UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) just made one significant step back to the cage.
The fighter, who's been on the sidelines for 16 months due to a knee injury, today announced he's been medically cleared to resume normal MMA activities.
That should open the door for his planned UFC 154 pay-per-view headliner with interim titleholder Carlos Condit (28-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) this fall.
"I'm now medically cleared to compete in professional mixed martial arts events," St-Pierre today tweeted. "Rendez-vous le 17 novembre."
UFC 154, of course, takes place Nov. 17 at Montreal's Bell Centre. UFC officials previously announced they hoped the French-Canadian champion would headline the card. The co-headliner features a No. 1 contender's bout between Johny Hendricks (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and Martin Kampmann (20-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC).
A troublesome knee injury ultimately resulted in St-Pierre's ACL surgery back in December. The champ recently said he was ahead of his 10-month recovery schedule.
Condit, who won the interim belt with a February win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143, opted to wait for the champ rather than take another fight and risk his big-money opportunity with St-Pierre.
St-Pierre, one of MMA's top pound-for-pound fighters, most recently earned a decision victory over Jake Shields at UFC 129 in April 2011. He's since won nine straight fights while posting six consecutive title defenses over the likes of Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn and Josh Koscheck.
While Condit is next up for "Rush," St-Pierre and UFC middleweight Anderson Silva have expressed interest in a super fight, UFC President Dana White recently confirmed.
Source: UFC champ Georges St-Pierre medically cleared, on schedule for UFC 154