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St-Pierre: Get rid of 'ridiculous' rounds

ESPN staff
April 24, 2013
Georges St-Pierre believes UFC ought to go back to its roots with single-round contests © Getty Images
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UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre wants the sport to go back to its roots and do away with "stupid" rounds in favour of unbroken 15-minute fights.

The Canadian believes that the decision to introduce rounds at UFC 21, taken as the sport introduced reforms to achieve mainstream success, simply aligned it with boxing and undermined the ethos of the competition.

Offered a hypothetical chance to make changes to the sport, St-Pierre suggested that UFC bouts should be single-round contests lasting 15 minutes, with 25-minute bouts for championship or main event fights.

"There's a lot of things I would change," St-Pierre told The Joe Rogan Experience. "First of all, the time - there's no time, no round.

"Seriously, I believe it is stupid, the round. If you want to see who's the best man, let them fight, you know? Fifteen minutes, or maybe 25 minutes for the championship - no rounds.

"Why are we trying to be like boxing? We're not boxers -- they did rounds to be like boxing to be accepted as a sport."

St-Pierre, famed for his stamina, has not finished a fight since 2009 but insists that rather than making fights more attritional, a move to single rounds would lead to more finishes.

"Yeah, of course, 100% [there would be more finishes]. No rounds. I think it's ridiculous. I would rather fight with a rule like this, I think it's more honest, like, who's the better man? Let them fight."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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