MANILA, Philippines – Georges St-Pierre ran into a power punching Johny Hendricks but hung tough enough to escape with a split division victory Sunday to retain his welterweight title in UFC 167 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
St.-Pierre was an obvious mess after the fight as his faced bloodied by the heavy-handed Hendricks, who rained the long-time division titlist painful punches and damaging elbows straight to the former's bloody face.
But the judges scored it in St-Pierre's favor with two scoring it 48-47 while the other one gave it to Hendricks, 48-47, as some of the crowd voiced their displeasure over the decision.
"He really messed me up," said St. Pierre right after the fight referring to his recent opponent, who fell to his second defeat against 15 wins.
The close shave may have led to St.-Pierre announcing on the octagon that may end up hanging his gloves.
"I need a vacation," said St.-Pierre.
In the co-main event of the card, friends Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen faced each other with the former beating the latter via TKO at 4.05 of the first round.
Evans, a former light heavyweight champion, improved to 24-3-1 while Sonnen fell to 29-14-1.