According to ESPN, UFC welterweight linchpin Georges St-Pierre’s return to the Octagon could happen sooner than the envisaged date of November.
“I feel very good. I’m ahead of schedule,” St-Pierre said. “I feel sometimes I want to do a little bit more but even though I feel good my graft is not fused properly, 100 percent.
“I need to remain calm. The danger with a lot of athletes is to push through the pain and try to go too fast. If I do so, it might loosen up the graft and I might have to start the old process again and I don’t want to do that.”
St-Pierre’s (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) last outing was a unanimous decision win over Jake Shields at UFC 129 back in April of 2011.
Following that victory, he was slated to throw hands with Nick Diaz at UFC 137. However, that never came to fruition as Diaz was bounced from the main event and St-Pierre incurred an injury to his knee.
He was then scheduled to face off against Carlos Condit at UFC 143—Diaz’s replacement for the headline act at UFC 137. However, that went up in smoke when the Diaz defeated B.J. Penn at the aforementioned event and then proceeded to call out St-Pierre, who willing obliged. With UFC President Dana White’s seal of approval, the match was made.
However, the fight never transpired, as St-Pierre fell victim to an injury yet again—a torn ACL and MCL damage to his right knee.
As St-Pierre was out on the sidelines for an indeterminate period, an interim welterweight title clash was set up between Diaz and Condit, with the winner earning a shot at the 170-pound crown.
Though St. Pierre was wishing for a Diaz victory, it was Condit who triumphed on fight night, making him the person he’ll now defend his belt against if all goes well in his second stint at recuperating from injury.
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