Georges St-Pierre Returns, Dominates Carlos Condit At UFC 154
Georges St-Pierre needed to show up and show out at UFC 154. After 18 months off, many wondered what “Rush” had left after recovering from an ACL injury.
Against a game opponent in Carlos Condit, the UFC welterweight champ proved he’s still the king of the 170-pound mountain. In the evening’s main event, St-Pierre routed Condit to earn a unanimous decision win. Only one judge gave Condit a round on the scorecards.
St-Pierre pushed the action from the outset, keeping Condit off balance with jabs to the face. For the majority of the contest, “The Natural Born Killer” fought tentative. When he opened up, St-Pierre landed takedowns at will, getting the bout to the mat.
An upset loomed on the horizon in the third stanza, as Condit caught St-Pierre with a head kick. The blow sent the hometown hero to the mat as Condit dove in for the kill. St-Pierre worked his way back to his feet after recovering and was never in danger again.
Both fighters looked like they were returning from a war as the final bell rung. Condit was cut open in the first courtesy of a St-Pierre elbow while the champion sported plenty of lumps on his own.
With the victory, St-Pierre moves to an impressive 23-2 and faces a possible super fight with UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, though he wouldn’t commit to the bout when asked.
“I need to take some vacation and think about it,” St-Pierre said. “I want to make my best choice for myself, the UFC and the fans.”
In the night’s co main event, Johny Hendricks made his case for a title shot, knocking Martin Kampmann stiff with a big left hand at 46 seconds of the opening round.
Francis Carmont defeated Tom Lawlor via razor thin split decision. The judges scored the contest 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.
Rafael dos Anjos put on a dominant performance, defeating Mark Bocek via unanimous decision. Bocek was swept on all three judges’ score cards.
Mark Hominick’s streak of bad luck in Canada continued. “The Machine” was defeated by Pablo Garza via unanimous decision by scores of 29-27, 30-26 and 29-28.
