UFC 129 was a tale of two champions and two contenders. Jose Aldo and Georges St. Pierre walked into their respective title fights as major favorites and both walked out with their belts. Defeating Mark Hominick and Jake Shields on Saturday has them looking towards their next challenges. However, I want to take a look back at the two contenders and what they gave us on Saturday night.
A title fight in the UFC is a privilege, not something that can truly be earned, no matter how many wins a fighter can rack up. Look no further than Jon Fitch for an example. For a long time he has been considered the second best welterweight in the world, having been last defeated by St. Pierre in 2008. Even though he has accumulated nearly three years of steady competition while remaining undefeated, there isn’t any real discussion about when he will get another title shot…especially if St. Pierre decides to stay at 170 pounds. Do I think a rematch would go differently? Yes I do, but that’s beside the point.
Mark Hominick did exactly what he told the world he would do: He brought pressure to Jose Aldo and pushed the champion in a way that he hadn’t been pushed before. Total domination of fighters such as Mike Thomas Brown, Urijah Faber, and Manny Gamburyan had people considering Aldo to be a top three pound-for-pound fighter. Hominick respected the champion, but didn’t let that change the way he fought.
From the start to the finish, Hominick pushed forward and engaged Aldo. Although he was dropped multiple times during the fight, he never once stopped. In the fifth round Hominick even found himself in position to win the fight. Aldo’s resolve saw him through to the final bell and a unanimous decision, but Hominick earned himself a large amount of respect from the MMA community. Ignoring possible danger from the hematoma that was growing larger by the minute, he kept pushing forward. While Hominick isn’t a champion today, I believe that’s the type of resolve and heart that a contender should display.
That brings me to Jake Shields. Coming in with a six-year undefeated streak and wins over a variety of big name fighters, Shields was supposed to present a seriously tough challenge for St. Pierre. I expected that he would try to continually apply pressure to the champion, in hopes of him making a slight mistake that would lead to a submission victory.
As the fight went on, I became more and more frustrated with Shields. He seemed complacent and willing to stand and trade jabs with St. Pierre, a battle that everyone knew he would lose. Periodically he would rush forward and attempt a clinch, but he never seemed to commit to the action as much as he needed. This was the same fighter who after being rocked by Dan Henderson dragged him to the ground multiple times. Shields even began to act out of character, waving his arms and yelling out for the champion to attack, as if he was goading him into a slugfest. Shields even had the champion seriously hurt. I waited and waited for Shields to turn up the pressure and hopefully force GSP into making a mistake. But that moment never came.
UFC 129 was a tale of two contenders just as much of a tale of two champions. One fought through many different tough patches and was within a hair of winning a title. Then another seemed to be unwilling to “go out on his shield” in pursuit of UFC gold. The future for these two individuals is going to be very interesting to watch.
