Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

MONTREAL - The night before the biggest night of his life, Georges St. Pierre could not sleep. The man called "Rush" for his boundless energy tossed and turned, thinking about his welterweight title fight with Matt Serra, about his strategy, about what it would feel like to win in front of his hometown crowd, and how painful it would be to lose before them. He dozed and awoke over and over as images of Serra, of the title belt, and of sweet victory raced through his mind.

Well, Rush won't be sleeping well tonight either, but it will be for another reason: he'll be busy partying.

The Montreal native will be celebrating with an entire city after defeating Serra with a second-round TKO before a raucous, sold-out crowd of 21,390 at the Bell Centre. That number set an all-time attendance mark for UFC in its first show north of the border, and the fans made it a night to remember, raising the atmopshere from combat sport to athletic theater, then getting a gift of their own when their hero captured the crown.

"It was amazing, the most beautiful day of my life, I can't believe it," St. Pierre said shortly after becoming a two-time champion. "It was for me a chance to win the title in front of my people. I can't wish for a better scenario."

The Canadian showed off the impressive mixture of speed, power and technique that makes him one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, taking down Serra repeatedly and punishing him on the ground. The end came 4:45 into the round when GSP had Serra's back with the champion on his knees against the fence. Serra continued rolling into different positions but was unable to shake free from his challenger. St. Pierre threw a series of punches and hard knees to the body that went unanswered, causing referee Yves Lavigne to call an end to the action.

"I was hoping he'd get tired of hitting me," Serra said with his still intact sense of humor afterward. "Every time I rolled, he'd answer with a strike. He was the better man tonight."

When St. Pierre won the interim welterweight title belt after beating Matt Hughes last December, he promptly put it in his closet, believing it meant nothing until he vanquished the man who beat him. Now, he adds another piece of hardware to his collection, the true belt as undisputed champ.

Working with super-trainer Greg Jackson, Serra devised a risky gameplan, taking Serra down and into a potential danger zone. Serra is a black belt in jiu-jitsu, but GSP and his braintrust felt he would be able to bulldoze his way through the Long Islander's guard and out of positions of trouble.

"Every fighter has a comfort zone and Matt's is his jiu-jitsu," Jackson said. "He can do other things but that's his bread and butter. There are two approaches to dealing with a fighter's comfort zone. You either smash your way through it, or you stay away. We felt Georges had the skills to smash his way through."

Of course, having an entire nation in your corner certainly didn't hurt, either. The electric Montreal crowd was loud enough to drown out ring announcer Bruce Buffer during main event introductions, and they bathed their hero in adulation as he vanquished his fallen foe.

It was an event long in coming. Montreal has long been a city that loves its fights, and in the days leading up to the event, St. Pierre said he was constantly mobbed wherever he went. In fact, the night before the fight, he found a restaurant on the outskirts of town, thinking he would be safe but was mobbed in moments.

"My friends turned into my bodyguards," St. Pierre said with a smile. "My life will change, but it is very exciting."

"I've been saying it all along, this guy should be on a Wheaties box," UFC President Dana White said of St. Pierre.

Prior to the first encounter between the two men, Matt Serra, ticked off at his 10-1 underdog status, sought out White to remind him that in his entire UFC career, he'd never truly been beat up.

"He got beat up tonight," White said. "Georges looked great tonight. He looked amazing."

In the co-main event, Rich Franklin returned to his winning ways by besting Travis Lutter with a second-round TKO.

Franklin escaped danger in the first when he squirmed free of an armbar attempt by the jiu-jitsu black belt, then dominated the entire second round as an obviously Lutter ran out of gas. Franklin landed a head kick that wobbled his opponent, then dropped him with a barrage and finished with precision strikes.

"We look at a lot of tape and were banking on conditioning paying dividends," Franklin said. "I felt great between rounds after the first. He'd given me his best and had come up short, and I could see he was tired. His energy level slowed down but mine stayed the same."

Undercard results
The bad blood between Michael Bisping and Charles McCarthy boiled over into the ring, but Bisping left with the bragging rights when he stopped McCarthy with a first-round TKO.

Bisping looked fast and furious in his new 185-pound frame, locking McCarthy in a muay thai clinch and unleashing an unanswered barrage of punches and kicks that left McCarthy desperately covering up while taking damage. McCarthy was able to last the round, but when the closing bell sounded, he didn't get up. The referee took one look at him and called an end to the action.

"I don't let [the verbal jousting] bother me too much," Bisping said. "I have mental toughness. When I was fighting in Britain I was used to destroying guys but hadn't been able to do that lately in the UFC. I did it tonight."

Mac Danzig found success on The Ultimate Fighter by winning the 170-pound weight class, but after winning it, immediately announced his intentions to drop down to 155. The TUF alumni made a successful debut by beating Mark Bocek with a third-round submission.

After a rough first round in which he was taken down and controlled, Danzig rallied early in the second with a perfectly placed knee to the head. Though he wasn't able to finish Bocek there, the momentum clearly swung in his favor as he began dictating the pace. In the third, Danzig connected on another knee that opened a nasty cut over Bocek's eye. Danzig followed with precise strikes and a takedown the paved the way to a rear naked choke.

"People tend to discount the guys on The Ultimate Fighter show," Danzig said. "It was my job to show I belong. "

Print this Email this Blog this  IM this

MORE FROM MMA

MMA Section Front

Leben gets 35-day jail sentence; out of UFC 85 Monson-Russow to headline Adrenaline show Miller brings the Mayhem, fun to MMA Hot shots: First four months of MMA in review   A Day in the Life of IFL champ Jay Hieron Chris Leben arrested for probation violation Sherk, Penn pass early random drug tests WEC releases full fight card for June 1 event Quarry on Starnes fight, fallout and future Hughes, Bisping added to UFC 85 card MMA Section Front   Add MMA headlines to your news reader: