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Georges St. Pierre Victorious in Title Defense

Georges St. Pierre Retains His Belt at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy

Aug 10, 2008

In a five round championship war for the ages Georges St. Pierre dominated number 1 contender Jon Fitch.

While bookmakers and fans alike had welterwight Georges St. Pierre as the favorite, heavy underdog Jon Fitch proved unrelenting and took as much punishment as his Canadian adversary could throw his way. Early in the first round of the main event for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy GSP landed a huge right cross that floored his opponent and when Fitch finally made it back to his feet left him barely able to stand up.

Georges St. Pierre vs. Jon Fitch

Unbelievably, Fitch came out looking fresh to begin the second round and mounted his most successful offensive attack by landing a several punch combo. However, in spite of his valiant efforts, Fitch could not steal the round as the champion continued with a barrage of jabs, leg kicks and even an attempted spinning back kick.

The third was all St. Pierre again. The 170 pound champ landed a huge right punch shortly after the round began and finished the third off with a slam so ferocious the entire Minnesota crowd could feel it through their seats.

The pace slowed during the fourth and fifth rounds, with St. Pierre getting a bloody eye early in the fourth and attempting to connect with a spinning back fist in the fifth. On several occasions Jon Fitch appeared on the brink of elimination but instead hung on after refusing to quit. The heart and class of the 30 year old from Indiana shone through as he proved to all watching what a warrior he truly is, but it was St. Pierre who would win by unanimous judges’ decision at the end of the 5 round war.

Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring

In the co-main event, former WWE superstar and MMA rookie Brock Lesnar took on highly seasoned UFC and Pride Fighting veteran Heath Herring. Many people doubted whether or not the 1-1 Lesnar was the real deal, but as the third round came to a close there was no doubt who would emerge victorious as Lesnar out-muscled, out-hustled and controlled his vastly experienced opponent on his way to unanimous decision victory.

While many fans may have considered the action slow at times, the 6’2” and 265 pound Lesnar proved that he is a very game fighter and huge threat to anyone in the heavyweight division. Perhaps taking a page out of his pro-wrestling days, Brock the showman raised his hands in the air to get his hometown crowd screaming as the first round came to a close.

With several seconds left in the final round, before the match was completely over, the former WWE champion stood up and raised his hands in the air declaring himself the winner, then proceeded to point and laugh at the bruised and bloodied Herring after final bell.

Other Fights at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy

Also on the main card Rob Emerson knocked out Manny Gamburian only 13 seconds into the first frame while Kenny Florian scored a unanimous decision victory over the tenacious Roger Huerta. In a 185 pound clash between two fighters known for their skills as grapplers, Brazilian Demian Maia stopped Canadian Jason McDonald after securing a perfectly executed rear naked choke at 2:44 into the third round.

On the under card, Ben Saunders submitted Ryan Thomas by armbar at 2:28 in the second round and Chris Wilson scored a unanimous decision win over Steve Bruno, as did Jon Jones over Andre Gusmao. Tamden McCrory defeated Luke Cummo by unanimous decision and in the only under card fight to make it onto the televised portion of UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, Cheick Kongo defeated Dan Evenson by TKO at 4:55 of the first round.