UFC 154: Georges St-Pierre Returns Focused vs. Condit

It’s been a long time since Georges St-Pierre has stepped into the octagon for a UFC main event. Saturday’s bout with Carlos Condit at UFC 154 will be GSP’s first fight in 18 months. The Quebec native says he is back to full strength after his knee injury and is set as a -370 favourite at Sports Interaction.

GSP Healthy and Ready

Condit has tried to get under St-Pierre’s skin leading up to the fight, saying that GSP lacks killer instinct. That isn’t anything St-Pierre is worried about. “I like criticism, because it helps me become better as a martial artist,” St-Pierre told reporters. “Of course I want to be more exciting. I used to try to throw a big punch to end the fight and get the knockout. But, now I’m happy to be in the octagon. I’m not in a rush. I’m gonna be picking the guy apart. I’m gonna see the opportunity, and I’m gonna jump on it like a lion.” GSP (22-2) will have plenty of support in his corner with Saturday’s bout being held at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Condit Happy to Play the Bad Guy

Condit will be in enemy territory and knows not many people are giving him much of a chance in his title fight with GSP. That doesn’t seem to bother him. Condit is 28-5 lifetime and his just one loss in the last six years. He has strong ground skills and knockout ability with his strikes. “Georges is the favorite, as well he should be considering everything he has done in this sport,” Condit told reporters. “But I’ve been through this before. It’s not new to me. Just because someone else thinks I’m going to lose, or even if everyone else thinks I’m going to lose, it doesn’t matter as long as I don’t believe that.” Condit has already shown he can win as an underdog. He knocked out Dan Hardy in England and also has impressive victories over Dong-Hyun Kim and Nick Diaz.

Prediction

Even though there isn’t much value in a GSP bet, it’s hard to imagine St-Pierre laying an egg in front of his Montreal fans. He has been careful to take his time rehabbing his injury. St-Pierre says he’s fully fit now and you have to believe him at this point. He knows everybody wants to see him in a fight against Anderson Silva and needs to take care of Condit first. This one won’t go the distance. St-Pierre will win by submission over Condit in the fourth round.