St-Pierre vs. Fitch Announced as UFC 87 Main Event; Coleman Withdraws From Bout Against Lesnar Due To Injury
UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre will face top 170-pound contender Jon Fitch in the main event of UFC 87 “Seek and Destroy”. Additionally, heavyweight Brock Lesnar is now without an opponent for his UFC 87 bout after UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman was forced out of their scheduled heavyweight showdown due to a knee injury.
The UFC announced the lineup changes earlier today.
St-Pierre (16-2), the near-consensus top welterweight in the world, has lost just one of his last 10 bouts while facing some of the stiffest competition in the world. He is currently riding a three fight winning streak. After going 6-1 to start his career inside the octagon, including wins over Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, Frank Trigg, and Jason Miller, St-Pierre submitted UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes early in round two to capture the title. Despite dominating the future UFC hall of famer, St-Pierre was upset by Matt Serra in his first sttempted title defense. After defeating Josh Koscheck at UFC 74 in August, St-Pierre claimed the Interim UFC welterweight title with a win over Hughes as UFC 79 in December. He now returns to the octagon for his first title defense since reclaiming the welterweight belt from Serra at UFC 83 in April.
“He’s a very, very tough guy,” said St-Pierre of Fitch in the release. “I’m gonna have to train hard and be very well prepared because he may be my toughest fight yet.”
Fitch (17-2) started his MMA career with a mediocre 2-2 record with one no contest but has since proved his top contender status, winning 15-straight MMA bouts including 8-straight inside the octagon. He’s defeated Brock Larson, Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Luigi Fioravanti, Roan Carneiro, Diego Sanchez, and, most-recently, Chris Wilson at UFC 82 in March. After tying Royce Gracie for the longest winning streak in the UFC, Fitch is now set for his shot at UFC gold.
“The whole goal is to get the belt and be in the position where guys can’t duck me, run away, or say they don’t want to fight me,” said Fitch of the UFC’s welterweight champion in the announcement. “If I have the belt, there’s no excuse, and if you say you’re the best, then we’re gonna fight. This is gonna be a tough fight, but I’m gonna make sure I’m sharp that night, and wherever the fight needs to go, that’s fine with me.”
A new opponent for former professional wrestler turned mixed martial artist Brock Lesnar is expected to be announced shortly.
Also on the card, top lightweights Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta will clash for a likely 155-pound title shot.
For the latest UFC fight card rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
Tags: Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Fitch, mark coleman
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it sucks to hear about Coleman but hopefully Lesnar still gets to fight someone… and That is so sweet St.pierre will destroy Fitch and ruin his 15 fight win streak.
i agree with you completly kyle couldnt of said it better. despite getting destroyed i believe fitch will still go out in style.
I would not count out Fitch at all. If Serra beat St. Pierre, Fitch can definitely do the same or better. Fitch is better than Serra in my opinion and in his prime. St. Pierre is bad ass but not invincible…..just really really close to it. GO FITCH!
Nice, main event now. Before the florian huerta fight should have been the main.
brock wouldve murdered coleman
i really hope brock is still on the card, especially since it’s his hometown. i hope st pierre finally shuts everyones ass up about fitch as well, granted he may be the best contender out there, but i think it’s due to a drying up of talent in the 170’s and not cuz he’s that great.
brock lesner will still be on the card, they just have to find a new opponent to throw at him…and fitch is a very talented fighter and this fight should be a great one…but i belive st. pierre is on the top of his game right now and that for the time being there is no one in the world at his weight to beat him
Even though they say Oct…anyone else thinking Brock will face Lashly in MN??? I could see it.. but who knows…I could see his possible opponets to be …
Cain Velasquez, Justin McCully, Heath Herring, or possibly Gabriel Gonzaga…..now Id rather see him face one of the last 2…but Im sure they will give Brock a gimme win basically…prob sign some guy from Japan to fight him…..but as long as he is on this card, this has the potential to be the 2nd best card of the yr!!! (Until proven different, this weekends card will be the best of the yr!)
2girls1cup,
What is there to shut up about with Fitch right now? His record is great and he is on an 8 fight win streak. Your postings make you sound like a negative Nancy. Furthermore, the WW division is doing just fine with talent. I think you confused the WW division with the MW division.
I just don’t think Fitch deserves all the hype. His record is good and he’s beaten some decent guys, but overall i haven’t seen him do anything that impressive. in fact, his last fight looked pretty bad despite the win. and my comments about the ww wasn’t to sound like it’s a weak class, just that it’s not what it used to be. hughes is on the way out, serra’s prolly gonna drop to 155, penn is at 155, diego has dropped off, there’s no more nick diaz, karo has started to fall…. the list goes on.
GSP round one. The guy is an evil robot. Nothing aginst Fitch but his fight against Wilson (who is very good as well) was underwhelmig. GSP destroyed Hughes and handled Serra without ever looking like he was in trouble. Fitch doesn’t have a marqui fight under his belt yet.
I hope they just get some guy who barely made heavyweight (206) and Brock throws him into the 8th row… not for the sport…more for the freak show… I’m sad for Coleman , it was a fight he could have done well in.
On possible opponents for lesnar, what about cheik kongo? neither man has any submissions and both like to strike, recipe for a cracking fight and a good result for whoever wins
i agree, i think kongo would be great for lesnar cuz it should be an easy win for lesnar but kongo would still be considered a halfway decent opponent and therefore lend credibility to brock.
I hope st pierre puts the smack down, and quiets this hype of fitch. Look at the list of guys st pierre destroyed on his way to the title, guys who were in their prime. Who as fitch fought? Diego Sanchez who was on a losing streak. The UFC sets guys up to win and sets others up to fail. If st pierre beats fitch, then alves in december, look for him to move up to middle weight for a monster fight with Silva in the summer.
Well for starters bleek…Fitch beat Alves…via TKO….he has also beaten the likes of Josh Burkman and Roan Carneiro…so yea…no he hasnt had the upper echelon when it comes to opponents.. but he fights who they put in front of him….it will be a good fight, buti think gsp will win…i dont think there is anyone out there, INCLUDING anderson silva, who can beat gsp now..