NEW Interview with GSP

Dr.Chicago · 08-15-2007, 11:45 AM

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MMA's St. Pierre Fighting Back

By NEIL DAVIDSON, CP - OttawaSun.com
Tue, August 14, 2007

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Georges St. Pierre's life changed after taking the UFC welterweight title away from Matt Hughes last November in Sacramento. But not the way he had expected -- or hoped.

The Montreal mixed martial arts star lost the championship belt one fight later, in a shocking loss to 10-1 underdog Matt Serra in April. And the normally polite, diplomatic St. Pierre turned heads -- and angered Serra -- by suggesting later that he had gone ahead with the fight despite injuries and a subpart training camp because he had not rated Serra a threat.

It turns out that St. Pierre had more than fighting on his mind before meeting Serra at UFC 69 in Houston.

"I had a lot of personal issues," St. Pierre said. "A lot of stuff was going wrong."

There was illness in the family. But St. Pierre also says he lost his way.

"I forgot who I was, what was my No. 1 priority," he said.

"I didn't realize how lucky I was, to have this opportunity to be world champion," he added. "Once I lost, I realized all that stuff and it made me regret a lot of things."

St. Pierre, 26, has turned the Serra setback into a positive, saying it forced him to look in the mirror and make changes.

"I truly believe that this loss is probably the best thing that ever happened to me," he said.

He has since changed both his management and training regimen, retooling his organization and entourage.

He has parted ways with former manager Stephane Patry, a successful MMA promoter in Montreal who had helped his career since his first UFC fight in January 2004.

The two remain friends and Patry speaks fondly of his former protege -- "He's still a great kid." But he says St. Pierre stumbled outside the ring after winning the title.

"He didn't train as much as he should, because he was too busy doing other things than training and fighting," said Patry, choosing his words carefully.

"He won the title, he's a kid, he was 25 years old," Patry added, when pressed. "Let's just say he partied a little bit too much."

In a sport with plenty of rough edges, St. Pierre stood out for bringing his mother into the cage to celebrate his title win in Sacramento, saying she had sacrificed so much to help him along the way.

St. Pierre says he lost focus after winning the title.

"I never had a mentor, somebody who was there to tell me 'Hey be careful of this, be careful of that once you are champion.' I was by myself and I got caught in a lot of stuff and was focusing more on doing PR things than training things. I forgot what was my No. 1 priority. My No. 1 priority is to stay champion and being the best in the world.

"I'm the type of guy that never makes the same mistake twice."

Patry says St. Pierre did not look after his body after his title win and, as a consequence, fell victim to injuries prior to the Serra fight.

St. Pierre is reluctant to talk about the issues that dogged him around the Serra fight, initially saying only: "A lot of bad stuff happened to me, all at the same time ... I have never been so messed up mentally in my life."

Pressed, he shares more.

His father was suffering from a brain ailment and his young cousin was in a coma.

"People were dying. I had to go to the hospital at night. I was sleeping like maybe two, three hours a night when I was training for that fight. I was sleeping with one eye open because I thought I had to go drive my father to hospital and stuff like that.

"I was very worried about a lot of things in my life. Not only this, I had a lot of other stuff going on."

His father is doing much better these days. His cousin remains ill. St. Pierre's MMA career is far from over. He is probably one win away from another title shot and is still on a lucrative UFC deal negotiated by Patry.

But you only get so many chances.

The mental side of St. Pierre's game was called into question after the Serra loss. UFC president Dana White said he saw St. Pierre in his dressing room before the Serra fight and was shocked by the champion's nerves.

"I changed a lot of stuff. I'm not the same person that I used to be," said St. Pierre. "I'm a totally different guy and I will prove it Aug. 25."

That's when St. Pierre (13-2) returns to the cage against Josh Koscheck (11-1) at UFC 74 in Las Vegas.

"I'm way, way, way stronger," St. Pierre said. "I can't wait to fight. People will be shocked. I'm going to make a statement."

"Georges is stepping right back into the fire. Josh Koscheck is no joke," said heavyweight champ Randy Couture, who fights Gabriel Gonzaga in the main event.

While UFC 69 proved to be St. Pierre's Waterloo, it was a watershed for Koscheck, who handed rival Diego Sanchez his first loss.

While a personable sort, Koscheck loves to play mind games and has already turned his sandpaper-like tongue on St. Pierre.

"We know he doesn't have a big heart and he doesn't have that good of a chin," Koscheck told UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®.

St. Pierre has also parted ways with kickboxing coach Victor Vargotsky, saying the former Soviet special forces sniper was not keen on him mixing up his training by working with other coaches.

St. Pierre exudes confidence over the phone.

"I put the puzzle back together. I'm in great shape. No excuses, physically, mentally. Everything's going well. I'm ready to rock."

Source: ottawasun.com - Other Sports - MMA's St. Pierre fighting back

We all know how scary Mirko CC is coming from a defeat..

But I bet that GSP is gonna be as scary as hell.. He's gonna come back so strong and focused.. And we'll witness some serious *** kicking!

