Georges St. Pierre: Hurts So Good

Georges St. Pierre has been viewed as the pound for pound best fighter in the world for many years and rightfully so. The 170 pounder has now defended his title 6 straight times with his most recent victory over Jake Shields. Many claim GSP lacks a killer instinct, as he is yet to finish a fight in quite a while, but i believe it is a different factor than that.
GSP, since gaining a TKO victory over B.J. Penn at UFC 94 has gone four straight victories without a finish and many fans dont take very well too that. I believe that before becoming one of the many critics of fighters who dont finish their opponents, it is crucial to delve deeper into the nature of Mr. St. Pierre and figure out why he appears to be unable to end fights.
I knew that there was something special about St. Pierre as a fighter and a human being when i first was introduced to his smooth, precise, and almost perfect athleticism in his fighting career, yet i was not sure what exactly made such a fighter. Georges, as seen on the hit show UFC Primetime, is one of the hardest workers in professional athletics, and he is simply a physical specimen. His explosive takedowns, to his perfectly timed counters and leaping superman jabs can only be performed by some people and when at peak performance. When the basic fan is looking at the Hardy, Koscheck, or Shields fights, it appears just like St. Pierre is losing his ability, and his dominance is diminishing. Upon seeing his reaction to the first Matt Serra fight, when he was knocked down, and soon after finished on the ground, i gathered that the glass chin was GSPs biggest flaw, but upon more recent examination of the Shields bout, i see that it is more than that.
Georges St. Pierre works for perfection, and nothing less and as of admirable a trait that is, it may be hurting him inside the octagon. St. Pierre always is ready for each opponent in a unique way for that specific opponent, and continues to control fights and come out on top. With this persona of GSP, comes a big downside that has recently become evident. Mixed Martial Arts is simply not a sport for perfection. Any two guys can train and train in preparation for a fight, and build it up as much as they please, but come fight night, it comes down to two men fighting each other in a caged stage, and in this situation, anything can happen. Mr. St. Pierre is so confortable with his brilliant game plans and the manner in which he is able to execute them, that he sees no problem, but what happens when he must divert from his original plan? What happens when he is cut on his eye and has blurred vision, or is rocked and must recover before continuing to play out his fight plan? Adapting to change not only with different opponents but within the fighter during the course of a fight is vital to a fighters survival. If Georges St. Pierre is the best fighter when things are going his way that is great, yet his biggest issue is his lack of resilience when falling behind in a fight.
In order for Mr. St. Pierre to win the fights (decisively) in which he is forced outside his comfort zone, he has to greatly improve his ability to recover and not simply switch to survival mode when pushed away from plan. When GSP can beat a fighter, in an instance where his opponent brings the fight to GSP, he will have made a significant step in becoming the "perfect" fighter. Taking punishment is part of the game even for perfectionists like St. Pierre, and once he learns that no one is perfect, he can begin fighting with a different mindset. And in the words of Firas Zahabi, (GSP's head trainer and corner man) in response to a complaint from GSP about his bad eye, "shut up, you have another eye, your fine"