The Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced that UFC 154 in Montreal will be headlined by a welterweight title unification bout between Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit.
“One of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, Georges St-Pierre, is coming home to Montreal to defend not only his pound-for-pound standing, but his welterweight world title,” UFC president Dana White said in a press release Tuesday.
St-Pierre (22-2) is on a nine-fight win streak and has dominated the 170-pound division for the last five years. On Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the champion returns to his hometown after 17-months away from the cage due to several injuries including one that required major knee surgery.
Watch a special UFC 154 press conference with GSP and Condit on Thursday at noon ET on Sportsnet ONE and sportsnet.ca
“St-Pierre has been off for over a year recovering from knee surgery and now has to face his toughest test in interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, who won the interim championship by defeating Nick Diaz while GSP was injured,” White said. “So on Nov. 17, in Montreal, Canada, it’s champion vs. champion to see who will leave the undisputed UFC welterweight king!”
Condit (28-5) was the last ever welterweight champ in the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting and has gone an impressive 5-1 in the UFC with his only loss being a razor-thin split decision to Martin Kampmann in 2009. In addition to Diaz, he has wins over the likes of Jake Ellenberger, Dan Hardy and standout Canadian Rory MacDonald.
“I’m excited to finally get back in the Octagon and reclaim my spot as the UFC welterweight champion,” St-Pierre said. “Carlos Condit is a very tough opponent. He has really good striking and very good submission skills. I respect him a lot and look forward to fighting him in front of my hometown fans in Montreal.”
Condit added: “This is the fight the fans have been waiting so long to see. I still have not realized my goal of being the UFC welterweight champion, and to do that, I need to defeat Georges and unify the belt. I’ve worked my entire career for this fight, and I am excited it is finally happening.”
The co-main event will see welterweight contenders Johny Hendricks (13-1) and Kampmann (20-5) compete in a bout with title implications.
In addition to GSP, six other Canadians will step into the Octagon that night: Thamesford, Ont.’s Mark Hominick returns against Pablo Garza; Rimouski, Que.’s Patrick Cote faces middleweight Alessio Sakara; Toronto’s Mark Bocek battles Rafael Dos Anjos at lightweight; Oshawa, Ont.’s Antonio Carvalho will challenge TUF Brazil veteran Rodrigo Damm; and Montreal’s John Makdessi takes on London, Ont.’s Sam Stout in an all-Canadian lightweight tilt
Tickets for UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit go on sale to the public on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT and are priced at $600, $400, $325, $250, $150, $100, and $75.
The UFC will hold a press conference Thursday at noon ET at the Montreal Science Centre with St-Pierre and Condit in attendance.
