MONTREAL—After 19 months away from the octagon, Georges St-Pierre will step into the spotlight at the Bell Centre on Saturday night in one of the UFC’s most anticipated fights: his hometown comeback.

“I will have those butterflies, but the key is to make them fly in formation,” said St-Pierre, meeting his competitor while exchanging a few laughs.

There is no doubt that St-Pierre will be nervous on Saturday, testing his reconstructed knee for the first time. Be on Wednesday he said that he feels stronger than ever,  and is ready to face his greatest challenge yet.

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t at 100 per cent,” said the UFC’s welterweight champion. “I’m a proud competitor and if I didn’t feel I was 100 per cent I wouldn’t be here. I’m 120 per cent.”

The fighter will need to be near perfect in order to become the undisputed welterweight champion. GSP will face interim title holder Carlos Condit, a well-rounded mixed-martial arts fighter who's put a stop to three of his last four fights.

“I want to be in big fights, I want to be in the fights with the most buzz and hype,” said Condit. “A fight against Georges St-Pierre, his comeback fight in his hometown, is that fight.”

And while many favour GSP because of his resume and so-called home-court advantage, speaking from personal experience, Condit said he believes this can work against a fighter.

“The travel, the hotel, that’s all part of the lead up to the fight,” said Condit. “Not having that can be odd. You can also feel a lot of pressure at home.”

No matter who you pick to win this fight, after witnessing Wednesday’s news conference, fans will agree that both athletes have a great deal of respect for one another—something that usually produces an exciting result.

“I have something to prove to myself, I want to prove to myself that I’m the best guy in the world. The best guy right now is Carlos, so I need to prove that I’m better than him,” said St-Pierre.

“He’s where I want to be, he’s the top guy in the sport, the top guy in the division, he has cemented a legacy as the best welterweight in the world and that’s what I want,” said Condit.

The machine that is the UFC has arrived in Montreal, the fight week hype continues Thursday with the open workouts and is followed by the ever popular weigh-ins on Friday.