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FLASHBACK: Georges St-Pierre captures his first UFC Welterweight Championship eight years ago today at UFC 65
Nov 18, 2014 - 11:20:22 PM FLASHBACK: Georges St-Pierre captures his first UFC Welterweight Championship eight years ago today at UFC 65

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Eight years ago today, Georges St-Pierre captured the UFC Welterweight Championship for the first time when he beat Matt Hughes at UFC 65. Take a trip back in time with Senior Columnist Shawn Ennis' live report on that fight as it happened on November 18, 2006:

WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: GEORGES "RUSH" ST. PIERRE vs. MATT HUGHES

Time for our main event. St. Pierre looks stoic, and he pauses at the gate to soak in some cheers. Hughes comes out to his regular theme of "A Country Boy Can Survive" to a nice ovation. Hughes is unflappable and unreadable as always. I'm loving both guys stalking back and forth during the intros, and occasionally glancing at his opponent, otherwise pretending the other man isn't there. Great stuff. Both guys get good ovations, though St. Pierre gets a fair amount of boos. Seriously, I'm a Philadelphia sports fan, and I have no idea how you boo either of these guys.

ROUND ONE: No handshake to start. Extremely stupid "USA" chant breaks out. St. Pierre lands a straight punch. Hughes looks to kick. St. Pierre lands a couple of punches, and Hughes smiles. "GSP" chant breaks out as St. Pierre looks for more strikes. Spinning back kick by GSP, and they exchange a high five. Hughes paws at St. Pierre, and GSP lands a leg kick. They exchange jabs, and it looks like Hughes takes a kick to the groin. On the replay, it appears the toes caught the groin, but that was all. They restart, and immediately it happens again, except this one hits flush. Nasty stuff. St. Pierre is warned, but it's obviously not intentional and Hughes knows it too. They start it back up, and GSP kicks a little higher, followed by some stiff jabs. Hughes looks for a combo and misses mostly. St. Pierre lands a punch and looks to clinch, but Hughes escapes. Kick by Hughes is caught by St. Pierre, and GSP lands punches. The same thing happens again, and GSP is in Hughes' guard. St. Pierre looks to pass, and Hughes stands, but takes a Thai knee from St. Pierre in teh process. Hughes catches a kick from GSP and gets a body lock, but can't take St. Pierre down. They go back to the middle, and GSP lands a big Superman punchthat floors Hughes and Hughes is almost out, but he's saved by the bell. Outstanding round goes to St. Pierre.

ROUND TWO: They touch gloves to start this time. St. Pierre lands a jab, and Hughes back soff. Hughes gets another body lock and lands some knees to the inside, but the fight does not go down. Leg kicks by GSP almost put Hughes down. St. Pierre is supremely confident and lands a stiff jab to Hughes' chin. Hughes looks to shoot and GSP lands a head kick that floors Hughes. St. Pierre follows him down and lands punch after punch, and the fight is stopped. We have a new welterweight champ, and his name is Georges St. Pierre.

RESULT: St. Pierre by TKO at 1:25 of round 2.

STAR RATING: (***+) Had it gone longer with the same pace and action, it would have gotten five stars. Seeing Hughes dismantled like that was amazing.

RAMIFICATIONS: What do you need me to say here? Hughes is hardly diminished in his loss. He'll get the rubber match, and it'll probably be GSP's first title defense after he beats Matt Serra. This is where the idea of the TUF 4 winner getting an automatic title shot hurts the continuity of fights in the division if you ask me. In the end, though, St. Pierre could be on top for as long as Hughes was. He was absolutely fantastic tonight.


[GSP art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]