Saskabush · 08-15-2007, 11:55 AM

I am almost scared to watch this fight. GSP looked real bad in his last fight, I pray that he will return to the GSP of old and knock Kos out, in turn shutting the master of LnP up.

My GnP is Sick · 08-15-2007, 01:12 PM

I'm hoping this looks like GSP vs. Trigg

khodey · 08-15-2007, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My GnP is Sick

I'm hoping this looks like GSP vs. Trigg

But with a disgusting knockout.

Rush · 08-15-2007, 01:22 PM

He sounds like he's ready for a big comeback!

subgenius · 08-15-2007, 01:43 PM

His comments about a mentor seem to be directed at his training with Greg Jackson. I hope that being with the Jackson camp helps GSP win some fights. Being a part of a good camp can be a huge benefit for a fighter.

fullonshred · 08-15-2007, 03:56 PM

"Let's just say he partied a little bit too much."

It is harder to remain a champion than to become a champion. There are many many more pitfalls a champ has to deal with over the challenger.

Everyone wants a piece of the champ, including their time. Everyone wants to "buy the champ a beer". The Organization also demands much more of a champion's time than that of the challenger. Promotions and Video Interviews etc. all take time and focus off of training.

And then there are the girls.... Who wouldn't rather "roll around" with Arianny or some other beautiful girl instead of with some smelly staph infected MMA training partner.

Staying Champion ain't easy. Marvin Hagler was a boxer who was Great at that. Lot's of others weren't.

The Bodybag · 08-15-2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My GnP is Sick

I'm hoping this looks like GSP vs. Trigg

Exactly, when I think of the great GSP I think of that fight which all the commentators said 100 times that GSP was dominating every single second of the fight. He had tight striking and his ground game was solid.

AllTrac · 08-15-2007, 05:31 PM

Oh man this brings to light a lot of information i didn't know before.

i hope (hope with a capital H) that he comes back like an animal and destroys Kos and is the GSP of old (or even better!)

jm1010 · 08-15-2007, 07:59 PM

I think GSP is going to come back on a warpath.

H@mmerM@n · 08-15-2007, 08:20 PM

I get so tired of fighters making excuses why they lose why can't they just say he was a better fighter that night and leave it at that.I hope Kos puts him to sleep and proves everyone wrong.........gotta love the underdogs lol

IrishRage · 08-15-2007, 09:54 PM

Gsp Will Rock Ufc 74

subgenius · 08-16-2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H@mmerM@n

I get so tired of fighters making excuses why they lose why can't they just say he was a better fighter that night and leave it at that.I hope Kos puts him to sleep and proves everyone wrong.........gotta love the underdogs lol

The excuses will always be there. These guys fight hurt, sick, and at less than 100%. It seems nearly impossible to train for a few months and come out of it 100%. That seems weird on the face of it, but these guys train really hard (most of them do). Some MMA fighters should pull out of a fight. But, they get macho, or they decide that the fans will hate them if they do, or they think that the promotion will not give them the next big oppurtunity, if they back out. It's a tough business.

GSP lost to Serra, and I believe that Matt Serra won on his own merits. GSP has just been in shock. He has not been able to accept the loss in his mind. It seemed to me that he looked past Serra. Anderson Silva nearly did that to Travis Lutter, but Lutter screwed himself by failing to make weight and made himself look like a cancer patient. I don't mean to sound harsh on Lutter, but he looked emaciated and sickly against Silva. But, he did not do all that bad. But, he still lost. Lutter has a good excuse, and it's also a bad excuse at the same time.

I think that some of these fighters have just too much pressure on them. They need to be able to worry just about the opponents and not all of the business end and fans and stuff that revolve around the fights. But, MMA is big business now. MMA takes its toll on the human body. It also takes its toll on the human mind. I think that we will always have the excuses.

FightFan76 · 08-16-2007, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H@mmerM@n

I get so tired of fighters making excuses why they lose why can't they just say he was a better fighter that night and leave it at that.

GSP is by far my favorite fighter but I agree w/ this; I know they fight hurt and what not and have alot of pressure on them but still if you lose keep all of the excuses to yourself. I would just like nothing to be said about the loss and just come back strong and redeem himself against Kos which I believe he will. After losing to MH the 1st time he came back like an animal and I believe he will this time as well.

asronn · 08-17-2007, 10:16 AM

Everytime GSP does an interview I lose a little bit more respect for him. I understand he had a lotof external stessors leading up to hid fight with Serra, but his loss was really a lot simpler than that. Serra threw a really hard punch, GSP ducked it, and it landed on the back/side of his head and turned outthe lights for a second. It happens. If you fight sooner or later you'll get the lights turned out for a second. Before his fight with Serra he talked about how he was training as hard as ever now he was injured blah blah blah. I for one will just be happy when this fight happens so he can stop making excuses for his last lost. And what is KOS wins via lnp??? Are we gonna have to listen to more excuses??? maybe this is just how he deals with losses. come to think of it after he lost to Hughes he made excuses