GSP Regains Title with TKO of Serra
Source: UFC
Apr 20, 2008 - 8:47:25 AM
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MONTREAL, April 19 – It was loud at the Bell Centre Saturday night – at the Bell Centre Saturday night – chair shaking, eardrum breaking, can’t hear ring announcer Bruce Buffer loud. But just when you thought the decibels couldn’t go higher, they did, when hometown hero Georges St-Pierre regained his UFC welterweight crown from Matt Serra via a second round TKO, putting a fitting cap on UFC 83, the organization’s first ever show in Canada.
Five seconds into the bout, Montreal’s St-Pierre (16-2) secured a takedown, trying to ensure that there would be no repeat of April 7, 2007, the night Serra (16-5) took his title via a first round knockout. Serra kept the challenger close, looking to negate St-Pierre’s reach advantage and to force a standup. St-Pierre worked his punches and forearms while muscling the New Yorker to keep him down. With under two minutes left, St-Pierre worked his way to side control, and as Serra turned, the Canadian kept firing away, not allowing the champion to get back to his feet. As the round entered its final minute, Serra, sporting a mouse under his right eye, stood and tried to land punches, but St-Pierre scored another takedown and ended the round with a fearsome attack that left the crowd roaring with each blow.
The second round didn’t start much better for Serra, as he found himself on his back again almost immediately. For his part, St-Pierre kept moving and kept throwing punches, and even when the two stood, St-Pierre was throwing everything in his arsenal at Serra to keep him off balance, which led to another takedown with under three minutes left. The 33-year old Serra, as expected, would not surrender to his younger foe, but for everything he tried, St-Pierre had an answer, and with under 30 seconds left, the Montrealer opened up and let all the frustration of the last year out in the form of vicious knees to the body. Again, Serra wouldn’t quit under the onslaught, but referee Yves Lavigne intervened, stopping the bout at the 4:45 mark and crowning St-Pierre champion once again.
The kid from St. Isidore did good.
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