UFC 154 takes place at The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on November 17. It will be headlined by a highly anticipated welterweight title fight. Montreal-native and current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre takes on UFC Interim Welterweight Champion “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit. GSP was on the shelf for 9 months battling a knee injury and has not fought since his dominant title defense against Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto, back in April 2011. Carlos Condit beat Jiu-Jitsu fighter Cesar Gracie and former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz at UFC 143 earlier this year to capture the interim strap.
The UFC 154 press conference took place at The Montreal Science Center and featured both main event fighters alongside Tom Wright of UFC Canada.
“I’m happy because I can do what I love to do for a living” said GSP, after taking time off to rehabilitate his knee as concerns of fighting in the future loomed in his head. He also praised the UFC for its treatment of him.
“I don’t see any other sport where an athlete is taken care of like this.”
Carlos Condit will be entering hostile territory in November. Roughly over 21,000 fans will be against him and he is just fine with that.
“I enjoy the role of the bad guy entering someone’s hometown and beating them”, said a humble Condit.
The fighters have more than mutual respect for each other and they won’t be doing too much trash talking. Greg Jackson, world-class trainer and the man behind Jackson’s MMA, will not be cornering either fighter. He currently trains Condit and has cornered GSP in the past for some of his most memorable fights.
“It’s going to be me and him in the cage,” expressed GSP, talking about only focusing on Condit. “The champion is Carlos Condit, that’s how I see it.”
However, the Natural Born Killer disagrees.
“I’m not the official champ; until someone beats him (GSP), he’s the official champion.”
Tom Wright, director of UFC Canada, spoke about plans to return to Montreal in early 2013.
UFC 154 will also have 8 Canadians on the card and will be the first time it hosts the Bell Centre since UFC 124, where Georges St-Pierre defeated Josh Koscheck.
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