UFC president Dana White recently said welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre's international popularity has exceeded that of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
White came under fire from critics for making the comparison, but St. Pierre received the ovation of a national hero as he weighed in for Saturday's clash against No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck at the Bell Centre.
The champion, who tipped the scales at 170 pounds, is oozing confidence just one day removed from the fifth straight defense of his 170-pound crown.
"Tomorrow, I guarantee you the bully will get bullied," said St. Pierre. "I'm going to fight smart. He tried to put me off track. That's what he wants. I'm not going to do it and I'm going to kick his ass tomorrow."
Meanwhile, the brash challenger was greeted with resounding boos as he hit the scales, weighing in at 169 pounds for his long awaited rematch against the French-Canadian phenom.
The American Kickboxing Academy product Koscheck has embraced the role of a villain heading into Saturday's title bout.
"Thanks for the boos," said Koscheck. "We'll see you tomorrow night when I put Georges St. Pierre to sleep."
In the co-feature, heavyweights Sean McCorkle and Stefan Struve will settle the score after months of Internet trash talking.
Struve recently held a contest on the popular MMA Underground forum, in which he asked fans to send in their best Photoshopped picture of McCorkle. The winning photo had McCorkle's face plastered over a shot of Canadian pop star Justin Bieber.
McCorkle, who weighed in at 264 pounds, didn't seem bothered by the comparison as he wore a Bieber wig for the weigh-in.
The 6-foot-11 goliath Struve was all business as he weighed in at 253 pounds, intensely staring down McCorkle as the fighters posed for photographers.
All other fighters weighed in without incident, making Saturday's fight card official.
Here are the full weigh-in results:
Main bouts (on pay-per-view):
Georges St. Pierre (170) vs. Josh Koscheck (169)
Stefan Struve (253) vs. Sean McCorkle (264)
Joe Stevenson (155.5) vs. Mac Danzig (156)
Thiago Alves (171) vs. John Howard (171)
Jim Miller (155) vs. Charles Oliveira (153.5)
Preliminary bouts (non-televised):
Dustin Hazelett (155) vs. Mark Bocek (155.5)
Dan Miller (184.5) vs. Joe Doerksen (185.5)
Rafael Natal (185) vs. Jesse Bongfeldt (185.5)
Matt Riddle (170.5) vs. Sean Pierson (170.5)
Ricardo Almeida (170.5) vs. T.J. Grant (170)
John Makdessi (155) vs. Pat Audinwood (156)
