UFC 154 Overview

Between St-Pierre’s knee injury and subsequent rehabilitation,
the long-time champ has been out of action for nearly 19 months. The ring rust
is likely to hurt him against Condit, who has fought twice since the last time
St-Pierre fought. However, if St-Pierre’s knee can hold up and provide him with
the same amount of explosion he had before the injury, Condit is going to have
a very hard time stopping his takedowns, which are the bread and butter of his
game. Condit looks to play spoiler here. as it’s rumored that UFC middleweight
champion Anderson Silva may call out St-Pierre for a super fight should he
emerge victorious. And while Condit definitely has the weapons in his arsenal
to pull off the upset, St-Pierre will give him the stiffest test of his career.

In the co-main event, 170-pound contenders Martin Kampmann and
Johny Hendricks square off in a potential title eliminator. Kampmann is a
well-rounded fighter who can light opponents up on the feet or submit them on
the ground. He’s a tough out for anyone in the division and he’s known for his
comebacks. His biggest problem, though, is that he gets hit way too often, and
Hendricks is a very aggressive power puncher. Best known for his 12-second,
one-punch knockout of Jon Fitch, Hendricks is a high-level wrestler who has
very few weaknesses. This should be a very close bout and it could go either
way, especially if it goes to a decision, as both men have been involved in
numerous close, controversial decisions in the past.

As well, there’s a middleweight bout between Francis Carmont
and Tom Lawlor. Carmont is a training partner of St-Pierre, who has raved about
his teammate for a long time. Now on a three-fight win streak, he faces the
toughest competition of his career in Lawlor, who is coming off a “Knockout of
the Night” victory over Jason MacDonald at UFC on FUEL TV 3. Lawlor is a good wrestler,
but Carmont is going to have the size and reach advantage in the fight, so it
will be interesting to see where Lawlor wants to take the fight.

Next is a middleweight matchup between talented strikers Nick Ring and Costa Philippou. This bout has the makings of a violent affair, as
both men love to stand and bang. Ring is a kickboxer while Philippou is a
boxer, and they both bring the pain every time. This is likely to be a
competitive matchup that probably hits the scorecards, as both men regularly go
to decision.

And in the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card, Mark Hominick and fellow featherweight Pablo Garza are set to clash in what should
be an exciting 145-pound fight. Both men are usually in entertaining scraps,
and the fact that Hominick is coming off three straight losses while Garza is
coming off two straight losses means both men will be hungry to go for the
finish and end their losing streaks. It’s likely this fight doesn’t go the full
15 minutes.

In addition, the preliminary card is stacked with fights, with
Sam Stout vs. John Makdessi, Patrick Cote vs. Alessio Sakara, and Mark Bocekvs. Rafael dos Anjos just some of them. It should be a terrific event on the
whole, and should St-Pierre get by Condit, the fact that Silva is in attendance
makes it even more intriguing, as he may enter the cage and call out St-Pierre
for the fight fans have been clamouring for for years.