By Canadian Press

A look back at the glittering MMA career of Canadian Georges St-Pierre

Feb 21, 2019 | 1:15 PM

From dethroning UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes to packing the Rogers Centre, Canadian Georges St-Pierre has been long front and centre in the mixed martial arts world. A look at five of his most memorable moments.

CROWNED CHAMPION

St-Pierre admitted he showed too much respect to Hughes the first time they met at UFC 50 in October 2004. Hughes won by first-round submission.

But GSP, then 25, dominated Hughes in their UFC 65 rematch before 15,350 at Sacramento’s Arco Arena on Nov. 18, 2016. St-Pierre was faster, smarter and better on the night against a veteran dubbed ”the most dominant welterweight champion of all time” by UFC president Dana White.

In the second round, St-Pierre faked a low inside leg kick. When Hughes bit, St-Pierre launched a high kick that connected to the head like a wrecking ball. Hughes toppled and St-Pierre pounced, prompting referee (Big) John McCarthy to step in at 1:25 of the round.

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Hughes literally didn’t know what hit him. He thought a punch had put him down.

After the fight, St-Pierre fell to the canvas in disbelief and was mobbed by his handlers. When the mayhem subsided and his mother entered the ring, he gave her the championship belt and raised her on his shoulders.

AN UPSET FOR THE AGES

St-Pierre’s reign lasted less than five months as Matt (The Terror) Serra promised a shock result. He delivered in April 2007 at UFC 69 in Houston before 15,269 at the Toyota Center.

“There’s nobody unstoppable in MMA. There’s so many ways to win and lose,” Serra, a 10-1 underdog who had to win “The Ultimate Fighter” reality TV show to get the title shot, said before the fight. “You know, someone zigged when they should have zagged and the fight could be over.”

That’s exactly what happened

Midway through the first round, Serra caught St-Pierre with a right hook, stunning the 170-pound champion. St-Pierre said later the blow had caught him on the carotid artery.

The champion went down and Serra fired punches from above until McCarthy stopped it at 3:25 of the first round. White called the Serra win “probably the biggest upset in MMA in a long time.”

“This is my worst nightmare,” said St-Pierre, who both congratulated Serra and apologized to his fans.

But he promised to return — stronger next time. “I climbed Everest once and I will climb it again.”

THAT BELONGS TO ME

After the shock loss to Serra, St-Pierre retooled and beat Josh Koscheck at UFC 74 before — with Serra sidelined by injury — defeating Hughes again for the interim title.

That set up a championship rematch with Serra at UFC 83, the UFC’s Canadian debut, in Montreal on April 19, 2008.

St-Pierre took Serra down right off the bat and wouldn’t let him up, with the crowd singing “Ole, Ole Ole” as the hometown hero went about his business looking to improve his position on the ground. It took Serra four minutes to get back up and then St-Pierre took him down again, scooping him up like a pre-schooler.

It was more of the same in the second, with two takedowns and a standup exchange that St-Pierre won. The end came when referee Yves Lavigne moved in to stop a turtled Serra from absorbing any more knees to the body at 4:45 of the second round.

GSP had a 42-3 edge in significant strikes and was good on four of five takedown attempts.

The soldout Bell Centre crowd of 21,390 ranked as the biggest — and fastest sellout — in UFC history at the time.

DRAWS A CROWD

Mixed martial arts wasn’t even legal in Ontario when St-Pierre was crowned champion in November 2006. But it was alive and well April 30, 2011, at UFC 129 when GSP headlined a card that drew a then-UFC-record 55,724 to the Rogers Centre. It remains the organization’s second-largest attendance.

St-Pierre’s five-round decision over Jake Shields was short on excitement, perhaps in part due to an eye injury the champion suffered in the second round.

Most who saw the card will remember Canadian Mark (The Machine) Hominick’s gutsy co-main performance in a decision loss to featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Hominick took a licking for four rounds, his face cut and sporting a mouse the size of a muffin on his forehead. But he came on strong in the fifth, battering the tired champion from above to the delight of the crowd.

Still, the card showed the drawing power of St-Pierre in Canada. 

DOUBLE CHAMPION

St-Pierre had been out of action for four years when he stepped into the cage against middleweight champion Michael Bisping at UFC 217 on Nov. 4, 2017, at Madison Square Garden. England’s Bisping had fought eight times during that time, honing his game en route to beating former champion Anderson Silva and then dethroning Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.

An aggressive St-Pierre, showing no signs of ring rust, won the first round. The bigger Bisping had a better second round, although he needed repairs to his cup between rounds.

Taken down in the third, Bisping carved open St-Pierre’s face with some elbows strikes from the bottom. But after they got back to their feet, a bloody St-Pierre floored the Brit with a left hook, punishing him with savage elbows from above before taking his back and choking him unconscious.

A champion again after his 13th straight win. “My dream come true,” he said in the cage.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press