Canada's Georges St. Pierre has once again shown why he is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world with a convincing decision victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 on Sunday.

In front of 23,000 fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal, St Pierre out jabbed and out kicked Koscheck on his way to successfully defending his UFC welterweight title for the fifth consecutive time - tying him with Matt Hughes for the record in the welterweight division.

The result was never in doubt as St Pierre controlled the pace of the fight for the full five rounds, using his superior stand up to pick apart his opponent and leave Koscheck battered, bloodied and bruised - all three judges scored the fight 50-45 in favour of the Canadian.

Sunday's fight was a rematch of the pair's first encounter in 2007, which St Pierre also won via decision. This fight however, was fought predominantly on the feet, a stark contrast to their first fight which was dominated by wrestling.

St Pierre used his jab heavily throughout the first-round and scored with a takedown. Koscheck was able to regain his feet easily and then took down the champion to end the round.

In the second round, St Pierre continued to lead with his stiff jab followed by either a leg kick to the outside of Koscheck's left leg or an inside leg kick to the same lead leg. This was the story of the fight as Koscheck's right eye closed over and his left quadricep began to swell and bruise.

In the third it was much of the same as the champion continued to punish the right side of the American's face. At the end of the third round Koscheck's eye was virtually closed over and was shaky on his left leg.

In the break between the third and fourth rounds the doctor assessed Koscheck's eye and, for a moment, appeared to be contemplating a stoppage. Referee Herb Dean however, stepped in and asked Koscheck if he was able to fight, the American answered in the affirmative and the main event of the evening continued.

There was suggestion before the fight by Ultimate Fighting Championship president, Dana White, that if Koscheck was able to defeat the home town hero a riot might ensue. Although this was said jokingly, a riot may very well have erupted if the fight was stopped in this instance with St Pierre in full control.

Koscheck continued to swallow St Pierre's jab in the fourth and fifth rounds, occasionally clipping his opponent leg's with kick's of his own. As the fight went on and Koscheck's visibility out of his right eye decreased St Pierre began utilising his left hook.

Statistics from the fight showed St Pierre outstriking Koscheck 140 to 30 over the five rounds. More than 100 of St Pierre's punches were classified as non-power strikes, such as jabs.

Veteran UFC commentator Joe Rogan remarked several times throughout the fight that it was the most jab-heavy encounter that he could remember in mixed martial arts history. A fact that could be attributed to St Pierre's boxing coach, Freddie Roach.

"I know Josh Koscheck, he likes to throw his punches in a circular motion," St Pierre said after the fight. "So my game plan was to stay on the outside. I saw his eye was closed and I tried with hooks to finish it, but he's very tough."

Neither fighter was overly successful with their wrestling as both men were unable to keep the other fighter on the mat long enough to inflict damage. St Pierre attempted five takedowns but was only able to convert on one. Koscheck attempted one takedown and was successful but was unable to control the champion whilst on the ground.

St Pierre said post fight that he was surprised at his opponent's willingness to stand with him.

"I didn't believe that (he would trade punches)," St Pierre said. "I thought he would try to put me on the floor. He tried that too. It's an MMA fight. If you don't want to see that, go watch kickboxing."

After months of trash talking, the brash American was humble in defeat and said that trash talking was his way of drawing more attention to the fight.

"GSP is a true champion," Koscheck said. "I tried to do everything I could to hype up the fight. Montreal, it was an amazing event. I look forward to the day I can come back here and put on a show for you guys."

Although St Pierre apologised post fight for not submitting or knocking his opponent out, it appeared that the fans inside the Bell Centre did not mind as they cheered their hero out of the Octagon.

In the other main event, Stefan Struve defeated Sean McCorkle via technical knockout after referee Yves Lavinge called a stop to the fight following several unanswered punches to McCorkle's head.

McCorkle started the first round well, avoiding the taller Struve's punches before completing a take down.

From the half-guard position, McCorkle was able to get a kimura which, at one point, was twisted behind Struve's back. Struve however, was able to fight through the pain that his contorted shoulder would have been bringing him and managed to advance to a full guard position.

The Dutchmen was then able to sweep McCorkle and unleash a barrage of punches which forced the fight to be stopped.

Jim Miller and Charles Oliveira squared off in their lightweight bout with Miller pulling off a surprise submission victory over his younger Brazilian opponent.

Oliveira was touted as one of the most exciting prospects in the lightweight division leading up to the fight, with his two previous bouts inside the Octagon garnering submission of the night victories.

The Brazilian started the fight promisingly before Miller was successful in his first takedown attempt. Oliveira used his Brazilian jiu-jitsu to effectively defend Miller's ground game before a scramble ensued.

Oliveira attempted a heel hook but Miller was able to pull off a kneebar before the Brazalian had time to properly defend it.

The win gave Miller his sixth consecutive win inside the Octagon and puts him in the top end of the lightweight division.

In the other lightweight bout of the evening Mac Danzig landed a perfectly timed left counter hook that rendered Joe Stevenson unconscious.

In his eighth appearance inside the Octagon, Danzig showed impressive boxing skills to land the left hook as he was walking backwards. Stevenson was knocked out before he hit the canvas giving Danzig his first knockout of the night victory since entering the UFC.

The first bout of the main card pitted Thiago Alves against John Howard in a fight that promised to be a stand-up war. The following three rounds did not disappoint as both fighters traded blows to the final bell.

Alves however, was clearly the better fighter earning a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 for the Brazillian.

Leading up to the fight the big question was whether or not Alves would make weight as he had previously failed to make the 170lbs limit. This time however Alves made the weight easily and it showed in his performance with the Brazilain dominating the fight from start to finish.

Alves consistently landed his punches first and used his speed to avoid the heavy hands of Howard. Alves also landed vicious leg kicks that left Howard hobbling around on one leg for the majority of the bout.

Commentator Joe Rogan also remarked that this was the best performance inside the Octagon for the Brazilian in his career.

The following fighters were awarded $100,000 bonuses:

Submission of the Night: Mark Bocek and Jim Miller

Knockout of the night: Mac Danzig

Fight of the night: Georges St Pierre vs Josh Koscheck