UFC 124: Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck II

[Rappy Veteran]

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is coming back to Montreal, and the event will be headlined by the most famous Canadian in the sport.

Georges St-Pierre's title defense against Josh Koscheck will take place on Dec. 11 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, UFC president Dana White confirmed with MMA Fighting Monday.

UFC 124 will happen at the end of the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter, which premieres on Spike TV on Sept. 15. St-Pierre and Koscheck will serve as opposing coaches on the show.

The event will mark the second time the UFC comes to Montreal this year. UFC 113 also took place in Montreal.

St-Pierre has only fought once before in his hometown as a member of the UFC roster. He defeated Matt Serra to regain his welterweight title in April 2008 at UFC 83.

The UFC has since held two other events in "La Belle Province": UFC 97 in April 2009 and the aforementioned UFC 113 in May 2010.

St-Pierre defeated Koscheck at UFC 74 via unanimous decision in a non-title fight. His most recent successful title defense came against Dan Hardy at UFC 111.

Since losing to Paulo Thiago at UFC 95, Koscheck has won three in a row. His most recent win actually took place in Montreal when he defeated Paul Daley at UFC 113.

Koscheck will no doubt enter the cage on Dec. 11 as a major villain since he is fighting the hometown favorite and also took shots at the Montreal Canadiens following his win over Daley.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Rappy

[TheElite]

I hope Koscheck get's his cheating ass kicked out of the arena.

[rajputwarrior]

i love how koschek was like i'm not fighting him in montreal again... he's going to get murdered

[nubs]

Can't wait for this fight. Kos is the only one with good enough wrestling to put St. Pierre on his ass.

[DrunkenBeard]

Go go go GSP ! :woot: After Penn's loss I really hope St-Pierre pulls this off.

[rajputwarrior]

Can't wait for this fight. Kos is the only one with good enough wrestling to put St. Pierre on his ass.

didn't watch the last fight did you? GSP out wrestled him and koscheck couldn't take him down if his life depended on it.

[D. S. Veteran]

I hope this doesn't turn into a points fest. A KO or sub would be soooo nice.

[D. S. Veteran]

Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle ready for UFC 124. Yes! After a KO of Mark Hunt, McCorkle moves up in competition and his either getting KO in spetacular fashion or KOing Struve in spectacular fashion.

[Kriz]

Can't wait for this fight. Kos is the only one with good enough wrestling to put St. Pierre on his ass.

Do you even know what you're talking about? Have you seen the first fight? It doesnt seem that you have, watch it then get back to us :)

Koschecks ground game has always been good dont get me wrong, but GSP is 2 leagues above him, GSP is a sponge when it comes to MMA, Koscheck doesnt stand a chance. Standing up or on the ground (more than likely on the ground i cant remember the last time GSP had a decent stand up fight) its going to be a rough ride for koscheck, he will not be able to take down GSP.

[Lovell]

Do you even know what you're talking about? Have you seen the first fight? It doesnt seem that you have, watch it then get back to us :)

Koschecks ground game has always been good dont get me wrong, but GSP is 2 leagues above him, GSP is a sponge when it comes to MMA, Koscheck doesnt stand a chance. Standing up or on the ground (more than likely on the ground i cant remember the last time GSP had a decent stand up fight) its going to be a rough ride for koscheck, he will not be able to take down GSP.

That fight was 3 years ago a lot can change in 3 years, either way this fight is going to be ridiculously boring 30 minutes of lay n pray :sleep:

[D. S. Veteran]

Kos is a great contender for GSP. I don't think that Koschek's wrestling being at the level that it is that GSP will try to ground him. If does end up resorting to that, it's going to be an all-out snoozefest for sure.

[Kriz]

That fight was 3 years ago a lot can change in 3 years, either way this fight is going to be ridiculously boring 30 minutes of lay n pray :sleep:

Keep in mind thats another 3 years of GSP improving..

[Colin.B]

Yeah, as much as I love a technical game, seeing wrestling is not what I want. I'd rather see 5 rounds of rolling with BJJ. A lot more technical and a lot more of a chess match. I do give this to GSP though. I feel three years is a lot of time for Koscheck to improve, but St Pierre also had three years to improve. He may have gotten overly safe in going for the points and not taking risks looking for fight finishers, but he's still at the top of his game right now.

I'd like to see GSP use his Kyokushin and Jiu Jits more though now a days.

[Kriz]

Jason MacDonald targeted for UFC 124 return, meets Rafael Natal in Montreal

Middleweights Jason MacDonald (24-14 MMA, 5-6 UFC) and Rafael Natal (12-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) have been penciled in for a meeting at UFC 124.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the impending matchup with sources close to the event, who said verbal agreements are in place and contracts are on the way.

Natal's management, Dominance MMA, confirmed the fight earlier today via Twitter.

UFC 124 takes place Dec. 11 at Montreal's Bell Centre and features a welterweight title fight between reigning champ Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck, who also served as coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter 12."

It is unknown whether MacDonald vs. Natal will be shown on the televised portion of the pay-per-view event.

MacDonald is still on the mend after suffering a broken ankle in his most recent fight, a short-notice return to the octagon at UFC 113 in which he met John Salter as a replacement for originally scheduled opponents Nick Catone and David Loiseau.

"The Athlete" was chugging along in the fight's first round when his foot got stuck on a decal inside the octagon as Salter took him to the mat. MacDonald's leg bent gruesomely, and the fight was immediately stopped as it became clear he had suffered a serious leg injury.

