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Danaher Reveals He Was Behind GSP’s Triumphant Debut in Middleweight

Danaher Reveals He Was Behind GSP’s Triumphant Debut in Middleweight

 

 

The morning after UFC 217 had some interesting revelation. On the eventful card many champions were defeated and a new order will soon ensue.

In light of all this decorated bjj coach John Danaher revealed he was behind the weight category change of Georges St.Pierre- new middleweight champion:

 Victory in New York! Georges St-Pierre came back after four years of inactivity to win the UFC middleweight title against the great Michael Bisping at Madison Square Garden tonight. It was perhaps the most dramatic fight of his incredible career. Despite his incredible past successes there have always been three constant criticisms of his work, the first, that he did not finish fights, the second, that he never fought above his weight, and the third, that he fought in a tactical fashion that made some of his fights convincing, but unexciting.

Mr St-Pierre took time off to train and reconfigure himself in a way that would enable him to prove people wrong. He worked with Freddie Roach on his punching power and with the squad on submission skills and tied everything together with Firas Zahabi. Tonight he stormed back into the octagon and finished a great opponent in a heavier weight class above his own in a very dramatic and action packed fight. This fight had it all – striking, takedowns, submissions- all encased in back and forth action. When Mr St-Pierre first mentioned to us his desire to come back, it was me who suggested taking on Mr Bisping.

My reasoning was that all his career, He had beaten tough welterweights. If he came back as a welterweight it would add nothing to his legacy. Only a significant change in octagon demeanor and weight made sense, so we began planning. All credit to Mr St-Pierre and his worthy opponent Mr Bisping. We are all so proud!

 

 

Victory in New York! Georges St-Pierre came back after four years of inactivity to win the UFC middleweight title against the great Michael Bisping at Madison Square Garden tonight. It was perhaps the most dramatic fight of his incredible career. Despite his incredible past successes there have always been three constant criticisms of his work, the first, that he did not finish fights, the second, that he never fought above his weight, and the third, that he fought in a tactical fashion that made some of his fights convincing, but unexciting. Mr St-Pierre took time off to train and reconfigure himself in a way that would enable him to prove people wrong. He worked with Freddie Roach on his punching power and with the squad on submission skills and tied everything together with Firas Zahabi. Tonight he stormed back into the octagon and finished a great opponent in a heavier weight class above his own in a very dramatic and action packed fight. This fight had it all – striking, takedowns, submissions- all encased in back and forth action. When Mr St-Pierre first mentioned to us his desire to come back, it was me who suggested taking on Mr Bisping. My reasoning was that all his career, He had beaten tough welterweights. If he came back as a welterweight it would add nothing to his legacy. Only a significant change in octagon demeanor and weight made sense, so we began planning. All credit to Mr St-Pierre and his worthy opponent Mr Bisping. We are all so proud!

A post shared by John Danaher (@danaherjohn) on

GSP said:

 

“I knew he had a problem with the shot coming from the right,” St-Pierre said afterward. “That’s what we did most of the fight. (The submission) was a trick. I think the best thing in fighting is to set up a trap.”

 

The full results for UFC 217:

Middleweight Championship: Georges St-Pierre def. Michael Bisping (c) via submission (rear naked choke), 4:20 Round 3
Bantamweight Championship: T.J. Dillashaw def. Cody Garbrandt (c) via KO (punches), 2:41 Round 2
Women’s Strawweight Championship: Rose Namajunas def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (c) via TKO (punches), 3:03 Round 1
Welterweight: Stephen Thompson def. Jorge Masvidal via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Middleweight: Paulo Costa def. Johny Hendricks via TKO (punches), 1:23 Round 2

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: James Vick def. Joseph Duffy via TKO (punches), 4:59 Round 2
Heavyweight: Mark Godbeer def. Walt Harris via DQ (illegal head kick), 4:29 Round 2
Light Heavyweight: Ovince Saint Preux def. Corey Anderson via KO (head kick), 1:25 Round 3
Welterweight: Randy Brown def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes def. Oleksiy Oliynyk via TKO (doctor stoppage), 1:56 Round 2
Bantamweight: Ricardo Ramos def. Aiemann Zahabi via KO (spinning back elbow), 1:58 Round 3