MONTREAL -- This is the UFC 124 live blog for Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck, the main event of tonight's UFC pay-per-view card at the Bell Centre.St-Pierre (20-2) will put his welterweight title on the line for the fifth straight time against Koscheck, whom St-Pierre coached against on this past season's The Ultimate Fighter. Koscheck (15-4) won this title shot by defeating Paul Daley at UFC 113 in May.
The live blog is below.
After days of antagonizing the hometown crowd, Koscheck doesn't acknowledge a soul as he walks in to The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Higher Ground." St. Pierre also walks in stoically, bowing to the crowd before he enters the cage.
Round 1: St. Pierre explodes for a takedown in the opening 20 seconds. Koscheck gets right back to his feet. St. Pierre tags Koscheck with an overhand right. Koscheck dives in for a hook, St. Pierre goes low for a takedown, but Koscheck stays on his feet. Koscheck already has redness around his left eye. St. Pierre shoots in again, Koscheck stops it and scores with a knee to the head before St. Pierre retreats. St. Pierre doubles up on the jab. St. Pierre's jab is connecting consistenly. Koscheck threws a right hook that misses and goes after St. Pierre's legs, moving him against the fence. Koscheck stayed at it and put GSP on his back with :15 left, not enough to steal it. 10-9 St. Pierre.
Round 2: St. Pierre keeps throwing out the jab, and Koscheck's left eye is already swelling badly. St. Pierre looks comfortable on his feet, digging into Koscheck's thigh with a kick. St. Pierre is more active, moving around the cage and initiating. Koscheck looking for the big right. St. Pierre lands a pair of hard rights. Beautiful combinations from the champion, who throw a superman punch/leg kick, landing both ends. St. Pierre punctuates the round with a right hand before the final horn, 10-9 GSP.
Round 3: St. Pierre lands a big right behind the ear in the opening 10 seconds. St. Pierre tries a takedown but Koscheck stops it. From the clinch, St. Pierre lands knees to the legs. St. Pierre digs low for a takedown again, but Koscheck's base is too wide, and he can't secure it. They break at the middle of the round. St. Pierre fires off a few jabs. Koscheck has a hard time avoiding them. Koscheck head-hunts with a kick that misses. Koscheck whiffs on a shoot, St. Pierre punishes him with a right hand and kick. Another round in the books for the champ, 10-9.
Round 4: The doctor looked at Koscheck's eye between rounds and let the fight continue. St. Pierre took Koscheck down quick. Koscheck tried to get up and St. Pierre took his back against the cage, delivering a knee to the head. Koscheck got his back to the fence and GSP held him there until ref Herb Dean restarted them. Koscheck slipped down after a miss. It's the second time he's looked at his foot during the fight. A big left hook landed for St. Pierre. GSP continued to ahammer Koscheck with jabs, and scored witha right hook. Koscheck's eye looks completely shut. Another round to St. Pierre, 10-9.
Round 5: Koscheck comes back for the fifth. A huge left hook early for GSP. Koscheck is a tough guy, but this is a dismantling. Koscheck is mostly a punching bag now. Another left hook. Koscheck can't possibly see anything coming from that side. GSP ducks under a punch and lands a sharp right. Crowd starts singing Koscheck off with half the round remaining. Much of the crowd is standing as St. Pierre's takes Koscheck down twice in a row. The game Koscheck is back to his feet in no time, however. The crowd builds a wave of applause with 30 seconds left and the fighters break. Koscheck tries a spinning back kick. St. Pierre lands a hard right. St. Pierre to the end, and the champion and his antagonist share an embrace after the final horn.
Winner: Georges St. Pierre via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
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