It’s finally real. Georges (Rush) St-Pierre is returning to the Octagon and will fight for the undisputed welterweight title against Carlos Condit on Nov. 17 in Montreal.
Of course, we’ve known this was going to happen for months. It was just never official, and we always had the caveat, “assuming Georges is healthy.”
Not anymore, GSP reassured us on Thursday as the UFC held their press conference in conjunction with the start of UFC 154 ticket sales this week.
“I’m 120 per cent,” St-Pierre said in response to a question whether he is fully healthy following his ACL injury, surgery and 10 months of rehab. “I don’t want to talk about my knee, I don’t want to think about my knee.”
After the longest layoff of St-Pierre’s career, we can finally talk about a real fight. No more hypotheticals. No more backup plans.
St-Pierre, the UFC’s longtime welterweight champion and celebrated poster boy, said right off the top of Thursday’s press conference that he couldn’t be happier to be able to do what he loves to do for a living once more.
“I have never been so pumped up in my life to step into the Octagon again.”
The fact is the long break could not have come at a better time for him. He admitted that he had lost his love and passion for the fight game before the injury, and the time off allowed him to rekindle it.
The fact that the injury forced him to adjust the way he trained also helped him going forward.
“My training is more efficient (now),” St-Pierre said. “I stopped doing things that are less efficient, and go straight to the point.”
You may have noticed I didn’t write in the opening paragraph that he’s defending his belt against Carlos Condit. That’s because St-Pierre doesn’t look at it like that. In fact, he sees himself as more of a challenger in what will be his first fight since April 2011 when he defeated Jake Shields at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
“In my contract, I was supposed to defend my title every year. (In the) last year I couldn’t do it, so I see it like Condit has the belt and I need to take it from him,” St-Pierre said.
Interesting sentiment, but people aren’t really going to be thinking that way. Nobody will be saying that Condit is defending his interim belt. Certainly Condit doesn’t consider himself the one with the belt to put on the line.
“I’m not the official champion,” Condit said. “Georges has been the dominant champion for years, and until somebody beats him he is the undisputed champion.”
Whether St-Pierre is able to pick up where he left off in the cage remains to be seen, but one area where he clearly has is the humility department. Rather than boasting about his credentials, he spoke with a class that has often been absent from other UFC champions like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.
There has been no trash talk between the two competitors, and by the sounds of fans and media — at least on Twitter — none of that is necessary when it comes to GSP. The hype for this fight will take care of itself, simply by virtue of the fact that people want to see the Canadian fight again.
There will be plenty of intrigue as to whether the long layoff and injury will affect him in his first fight back in the Octagon. There is also the question of whether the former WEC champion Condit will be able to challenge him as no other previous fighter has (at least not since the Matt Serra upset in April 2007).
St-Pierre is cognizant of both of these factors.
“I have two obstacles to overcome (in this fight),” St-Pierre said. “I’m fighting the most dangerous opponent I’ve ever faced, and I’m coming back after being off a year and a half.”
But many still expect the 31-year-old to return to the form that made him the dominant champion he was. And even if it meant waiting all this time for him to get fully healthy, it is worth the wait.
There was no “rushing” St-Pierre back (pun intended). It’s all real again and we’re eager to see how he does in the Octagon on Nov. 17.
WE MISSED YOU GSP: For nostalgic purposes, here are a couple of videos that came out just prior to his last fight in Montreal in December 2010.
This one was for ESPN, playing off him being feared in the cage.
This one is him making fun of the fact that despite his dominance, many would still criticize his performances.
Whether fans will be thinking one or the other after Nov. 17 is one of the main questions people are looking forward to finding out.
NOTES: After going nearly 24 months between shows in Montreal, it appears the city will get its next two just five months apart. UFC director of Canadian operations Tom Wright said that the UFC is targeting the third week of March for its annual trip to Quebec, while the third week of September is when they hope to slate Toronto … Wright said the UFC looked at booking the UFC 154 show at the Olympic Stadium, but one of the main reasons it ruled it out was because of the possibility that the Canadian Football League’s Eastern Division-leading Montreal Alouettes could very well host the East final, which is scheduled for the day after, in which case the “Big O” would be booked. He also called the Bell Centre one of the best venues the UFC visits and “the best spot in the city.”