St. Pierre confident knee will pass test

A serious knee injury that forced Georges St. Pierre out of action for nearly 18 months in what should have been the prime of his career has not caused the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion to lose any sleep as he finally prepares to return.

"(There is) no fear. It's like it never happened," he said. "They rehabbed me for my mind to be 100 percent. I'm not afraid now. I'm 100 percent confident."

Not having fought since April 2011, St. Pierre tore his anterior cruciate ligament last December while training to fight Carlos Condit in February. St. Pierre said his right knee is stronger than ever, and he has no concerns about its stability going into his Nov. 17 fight at UFC 154 in Montreal against Condit, now the interim champion.

"The mental toughness comes from my training," he said. "I will not be scared in my fight to be put in any position. It's 100 percent. I don't even care about it."

Making it through camps intact has been a bigger problem than actual fights recently for St. Pierre, who has won nine in a row since a stunning 2007 loss to Matt Serra. St. Pierre, whose last fight was a decision over Jake Shields, was supposed to fight Condit last October, but suffered a left knee injury and had to withdraw. The fight was rescheduled for February, only to have St. Pierre suffer the torn ACL.

All that is in the past for St. Pierre.

"I'm just very happy to be back," he said. "I'm fired up like I never have been before."

The anticipation of getting back in the cage against a top contender and serious threat to the belt has kept the 31-year-old St. Pierre occupied, but St. Pierre has been bombarded with questions about whether a win over Condit would set up a megafight against middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

St. Pierre refused to elaborate on the possibility, other than to say many fighters would like a shot at the Canadian star, who remains among the biggest draws in the sport.

"He's not the only one who wants to fight me. Everyone wants to fight me because I sell a lot of pay per views," St. Pierre said. "They want to make money, and I understand that. The thing is I'm only me by myself, and I can only fight one guy at a time. I want to fight everybody, but one by one. Everyone will have their chance."

■ BUSY MMA WEEKEND - Las Vegas will host a pair of high-level pro mixed martial arts cards this weekend.

A lightweight bout between UFC veterans Tyson Griffin and Efrain Escudero headlines the Resurrection Fighting Alliance card at Texas Station on Friday night.

The RFA will be hosting its fourth event, but first in Las Vegas. The main card also features a welterweight contest between Las Vegans Chidi Njokuani and Phil Dace.

Saturday night marks the debut of the World Series of Fighting organization at Planet Hollywood. Several former UFC fighters are scheduled on the main card, which will air on NBC Sports Network (Cable 38).

WSOF president Ray Sefo of Las Vegas said the organization is ready to unveil what took two years of work to assemble.

"We are absolutely excited. We're very confident in the team that we have and what we've put together," Sefo said. "The guys who are on the card we know are going to put on a good show. It's an amazing card. I'm looking to seeing all of these guys in action."

Sefo said the WSOF is already planning a second Las Vegas card in late January. He welcomes the competition this weekend from the RFA.

"The more, the merrier," he said. "All these fighters need to have a home and a place to compete."

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski headlines the event against Devin Cole. Noted UFC veterans Anthony Johnson and Miguel Torres also will be in action.

■ TWITTER TIME - UFC president Dana White will host a live social media question-and-answer session with fans at 6 p.m. today.

Fans are encouraged to submit questions on Twitter using the hashtag, #askdana.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.