UFC 154’s St-Pierre-Condit And The Intersection Of Welterweight Title History

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (22-2; 16-2 UFC) versus interim titleholder Carlos Condit (28-5; 10-1 Zuffa) at UFC 154 Saturday night is the division’s most intriguing offering since January 2009’s UFC 94 super-fight between St-Pierre and then-lightweight champion B.J. Penn.

St-Pierre-Penn was witnessing two divisions worth of gold crammed into one main event. St-Pierre and Condit headlining the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is a tale of two champions from within the same division, angling for undisputed status from opposite career junctures. They are the final two standing at 170-pounds’ peak after a five-year talent consolidation by UFC parent company Zuffa.

Think of St-Pierre-Condit as the finals of a four-man welterweight championship tournament where “GSP” held the no. 1 seed against titleholders from different organizations.

St-Pierre’s last appearance drew a UFC record 55,724 fans at UFC 129 in April 2010 for his UFC welterweight record sixth consecutive defense. The unanimous decision versus former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields was the latest proof the Tristar Gym rep is the company’s no. 1 pay-per-view attraction. Shields, 170-pound champion in defunct-organization EliteXC, saw his 15-fight win streak across two weight classes snapped. The Cesar Gracie black belt bloodied the champion striking and took two rounds on two different judges scorecards. It wasn’t enough to topple St-Pierre; however, it dented his invincibility armor for the first time in a long time.

St-Pierre’s next opponent changed from former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz to former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit then finally, ACL surgery and rehab for his right knee. That set a Diaz-Condit bout in motion for interim gold in St-Pierre’s absence. “The Natural Born Killer” earned a unanimous decision versus Diaz in February at UFC 143. He proved he could go the distance during a world-class 25-minutes albeit not against the octagon’s reigning champion.

St-Pierre and Condit’s clash for an undisputed belt represents the stiff potential for a change the octagon’s history books. Injuries are a pesky indicator time battles against champions working tirelessly to maintain no. 1 status. A 19-month layoff renders St-Pierre vulnerable to changing of the guard moments that could turn the 31-year-old onto the third chapter of his championship career. There is a practical difficulty in not missing a step after 568 days between title defenses in the octagon.

St-Pierre-Condit holds the same intrigue as the highly anticipated St-Pierre-Nick Diaz bout Condit blocked with his entry into the UFC title picture. What weighs more at the top level: athletic, thorough, tireless dominance or calculated, chaotic, violent fighting?

Condit’s 5-0 mark in title fights is the latest evidence fighters coming at Georges St-Pierre are increasingly prepared, accomplished and dangerous. If there is anything more satisfying to Condit than beating St-Pierre, it’s being champion without any organizational qualifiers such as WEC or UFC interim champion.

When it comes to legacy, St-Pierre has crafted a secure, steady route to potentially be the greatest ever. Losing doesn’t diminish his welterweight legacy. It just sets back his quest to transcend divisions and steal Anderson Silva’s greatest ever to step in the octagon status (more on that later), which is still in his reach. St-Pierre’s airtight grip on 170-pounds hasn’t changed while he’s been gone. It’s simply reiterated the question how long he can hold it.

The danger Condit embodies at the time of St-Pierre’s return from injury suggests a new chapter is possible. This may be the portion of the book that is more persistent in disputing the conventional wisdom St-Pierre wrote in it. Still, St-Pierre remains the favorite and rightfully so. Despite the same 10-years in the sport together, St-Pierre has been in the UFC welterweight title picture for eight years, while Condit just sliced his way in during St-Pierre’s 2012 absence.

St-Pierre reached gold for the first time at UFC 65 in November 2006 by dethroning Matt Hughes—the man that previously blocked his title aspirations in October 2004 at UFC 50— via second-round strikes. He dropped it to 11-to-1 underdog Matt Serra at UFC 69 five months later. “Rush” demonstrated urgency in regaining his belt by becoming interim champion in his trilogy-deciding fight against Hughes at UFC 74 in December 2007. He claimed undisputed status by avenging his loss to Serra, who was returning from injury, in April 2008.

St-Pierre is being asked to claim the undisputed title again—this time after an injury of his own. He is 10-2 in UFC grabs for gold, defeating four champions (Hughes, Serra, Penn, Shields) in the octagon. The French-Canadian hopes to extend his division record to seven consecutive title defenses and his overall win streak to 10. That is one step closer to 185-pound kingpin Anderson Silva’s 10 title defenses.

With everything to lose, St-Pierre’s admission in the build-up that he lost his drive to fight in recent performances is the most startling reveal ahead of his bout with a 28-year-old fighter desperate to disrupt his five-and-a-half-years ruling the weight class.

It’s worth noting the last time St-Pierre finished an opponent was Penn at UFC 94 and the two decisions in Condit’s career, including his most recent win, are contained in the win streak that led to St-Pierre. These fighters are converging: St-Pierre is eager to be a finisher, or at least still dominant, while Condit attempts to convince he’s what an elite fighter looks like.

It’s St-Pierre’s four decisions in last four outings versus Condit’s three consecutive bonuses (Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night plus one) leading to his interim title victory—a nine-fight win streak put on the line against a five-fight win streak.

The contrasts continue: St-Pierre’s “it” factor is his star athlete fighting superiority; Condit’s “it” factor” is his kill factor, the obvious feeling he’d rather decimate an opponent than pitch a product.

Statistically, St-Pierre is the more accurate and effective fighter in nearly every category on the board. The rub is Condit only cares about one, very dismissive stat: 13 submissions and 13 (T)KO’s in 28 career victories, one of the best finishing rates in the sport’s history. From a competitive and historical standpoint, St-Pierre-Condit is one of the most important welterweight clashes in the sport’s 19-years.

Perhaps the most anticipated match in UFC history hangs in the balance of St-Pierre-Condit. Anderson Silva versus Georges St-Pierre, the no. 1 and 2 all-time title defense record holders are supposed to take a break from their divisional strangleholds to compete against each other for pound-for-pound supremacy if St-Pierre bests Condit. All things considered, that’s a significant if on the table.

Condit, and the angry, well-prepared pack behind him, remind there is no such thing as cleaning out a division. Grabbing the mantle is always up the challenger, but on rare occasions, the champion must accept the backbreaking climb in front of them like they are mining for gold for the first time.