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An anticipated yearend super-fight between UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and lightweight title-holder B.J. Penn has been moved to Jan. 31, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports writes.
The fight, a rematch of a previous 170-pound bout in 2006 which the Canadian St. Pierre won by split decision, was originally planned for Dec. 27, UFC president Dana White said. But St. Pierre has reportedly chosen to take the remainder of the year off after fighting four times in the past 12 months. The new date and location for the fight will be at its annual Super Bowl-weekend event in Las Vegas.
St. Pierre, a Montreal native, is coming off a five-round decision win over Jon Fitch this month, his first successful title defence after he claimed the belt for a second time by beating Matt Serra in his home town in April. Following the win, Penn entered the Octagon, took the microphone and implored St. Pierre to face him. St. Pierre, who along with Penn is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world but competes at the higher weight class, obliged.
The UFC, which recently said it was looking to get back to Canada soon and perhaps even be back in Montreal by the end of the year, was unable to arrange an event at the Bell Centre as the Montreal Canadiens take up many of the Saturdays during the hockey season.
NOTES: White also revealed details to Yahoo! Sports about the UFC’s November event, which will take place in Portland, Ore. The Nov. 15 show at the Rose Garden, which will be the first ever in the state and the sixth straight UFC event in a new city, will feature a lightweight bout between contenders Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson. According to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, its main event could see the return of Brock Lesnar, potentially taking on heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo, after both had impressive wins at UFC 87 this month. …
The UFC has officially announced three more fights for its UFC 90 card in Chicago that features Anderson Silva defending his middleweight belt against Patrick Cote. On the main card of the Oct. 25 show, former 155-pound champ Sean Sherk takes on Tyson Griffin, while Hermes Franca faces Gleison Tibau and Josh Burkman meets Pete Sell in undercard bouts. …
According to MMAjunkie.com, Rich Clementi, winner of back-to-back fights in April and May including a split decision over Canadian Sam Stout in Montreal, will be back in action at UFC 90 with his opponent expected to be Gray Maynard. …
Stout, meanwhile, was officially added to the UFC 89 event on Oct. 18 in Birmingham, England. The London, Ont., native will take on the Englishman Terry Etim, the last guy to lose to Clementi.
