He was powerful.

Moments later, GSP dropped Fitch with a blistering punch. Fitch covered up and tried to go for his legs. While on the ground, GSP blasted away at his fallen opponent.

He was relentless.

From there, the Canadian fighter worked Fitch up against the cage. Fitch finally was able to stand, but GSP wobbled him again with another powerful punch. Fitch, bloodied, dived for his legs again. GSP established side control and then mounted Fitch with 10 seconds to go.

When the world’s top fighters are discussed, Georges St-Pierre’s name is invariably mentioned.

Welterweight contender Jon Fitch certainly knows that, so he knew he was going to have his hands full in his quest to take the UFC welterweight title away from St-Pierre, but he didn’t know how much.

“I knew he was fast, but he was a little faster than I expected,” said Fitch, whose left eye was closed due to a pummeling at the hands of St-Pierre.

While Fitch administered some of his own damage during the five-round war, St-Pierre defeated Fitch by unanimous decision here at the Target Center and retained his welterweight title.

“Jon Fitch is the toughest guy I fought so far,” said St-Pierre, who was late for the post-fight press conference because he was getting stitches. “I want to say thanks to Jon Fitch because he stood five rounds and gave me a war.”

And the crowd, which was somewhat subdued at the weigh-in, appreciated the action in that title fight, as well as in the non-title fights between their hometown favorites Brock Lesnar (against Heath Herring) and Roger Huerta (against Kenny Florian).

As always, following is an overview of the fights, written “unplugged,” as they occurred.

The Main Card
The Fighters: Jon Fitch (21-3) vs. Georges St-Pierre (17-2)
Division: Welterweight Championship
The Winner: GSP
How: Unanimous Decision

The Fighters: Demian Maia (9-0) vs. Jason MacDonald (21-6)
Division: Middleweight
The Winner: Maia
How: Rear naked choke at 2:44 of Round 3
Highlights of the Fight: They touch gloves. Maia pulls guard, and the fight goes to the ground at 4: 30. Maia goes for a triangle, but he can’t quite pull it off. From the bottom, he throws elbows to the top of MacDonald’s head. MacDonald scrambles to his back and goes for the choke. MacDonald stands and throws a few punches, but Maia pulls him back in. MacDonald is going for a guillotine. Maia scrambles to his back and goes for a choke.

Round 3. They exchange kicks, and then Maia takes him right down. The action is all on the ground. Maia mounts him again. 3:08 to go. Maia drops some elbows, MacDonald turns and Maia throws punches. Head punches by Maia. One after the other. Maia goes for another rear naked choke, and he taps.

The Fighters: Roger Huerta (22-2) vs. Kenny Florian (12-3)
Division: Lightweight
The Winner: Florian
How: Unanimous Decision
Highlights of the Fight: In Round 3, they touch gloves to start the round. Florian scores a double leg, but Huerta gets right back up. Florian throws a knee or two. Intense action at the outset of the round. Huerta stands and unloads a combo on Florian. Another big knee by Florian. Florian throws a high left round kick. Good left by Florian rocks Huerta’s head. Another good kick by Florian. At the end of the fight, Huerta throws his mouthpiece down.

The Fighters: Robert Emerson (10-6-1) vs. Manvel Gamburyan (9-4)
Division: Lightweight
The Winner: Emerson
How: KO at :12 of Round 1
Highlights of the Fight: A big right sends Gamburyan down. Emerson puts him away with a huge left.

The Fighters: Brock Lesnar (2-1) vs. Heath Herring (28-14)
Division: Heavyweight
The Winner: Lesnar
How: Unanimous decision
Highlights of the Fight: Lesnar knocks him down and then flies at him and ties him up against the cage. He’s got a choke locked on. The crowd chants Lesnar and stomps its feet. He’s got a tight grip on Herring’s neck, and Herring throws some body punches. Herring’s eye is really bloody. Lesnar takes him down again. Lesnar has his back with 2:49 to go. Herring cannot escape. Big knees by Lesnar as he has side control. More big knees.  At the end of the round, Lesnar pushes Herring. Lesnar simulates a cowboy lasso in Herring’s direction after the fight.



What PPV Didn’t Show
• Clay Guida, cageside with a camera, yelling support for Ben Saunders.
• Chris Wilson, following his victory over Steve Bruno, walked past the press tables, dancing and enjoying the moment.
• Cheick Kongo, after his victory, acknowledged the crowd as he walked past the media section.
• A photographer got his cord tangled in one of Fitch’s cornermen’s pants, and the cornerman barked at him.
 

Memorable Moments
• Jon Jones, while walking to his corner, threw a cartwheel.
COMMENT: That relaxation translated to the fight.
• Andre Gusmao checked out the big screen during the replay of the groin shot he took.
COMMENT: When he saw the knee connect again, he might have winced.
• Cheick Kongo’s walk around the cage prior to his fight.
COMMENT: He pounded his chest and extended his arm to every corner of the arena.


The Undercard
Ryan Thomas (13-2) vs. Ben Saunders (6-0)
From the Thomas’ Corner: “Elbow, elbow. Ryan, come on. Arm, arm. 10 seconds. Out the back door, Ryan. Hands up, hands up.”
Winner: Saunders
How: Armbar, Round 2

• Steve Bruno (12-4) and Chris Wilson (13-5)
Division: Welterweight
Bruno’s Corner: “Keep your hands up.” “Let’s go.”
Between Rounds: Bruno’s cornermen, who are outside the cage, are extremely animated in their conversation with Bruno.
Winner: Wilson
How: Unanimous decision

Jon Jones (7-0) vs. Andre Gusmao (5-1)
Division: Light Heavyweight
Winner: Jones
How: Unanimous Decision

Dan Evensen (10-3) vs. Cheick Kongo (22-4-1)
Division: Heavy
Winner: Kongo
How: TKO at 4:55 of Round 1
The Ref: “Work, guys, work. Watch the shorts, Cheick. Let go of the shorts Cheick.”

Tamdan McCrory (11-1) vs. Luke Cummo (9-6)
Division: Welterweight
Winner: Barncat
How: Unanimous Decision



Weigh-in “Awards”
Best Quote by a Fan: “Hey, Dana! Get out of the way!”
COMMENT: The UFC president was blocking the fan’s view of the ring girls.




Quick Facts
Who: The UFC
What: UFC 87
Where: The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
When: August 9, 2008


To read more about UFC 87, including behind the scenes, check out Ultimate Grappling magazine.

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