kick with a vicious right hand that crumpled Fitch. The following ground and pound attack was furious, but not enough to put away the stalwart Fitch. Save a short rally in the second round, the remainder of the fight was owned by the Canadian, who took his opponent down at will and landed with crisp strikes while standing. After the fight, BJ Penn jumped into the cage in an attempt to hype a match up between the two. Here’s hoping.

Kenny Florian won a dominant decision over consummate brawler and UFC poster boy Roger Huerta. The fight played out in a one sided fashion, but that doesn’t mean these two competitors did not put on an excellent show.

Huerta, receiving his first lost ever in the UFC, tried to brawl as usual, coming forward with big punches, often working off a right fake to a superman punch technique. Something that may have caught lesser fighters off guard. Unfortunately for ‘El Matador,’ Kenny Florian is no such fighter. K-Flo fought a near perfect technical bout, working for a rear naked choke intermittently between stand-up exchanges where he avoided the clinch and landed big kicks near the end of the fight.

Kenny is in the hunt for his second attempt at a title at 155 since he battled (and lost to) Sean Sherk a little over a year ago. Unfortunately for Kenny (and anyone else at 155) BJ Penn is currently top dog and in our opinion is probably the toughest fighter on the planet. Good luck Mr. Florian.

Brock Lesnar finally lived up to the hype in front of a home town crowd in Minneapolis. Fighting a much more experienced heavyweight, Heath ‘The Texas Crazyhorse’ Herring, the former WWE star and one time alternate for the Minnesota Vikings displayed explosive athleticism and smart grappling. He looked green against Frank Mir. He did not look green here. The only thing Lesnar looked was absolutely frightening.

Heath had no answer for Brock’s ridiculous power, as the NCAA wrestler took the Texan down at will and even landed a standing right hand that dropped the veteran kick boxer. The fight was essentially like this, Brock takes Heath down, and beats the absolute shit out of him, in every round. Heath didn’t tap, and made it through all three rounds, but tomorrow he may be wishing he’d gotten knocked out. The diverse striking that Brock delivered from various dominant positions put an absolute walloping on Herring. Brock Lesnar is the real deal.

(Image via UFC.com)