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UFC welterweight champion George St-Pierre shakes hands with his opponent Carlos Condit during the weigh-in Friday, November 16, 2012 in Montreal. The two will fight in UFC 154 Saturday.
Published Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 | 2:45 p.m.
Updated Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 | 3:48 p.m.
MONTREAL — This city is more than just a fight town, as Carlos Condit has repeatedly referred to it throughout the week.
Condit learned Friday afternoon that Canada’s second-biggest city is a friendly fight town. Although he’s challenging the hometown star and one of the country’s most popular athletes for the undisputed UFC welterweight championship tomorrow, Condit got an unusually hospitable reaction from the fans when he took the scales to weigh in.
The majority of fans who filled New City Gas, one of Montreal’s most well-known concert venues, applauded Condit with only the faintest hint of boos. St. Pierre, of course, received a hero’s welcome.
“I miss this so much, you guys can not believe it,” St. Pierre said after weighing in on the eve of his first fight in 18 months. “I’m so excited for tomorrow.”
St. Pierre (170), Condit (169) and the other 24 fighters on the UFC 154 card all came in on weight to make one of the Las Vegas-based promotion’s biggest pay-per-view events of the year official.
Four of St. Pierre’s teammates — Ivan Menjivar (135), John Makdessi (155), Mark Bocek (156) and Francis Carmont (185) — and Montreal native Patrick Cote (185) also were heavily cheered.
But the surprise came with the lack of hostility toward their opponents that’s typically a staple of these events.
Carmont’s challenger, Tom Lawlor (184), put on a show by dressing up as former professional wrestler “The Shockmaster” with a mask and cape. Sam Stout (154), who fights Makdessi, disparaged his home-province Toronto Maple Leafs by wearing a personalized Montreal Canadiens jersey to the scale.
Anticipation for UFC 154 is increased, according to St. Pierre, with the NHL still deep in a lockout. St. Pierre’s words count as gospel around here.
That includes when he says Condit is the toughest test of his career. The two share an obvious respect for each other, as they shook hands twice and kept their distance during the customary stare down photo.
“If you want a fight to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck,” Condit said on a video played at the weigh-in, “it’s going to be this one.”
Check below for full results from the UFC 154 weigh-in.
Welterweight championship bout: Georges St. Pierre (170) vs. Carlos Condit (169)
Welterweight bout: Martin Kampmann (171) vs. Johny Hendricks (171)
Middleweight bout: Francis Carmont (185) vs. Tom Lawlor (184)
Middleweight bout: Nick Ring (184) vs. Costa Philippou (185)
Featherweight bout: Mark Hominick (145) vs. Pablo Garza (145)
Middleweight bout: Patrick Cote (185) vs. Alessio Sakara (186)
Light heavyweight bout: Cyrille Diabate (206) vs. Chad Griggs (205)
Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek (156) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (155)
Lightweight bout: Sam Stout (154) vs. John Makdessi (155)
Featherweight bout: Antonio Carvalho (145) vs. Rodrigo Damm (145)
Welterweight bout: Matthew Riddle (170) vs. John Maguire (171)
Bantamweight bout: Ivan Menjivar (135) vs. Azamat Gashimov (135)
Featherweight bout: Steven Siler (145) vs. Darren Elkins (145)
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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