When George St. Pierre and Thiago Alves take to the cage at this Saturday's UFC 100 the pressure will be on St. Pierre.  The reputation he's built as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in all of mixed martial arts has the world watching him closely.  The commander-in-chief of the UFC, Dana White has even referred to St. Pierre as "possibly one of the greatest welterweights of all time."  That's a tall order in an organization that has housed the likes of sure-fire hall of famer Matt Hughes. 

Praise has most certainly been earned by the Canadian superstar.  He is 2-1 vs. Hughes in his career and his victory menu also includes names like Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, Frank Trigg, and fellow pound-for-pound great B.J. Penn (twice).  What's most amazing about St. Pierre is that he doesn't seem to have a weakness in his game.  He's been known to fly all over the western hemisphere to train with the best of the best in various disciplines and his efforts have been fruitful.  He's out-wrestled one of the best wrestlers in MMA in Hughes, pounded on Penn inside one of the more dangerous guards in the UFC, and has out-struck world-class strikers on his road to glory.  His game plans are planned and executed to near perfection. He has a very good chin, and his cardio is almost inhuman. 

With only two losses in twenty fights, ways to beat this guy aren't exactly plentiful.  Hughes caught him in an armbar in 2004 but his jiu-jitsu has improved to an extent that it's very unlikely to happen again, especially in this fight.  Serra caught him with some big bombs, was able to hurt him, then kept his composure enough to finish the fight.  This is where Alves comes in.

Thiago Alves isn't entirely free of pressure coming into this battle.  The fight hype machine is referring to him as "the biggest challenge of St. Pierre's career".  Alves won't look like a fool if he can't beat the champ but it's important that he at least make a showing. 

Alves is a big welterweight.  Dana White says that when he's walking around at normal size and weight that he looks to be the size of Quinton Jackson or Rashad Evans who are not only two weight classes higher than Alves but are actually on the larger end of the spectrum for their 205-pound division. 

Striking is definitely the "Pitbull's" strength but opponents who stand in the middle of the octagon awaiting a boxing match usually end up on their backs counting ceiling tiles while people shine lights in their eyes and ask what city they were born in.  He pushes the pace and he does so with fists, elbows, kicks, and knees.  Many of those knees arrive via airmail and when they do it usually means the end of the fight.  Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan, and several others have been on the receiving end of those flying knees and knowing that they're coming doesn't seem to be a legitimate defense for them.  Even with such striking prowess, treating Alves as one-dimensional would be a mistake.  His takedown defense has been phenomenal and he has just enough jiu-jitsu training combined with his brute strength to make him very dangerous.

As the co-main event of the most anticipated card in UFC history, the world will be watching, literally.

Coming soon, part three of our UFC 100 five-part preview: Henderson vs. Bisping.