HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE FIGHT

If there were any doubt who the true UFC welterweight champion is, Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) put it to rest Saturday after a two-round manhandling of Matt Serra (Pictures) in front of 21,390 screaming fans in Montreal's Bell Centre. St. Pierre (16-2) looked hyper-intense during the staredown, leaning toward Serra (9-5) and placing their faces mere inches apart. Once the horn sounded, he almost immediately took the champ to the floor. From top position

St. Pierre landed punches and knees to the body until Serra gave up his back and attempted to stand. St. Pierre held him down with elbows, and Serra finally got to his feet. The respite was brief as St. Pierre, the UFC interim titleholder at 170 pounds, took the New Yorker down again immediately and hit him with more hard knees to the body. Serra looked tired after the round while St. Pierre seemed energized. Round two started with St. Pierre catching a kick and taking the fight to the ground once again. Serra got just a bit of offense as he grazed the French-Canadian with a head kick. However, St. Pierre responded with some crisp jabs followed by another takedown that allowed the Montreal fighter to connect with more vicious knees to Serra's ribs. Serra rolled into St. Pierre's half guard, which meant only that he now had to absorb punches instead of knees.

The Renzo Gracie (Pictures) black belt tried to escape again by rolling to his stomach, where St. Pierre resumed a barrage of knees to the ribs and punches to the head that forced referee Yves Lavigne to stop the fight with less than 20 seconds left in round two. "My strategy was to make a physical fight, make him tired as much as I can because I know I have the athleticism," St. Pierre said in the cage after the fight. "So I was trying to mix as much as I could: up, down, up, down. Ground-and pound, not play jiu-jitsu game because jiu-jitsu, that's his strength.

So that's how I won the fight: I tired him out and then I took the fight." After the official announcement, any animosity between St. Pierre and Serra seemed to disappear, as Serra picked up the new champion and carried him on his shoulder across the cage. Said Serra about St. Pierre's performance: "He felt really good on top. I was trying to get angles. I wanted to work a certain sweep I've been working. But as the fight went on he was slippery, and he started landing good shots as you see." St. Pierre then bowed to his opponent and told the raucous crowd to take it easy on Serra because he is a gentleman. The Montreal crowd that had been against Serra then broke into cheers for the fighter from Long Island, N.Y., who left the cage with a friendly wave.