Roughly halfway through the third round of the UFC 154 headliner, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre was knocked down by a Carlos Condit head kick that looked like it was going to be the beginning of the end for "Rush."
St. Pierre miraculously recovered from the blow, got the fight back into his comfort zone and ultimately earned a unanimous decision victory. For St. Pierre fans, the moment reminded them a lot of the French-Canadian's 2007 loss to Matt Serra, which was one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history.
St. Pierre admits the knockdown gave him flashbacks of his fight against Serra, and he used what he learned in that loss to survive the near-finish, as he explained at the UFC 154 post-fight press conference:
"Yes it was a similar experience [to the Serra fight]. When I got hit hard, sometimes before I was very proud guy, I try to give it back right away but the experience I gained from a lot of all my fight allowed me to recompose, defend myself and when I got back I come back stronger. It's that experience that allowed me to survive, you know, and come back from that kick that I got hit with."
Lesser men would have been finished by a Condit head kick, and for St. Pierre, it was only the second time in his 19-fight UFC career that he was knocked down from a strike.
See how the fight played out in this video highlights replay and for the rest of the UFC 154 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card click here.