he UFC welterweight champion is just 16-days from making his return to the proving grounds of the UFC Octagon after being sidelined for 18-months. His last bout was against former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields back in April of 2011.
Greeting him back is none other than the current UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit. The two champions are scheduled to unify their welterweight titles at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The reason behind St. Pierre inactivity has been a nagging knee injury which ultimately led to a tear of his ACL in the lead up to a highly anticipated fight against former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz at UFC 143.
Though, many skeptics believe St. Pierre's ACL injury will change him as a fighter by robbing some of his explosiveness, St. Pierre believes the injury was a blessing in disguise.
"This injury was a negative thing in the beginning but it became a positive thing at the end," George St. Pierre told the CalgaryHerald. "It allowed me to correct my training and make it better and improve it. I had the mentality that more is better, but I realize that's wrong. Smarter is always better. I have more fun doing it. I'm more fired up to go train now. My knee feels like it never happened. It's very strong."
His UFC 154 opponent, Condit, has proven in the past to have a weakness against wrestlers, and has been susceptible to opponents with explosive takedowns. St. Pierre plans on using that weakness to his advantage to prove to the world that he is still the best.
"For me the belt doesn't matter. I want to be the best," St. Pierre said. "It's not really the belt that matters, it's the meaning of it. I do feel I'll be able to take him down. I want to dictate the pace and make it my fight, do what I want to do."
