In his return to the ring after an 18-month hiatus due to injury, Georges St. Pierre defeated Carlos Condit by unanimous decision after five rounds to retain his welterweight title.
St. Pierre hasn’t been defeated in the Octagon since 2007.
St. Pierre took Condit down quickly in the first round, keeping him down on the mat for the majority of the round before Condit managed to get back on his feet in the final seconds.
Condit landed a punch-punch-kick combination early in the second round, and St. Pierre quickly countered with a series of head kicks and punches. As Condit went for a kick with 2:06 left in the round, St. Pierre caught his right leg and took him back down to the mat. St. Pierre let him up with 12 seconds left. The two exchanged punches until the end of the round.
Condit scored an early head kick in the first few seconds of the third round. St. Pierre threw a combo and took Condit down once again, but Condit tried to score a submission from the ground. St. Pierre’s head was swollen over the right eye where Condit’s kick landed. Condit managed to land some elbows from the bottom, and the two were back on their feet with 90 seconds left. Condit went for a Kimura, and St. Pierre ended up in a guard. St. Pierre moved to a half-guard before the round ended.
Condit throws a pair of high kicks in the fourth round, and St. Pierre responds with his own. St. Pierre throws a combo and lands a takedown, moving quickly to side control. Condit is badly cut, but works for a triangle and a knee bar. Condit gets back on his feet with 1:51 remaining. St. Pierre goes for another takedown, but Condit reverses it and ends up in the top position. St. Pierre gets out and ends up back on top.
St. Pierre gets a low kick early in the fifth, and Condit responds with a high kick. St. Pierre throws a Superman punch and Condit goes for a spinning back kick. Halfway through the round, St. Pierre lands another takedown, and gets Condit’s back with a minute left. Condit rolls out and looks for an opening, and the two exchange strikes until the end of the round.
The judges scored the match 49-46, 50-45, 50-45 for St. Pierre.
Georges St. Pierre said he would have to take a vacation and think about whether he wanted to fight Anderson Silva in a superfight that UFC president Dana White has been heavily hyping. The Spider himself said he would take the fight at or around 177 pounds.