As expected UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 14-2 UFC) makes his next title defense when he meets Josh Koscheck (15-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) at December's UFC 124 event.
Officials today formally announced the "UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck" event.
The Dec. 11 show airs on pay-per-view and takes place at the Bell Centre in Montreal near St-Pierre's hometown.
St-Pierre and Koscheck currently can be seen on Spike TV as "The Ultimate Fighter 12" coaches. The fourth episode of the reality series airs tonight as Team GSP looks to take a 3-0 lead over Team Koscheck in the tournament's preliminary round.
St-Pierre and Koscheck first fought in 2007 at UFC 74. In his first fight after losing his belt to Matt Serra, St-Pierre controlled Koscheck for a unanimous-decision victory.
"I love this fight," UFC president Dana White stated about the rematch. "GSP is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and Josh Koscheck is not the same fighter Georges fought last time. There is no doubt that this is a title fight between the two best 170-pounders in the world."
St-Pierre reclaimed the undisputed title a year later at UFC 83, where he re-matched Serra and scored a TKO win during the promotion's first trip to the Bell Centre. He since has defended his title four times with wins over Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves and Dan Hardy. Three of the wins have come via decision while the Penn victory came via TKO.
Meanwhile, Koscheck has amassed a record of 6-2 since the first Koscheck fight with key wins over Dustin Hazelett, Chris Lytle, Frank Trigg and Anthony Johnson. He secured his title shot with a decision win over Paul Daley, which took place during the promotion's third trip to Montreal back at UFC 113 in May.
That fight is etched into Montreal fans' minds for two reasons: Daley's post-fight suckerpunch – which got him fired from the promotion – and Koscheck's post-fight rant against both their beloved hockey team, Montreal Canadiens, and St-Pierre himself.
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