Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit – tale of the tape

On Monday, we listed the top five reasons to watch Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit at UFC 154 on Saturday in Montreal (and we didn’t even get to the undercard). Today we’re going to break down the tale of the tape between the fighters who will square off in the main event.

Georges St-Pierre (22-2) – 31 years old, 5’11”, 170 lbs.
– Hasn’t lost since 2007
– Well-rounded fighter, but he hasn’t finished any of his last five opponents
– Possesses good striking skills
– Is a strong grappler (77% success rate on takedowns) and loves going for takedowns
– Well trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has good wrestling skills
– Has very good takedown defense (88% avoided)

Carlos Condit (28-5) – 28 years old, 6’2″, 170 lbs.
– Has finished all but four of his fights by knockout or submission
– Recorded 3 knockouts in his last four fights (two KOs of the night)
– 43% success rate on strikes, including a 68% mark standing
– Vulnerable defending takedowns (only at 47%)
– Has a big height/length advantage over GSP
– Gets hit 39% of the time with strikes

GSP often sees his best success when he’s taking down opponents, and either ground-and-pounding them or submitting them. His success with takedowns coupled with Condit’s vulnerability suggests GSP will be able to take the fight to the ground. Condit’s best chance will be to keep the fight standing, where he has his greatest success rate with striking. Rather than employ a similar strategy to one he used against Nick Diaz, he will be best off trying to score a knockout against St-Pierre. He has to keep in mind that GSP is disciplined and won’t fight foolishly.

Condit will be lucky if St-Pierre proves to have lost some quickness following his ACL injury, which would make defending takedowns against him somewhat easier. That will be his main concern, because he won’t want to spend most of the fight on his back where he would be unlikely to win.