St. Pierre takes out the aging Hughes

SACRAMENTO —  Having been talked down to repeatedly by an aging title-holder, Georges St. Pierre convincingly quieted Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Matt Hughes on Saturday with a stunning kick and flurry of punches that created a newer, younger titleholder.

St. Pierre’s second-round technical knockout capped a dominant showing by one of the rising fight organization’s younger stars. St. Pierre (13-1) knocked Hughes down both at the end of the first round and at the start of the second before referee John McCarthy stopped him from pounding Hughes any longer 1:25 into the second round.

Hughes (41-5) hadn’t lost since claiming a technical knockout over St. Pierre in their October 2004 fight for the UFC’s then-vacant welterweight title. Hughes won that fight by first-round submission, and continued to let St. Pierre know who the division’s king was.

St. Pierre called Hughes “disrespectful,” a claim that was strengthened by the champion from Iowa’s comments Thursday about St. Pierre’s native Canada.

“I’m from America and I think we’re fighters, as a country,” Hughes said last week. “I don’t see you guys venturing out trying to help the world out, we’ll say that.”

With chants alternating, “U.S.A.” and “GSP” from the sellout crowd of 15,350 at Arco Arena, the first-round action was stopped twice within 30 seconds after two St. Pierre kicks to Hughes’ groin area.

“I don’t think it affected me, in fact, I think it helped Georges keep his kicks up,” Hughes said afterward.

When St. Pierre buried a right knee into Hughes’ chest, it prompted a Hughes smile. But Hughes was then knocked down by a St. Pierre right to the head. The bell rang, sparing Hughes from a St. Pierre flurry, but the champion was bruised under the left eye.

In the second round, an unbalanced Hughes was knocked down briefly. Then, with 3:35 left, he was sent down for good thanks to a sharp left-footed kick by St. Pierre. The challenger quickly jumped on top of the champion and unleashed a flurry of six punches, two by his left hand. Referee John McCarthy stopped the onslaught, declaring St. Pierre the winner by technical knockout.

St. Pierre fell to the mat backward and clasped his hands over his face in celebration, then told the crowd, “I know I’m not American, but I will do my best to represent this for all of North America.”

UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia retained his title with a sluggish unanimous decision over challenger Jeff Monson.

The fight drew continued booing from the crowd as Sylvia (25-2) worked to make the bout a striking match that would allow him to capitalize on his 10-inch-reach and nine-inch-height advantages. Monson (24-7) wanted no part of that, and repeatedly dove at his opponents thighs and knees in an effort to gain a takedown that would allow him to win with his Jiu-Jitsu style.

Sylvia accomplished enough, particularly when he reversed out of Monson’s grasp in the third round and proceeded to pound and elbow the bald-headed challenger in the clutch, giving him a bloody right eye.

Also Saturday, unbeaten heavyweight Brandon Vera (18-0) of San Diego battered and bloodied former heavyweight champion Frank Mir (9-3) with several right-handed punches on the mat, scoring a technical knockout 1:09 into the first round

lance.pugmire@latimes.com