In July, MacDonald told MMAjunkie.com that he had been cleared to train and expected a return to action in December. Doctors initially told him he may suffer permanent damage to his leg as a result of the freak injury.

Thus, MacDonald sat on the fence about a quick return.

"As a fighter, I'm obviously eager to get back in there, and from a financial standpoint, I've been laid off for a while, and I'd like to get back to fighting and making some money," he said. "But at this point in my career, especially since I just signed a new contract with the UFC and then the injury happened ? and regardless of how the fight was going it was still considered a loss ? it's important for me to be 100 percent when I return to the UFC."

In his first UFC stint, MacDonald racked up three "Submission of the Night" awards and one "Knockout of the Night" bonus in 10 appearances. He burst onto the scene in late 2006 with back-to-back submission wins over former Team Quest teammates Ed Herman and Chris Leben and eventually posted a 5-5 record.

Natal, a protege of MMA royalty Renzo Gracie, met disappointment in his octagon debut when he took on Rich Attonito at UFC Fight Night 22 and was outpointed by "The Ultimate Fighter 11" veteran. The loss snapped a two-fight win streak in regional competition.

Natal's teammate, Ricardo Almeida, is likely to fight alongside him on the Dec. 11 event as Almeida is penciled in for a meeting with Canadian welterweight T.J. Grant

[D. S. Veteran]

Dana White has confirmed that if Jake Shields wins his UFC debut, he will get the next title shot at the winner of GSP vs Kos. Despite Jon Fitch wanting that shot, there is no way Dana is going to go with snoozefest decision monster Fitch over Shields who has, you know, finished his opponents instead of a 5-decision streak.

Can't wait to see the outcome but I'm pretty sure Shields will make quick work of Kampman.

[Kriz]

Kampmans striking is very underrated, i wouldnt write him off totally but Shields is a force at the moment..

[D. S. Veteran]

Kampmans striking is very underrated, i wouldnt write him off totally but Shields is a force at the moment..

Yes but the match is pretty much handpicked. Dana would not risk tanking his poached fighter in his first UFC fight.

[TheElite]

Yes but the match is pretty much handpicked. Dana would not risk tanking his poached fighter in his first UFC fight.

I would laugh out loud then if Shields loses somehow.

[Kriz]

But at the same time Dana wouldnt want Shields to look like a ***** by giving him an easy opponent, Kampman is not an easy fight for Shields, i dont think Dana thought we'll give him an easy fight at all. Keep an eye out for Kampman, he has pulled off big upsets in previous fights..

[D. S. Veteran]

I would laugh out loud then if Shields loses somehow.

:pinch:

Well, the PR machine would start spinning. "Look at this, the Strikeforce 'champ' can't even take on a middle of the pack fighter from the UFC. We're Number 1! We're Number 1!".

[Rappy Veteran]

Matt Riddle (5-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will welcome UFC newcomer Sean Pierson (10-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) to the octagon at UFC 124.

UFC brass recently announced that Pierson replaces an injured Anthony "T.J." Waldburger and faces Riddle on the evening's on the preliminary card of the December event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the change back in October.

Featuring a welterweight title fight between reigning champ Georges St-Pierre and top contender Josh Koscheck, "UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck II" takes place Dec. 11 at Montreal's Bell Centre.

Pierson was scheduled to participate in Bellator Fighting Championships' season-two welterweight tournament earlier this year before he was forced to withdraw in April with an undisclosed injury.

The Toronto native recently bounced back this past Saturday with a TKO victory over Ricky Goodall in a regional Canadian show. It was his fifth consecutive win earned by stoppage due to strikes. He also picked up a victory over UFC middleweight Patrick Cote's jiu-jitsu coach, Fabio Holanda. None of his wins have come via decision, and all 10 stoppages have come in the first round.

A rarity in MMA, Riddle has fought his entire career in the UFC's octagon. After an early exit on "The Ultimate Fighter 7," Riddle posted consecutive decision wins (over Dante Rivera, Steve Bruno and Dan Cramer) to open his pro career before falling victim to a Nick Osipczak TKO at UFC 105 in November 2009. Riddle since has rebounded with a TKO win over DaMarques Johnson in August and a disqualification victory (illegal upkick) over Greg Soto at UFC 111 in March.

The full UFC 124 card now includes:

MAIN CARD

* Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck (for welterweight title)

* Sean McCorkle vs. Stefan Struve

* Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira

* Mac Danzig vs. Joe Stevenson

* Thiago Alves vs. John Howard

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Mark Bocek vs. Dustin Hazelett

* Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Rafael Natal

* Sean Pierson vs. Matthew Riddle

* Joe Doerksen vs. Dan Miller

* Ricardo Almeida vs. T.J. Grant

* Pat Audinwood vs. John Makdessi

[D. S. Veteran]

Charles Oliveira is the guy to watch. The kid is the best LW prospect around. Has the striking and the submission game.

[Rappy Veteran]

[trag3dy]

Perhaps it will end in a fluke like BJ vs Hughes last "fight" but I really don't think Koscheck stands a chance.

[D. S. Veteran]

The promo is absolutely awesome.

Perhaps it will end in a fluke like BJ vs Hughes last "fight" but I really don't think Koscheck stands a chance.

It won't end with one punch that's for sure. GSP is the superior athlete and he will beat Koscheck.