Crash Course: UFC 124 “St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2″ Edition

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to the latest edition of “Crash Course”. “Crash Course” is an ongoing series of articles where I give a quick rundown on a big upcoming MMA event in order to best prepare those that may not be that familiar with the day-to-day happenings in Mixed Martial Arts. Today’s event is UFC 124: “St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2”, featuring a main event that sees two of the best Welterweight fighters in the world battle it out once again in a rematch that’s been three years in the making. Let’s get right to it.

The Event: UFC 124: “St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2”, airing live on Pay-Per-View December 11, 2010 from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Why You Should Care: The main event is one of the biggest rematches of the last several years. Not only do these two have an incredibly heated rivalry, they’re two of the finest athletes the UFC has to offer. Georges St. Pierre defends his UFC Welterweight Championship for an amazing fifth time since winning the belt in April 2008. Standing in his way is the resurgent Josh Koscheck, who is on a three-fight win-streak, hasn’t lost in over a year, and has finally realized his potential as a top-division athlete after fighting his way up the rankings for years.

What to Look Forward to in the Main Event: Constant, blistering action. Georges St. Pierre will look to push the pace and dominate Koscheck, both to prove that he’s still the best and to get revenge on Koscheck after more or less sitting on the sidelines while Koscheck talked ridiculous amounts of trash. Koscheck will push the pace because he knows how big this opportunity is and he sincerely believes that GSP has had no chin ever since Matt Serra TKO’d him. Plus, both men have stated multiple times in multiple interviews that they’re going to finish this fight.

What to Look Forward to in the Co-Main Event: Although nothing has been officially confirmed and all the hype is behind the big main event, the co-main event looks to be either Sean McCorkle vs. Stefan Struve or Thiago Alves vs. John Howard. Both fights have a lot of potential and should be quite enjoyable if you’re a fan of wild brawls and big knockouts. All four men are known for their entertaining performances, and all four men are finishers. No matter what the main event ends up being, there’s a strong probability that one of the guys involved in it will be face-down on the mat and riding into the land of dreams before the night is over.

Why You Should Watch This Card: The atmosphere will be electric. Canadian cards always are, but when you add Canada’s own GSP to the mix, you get a crowd that’s at a fevered pitch from the second the first bell of the first fight rings. The main event in particular should garner an amazing reaction. Besides that, several of the fights have plenty of potential and a lot of them look quite nice on paper.

Why You Shouldn’t Watch This Card: I hate to say it, but this card strikes me as a one-trick pony. It’s a great trick, it’s GSP/Koscheck 2, but other than that, the card doesn’t contain a whole lot of the UFC’s best and brightest. Aside from fighters like GSP, Koscheck, Thiago Alves, and Joe Stevenson, not a lot of the main card UFC 124 fighters have been involved in any high-profile match-ups.

Closing Thoughts: UFC 124 mixes a great main event with a fantastic atmosphere and a good (but not great) undercard in order to make an event that I think is well worth watching. The UFC traditionally ends the year with a bang, and I think this card will do just that. It may not be the best card of the year, but the main event certainly has Fight of the Year potential. While GSP/Koscheck 2 may be the only sure-fire must-see fight, the entire PPV card is loaded with potential. I’ll be more than happy to give this show a watch.

But what about you, fans and friends? How do you feel about this card?