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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The Ultimate Fighter season 12 coaches bout won't be held at a neutral site after all, as MMAFighting.com confirmed with UFC President Dana White that Georges St. Pierre will defend his Welterweight Championship against Josh Koscheck in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada on December 11.
The event will be the UFC's fourth trip to Montreal's Bell Centre, and second this year.
St. Pierre headlined the UFC's first trip to Montreal at UFC 83 in 2008, where he regained his Welterweight Championship by defeating Matt Serra.
The organization returned to the city in 2009 with Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell co-headlining the UFC 97 card against Thales Leites and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, respectively. Rua then headlined their most recent trip in May of this year, when he knocked out Lyoto Machida to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 113.
The 12th season of TUF begins airing on September 15 on Spike TV, where St. Pierre and Koscheck coach a group of 28 lightweights in this season's tournament. The bout will be a rematch of their meeting at UFC 74 in August of 2007. St. Pierre won a unanimous decision in that bout, which was a three round non-title bout.
Koscheck earned his coaching spot and the title shot with a victory over Paul Daley in Montreal on the UFC 113 card. He drew the ire of the crowd after the event, telling them his hometown Pittsburgh Penguins would defeat their Montreal Canadiens in the NHL playoffs that were underway.
Now he'll public enemy number one when he takes on Montreal's favorite son in GSP. It will mark the third overall UFC event in Canada this year, a figure that could increase in 2011 with Ontario now beginning MMA regulation.
Penick's Analysis: This could help this event be even bigger, as it's the first event in the city that St. Pierre has been on since 2008. They set a then attendance record at the Bell Centre with that event, and may break it with this fight, especially after 12 weeks of buildup on Spike through TUF. This is going to be a huge event in front of an insane pro-GSP crowd in Montreal, and the environment for this fight will be excellent. Koscheck may come into that cage on the 11th the most hated man in Canada when all is said and done, and it will make for a great dynamic. For that I like that the UFC is making this move from Las Vegas to GSP's hometown, and it will give the fight a much more epic feel.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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