MMA Junkie reports a venue change for UFC 124 as Georges St. Pierre will have a chance to fight in his hometown of Montreal against Josh Koscheck. Original reports had UFC 124 taking place in Las Vegas.
Via MMA Junkie:
As it turns out, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will rematch first-time contender Josh Koscheck in his backyard.
The marquee match-up will not take place in Las Vegas, as early reports suggested.
Instead, the promotion will return to Montreal’s Bell Centre for the event, presumably titled UFC 124, on Dec. 11. It’s the UFC’s fourth trip to the Canadian city.
Payout Perspective:
Placing UFC 124 in Montreal is a great move by the UFC. Not only will the venue be sold out, but expect Josh Koscheck playing the role of super heel leading up to the event. It capitalizes not only on GSP’s immense popularity but on Montreal fans that hate Koscheck. As you may recall of his last appearance in Montreal at UFC 113, he was thoroughly booed during his post-fight interview even after Paul Daley hit him with a sucker punch. Of course, Koscheck insulted GSP and said that the Penguins would take the Canadiens out of the NHL playoffs.
Expect Koscheck, a native of Pennsylvania, to don a Penguins jersey in front of the pro-Canadiens crowd during his ring entrance in December.
If GSP doesn’t get injured do you think they’ll slate him in for the UFC’s debut at the Rogers Centre in Toronto? This fight is Dec. 11 and they have a Mar. date reserved… about enough time, although GSP has been fighting pretty infrequently as of late. Any thoughts?
MV: I think that March 2011 in Toronto would be too soon for a GSP fight (assuming he wins in Dec.) I would think that GSP would want to take some time off prior to another title defense. If GSP fights Jon Fitch, we are looking at another less-than exciting rematch.
Probably too soon, I agree. However, I don’t think that Jon Fitch vs GSP II is an unexciting rematch, though I understand why you (and probably the majority of MMA fans) would say that: Jon Fitch has had a string of boring fights ever since St. Pierre demolished him. I mean, Fitch is honestly much more boring to watch now than before that loss, and that is the reason why no one wants to see him fight for the title yet again. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of what Fitch does, but that is all the more reason I want him to rematch for the title: styles make fights, and nothing Jon Fitch has done in the past two years has given me any idea that a rematch won’t play out the same way as the first fight. Their first fight at UFC 87 (Aug. 2008) was VERY exciting to watch, and was a real showcase for GSP’s well rounded skills (perhaps the last time those skills were on display in their entirety, in alll facets of MMA). In my opinion, it was the most entertaining of GSP’s victories since UFC 79. GSP makes Fitch more exciting because he makes him desperate: unlike seemingly everyone else in the welterweight division, Fitch can’t take GSP down, resulting in a very different kind of Jon Fitch fight. I was very impressed with Fitch’s show of heart in the first fight. I have had enough of Jon Fitch at welterweight, since he will just continue to ruin potential contenders, and I think at middleweight he would have the same problem of not being able to take every opponent down. The only way to get him there is a second title fight loss. Problem solved.
I doubt you’ll see Kos in a Pens jersey.
Gabe Ruediger was planning on walking out in Boston wearing Lakers gear, and the UFC staff nixed the idea. Unlike pro wrasslin’, the UFC appears to set limits on how far their athletes can go to antagonize the crowd.