UFC 100 Odds, Picks & Predictions: Georges "Rush" St. Pierre and Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves are set to square off tonight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada for the UFC's welterweight championship. The title match is part of an 11 fight UFC 100 card that also includes a battle for the heavyweight crown between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. The current welterweight champ, St. Pierre, is listed as a -280 moneyline favorite in Bodog.com's Georges St. Pierre vs Thiago Alves UFC 100 Odds, Picks & Predictions.
Georges St. Pierre, considered by many to be one of the best, if not the best, pound-for-pound fighters in the world, enters tonight's meeting with Alves having won his last five fights. The French-Canadian captured the welterweight belt for a second time in April of 2008 by dominating Matt Serra at UFC 83. St. Pierre scored a TKO against the New Yorker at 4:45 in the second round.
The 28 year old has since successfully defended his title twice, beating Jon Fitch last August via unanimous decision and getting a TKO stoppage against BJ Penn in January at UFC 94. Prior to his rematch with Serra, "Rush" took out Josh Koscheck (UFC 74) and Matt Hughes (UFC 79).
Despite the long list of quality fighters that St. Pierre, 18-2, has dispatched in the Octagon (Hughes, Penn, Serra, Fitch, Koscheck, Karo Parisyan, Sean Sherk), he considers Alves to be a notch above the rest.
"He's the biggest and most skilled fighter that I have fought," St. Pierre said of his UFC 100 Odds, Picks & Predictions challenger. "He brings a lot of problems to the table and he is a perfect match for me."
Thiago Alves has garnered numerous accolades of late due to the seven fight win streak that he will bring into the Octagon this evening. The 25 year old has amassed a 22-4 UFC record and, like St. Pierre, has done it against some top shelf competition. The Brazilian, who fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida, has taken out the likes of Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan, Josh Koscheck, and Chris Lytle.
Alves latest victim was Koscheck, whom he beat by unanimous decision at UFC 90 in October of last year. Previous to that fight, the skilled striker defeated former champ Matt Hughes by TKO at a 1:02 in the second round (UFC 85).
The young brawler knows what St. Pierre has accomphlished in MMA, but indicated he has a few goals of his own and that he intends on meeting them tonight.
"He's the champion," Alves said. "I've got a lot of respect for him, but my respect was done when my training was done. Now, it's business. I'm going for his belt, and I'm going to take his belt."
Tonight's UFC 100 event is scheduled to get underway at 10:00pm ET; it can be seen live on Pay-Per-View.
Bodog.com Georges St. Pierre vs Thiago Alves UFC 100 Odds, Picks & Predictions:
Georges St. Pierre -280
Thiago Alves +220
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