Interview: UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre
GSP is a polite guy and his French-Canadian accent enhances that. Even when the man is talking trash, it sounds like a compliment. He has a 20-2 career record, is a 7-time UFC champion and when he first got on the phone, he called me Mr. Douglas.
How did you like coaching TUF this season? (Season starts tomorrow night at 10pm on SpikeTV)
It was great. Very good and the only bad thing was I was next to Josh Koscheck and it was hard to put up with him, but its part of the game, you know.
So Koscheck did get under your skin a little bit?
Uh, yes. He tried to do it. He got in my head, but that’s the thing, by getting in my head he made me more focused. The only thing I think about is how I’m going to beat him in December.
How do you feel about having a home field advantage in the fight?
Well, its good and bad. Its a lot of pressure to finish the fight. If I can get a submission, I will, but I have to be smart.
Is there anywhere else you’d like to fight? You’ve fought in Montreal a couple times, but mostly in Vegas.
What I like is that I’m undefeated at home. I’m undefeated in Montreal. Its a rematch and its always nice to be at home and be better in a rematch. I always beat people in a rematch. I beat him the first time and its great fighting Koscheck. Fighting wrestlers are my specialty as well. So beating a wrestler in a rematch is going to be great.
How much time did you spend with your team each day on TUF?
I spend four hour. I spent two training sessions of two hour each.
You last fought in March and now you’re fighting in December. Do you like having a long layoff, or would you like to fight more regularly?
No, I like it that way. I need train and work on stuff that I need to get better. To work on to be a better fighter. Also, people can’t figure me out because I’m always being a better fighter. I am able to work more so people they don’t know what I’m going to do. Its important so people can’t figure out what I’m going to do to them.
What was your toughest fight?
The best guy that I’ve fought against, is in my book I think, is Jon Fitch. The toughest fight that I’ve had in my life was against Thomas Denny. It was a long time ago back fighting in Canada. I thought that I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe, but I keep working and I was able to finish him in the second round.
GSP fought Denny in his fourth professional fight at UCC 12 in Montreal. St. Pierre felt so ill after the second round he asked his coach to throw in the towel. The second round is at the bottom of the post.
If you get past Josh Koscheck would you be looking forward to another fight with Fitch?
Maybe, but I don’t know because Jake Shields is in the picture now. I don’t know what could happen. We’ll see after Koscheck, I don’t think about it. I don’t think fight after fight. The big problem to solve is Josh Koscheck. Its going to be very hard.
Are you still thinking about trying out for the Canadian wrestling team?
Oh, I don’t know about it. We’ll see after the fight. If I do I’m going to have to work on it a lot because I’m not good enough to do it. I’ll have to make a big improvement and focus on my wrestling.
You trained with Kenny Florian for his last fight, what did you think of his performance?
I watched Kenny’s fight. He’s a good friend of mine. You know, I don’t want to give Kenny any excuse, but we all have our bad days. Sometimes things just don’t go as you like. I know Kenny can do much better than he has done and I’m sure he’s going to come back stronger. He was the number one contender. He might have two fights and he’ll be right back to a title shot.
Dana White has said that its still a possibility that you could fight Anderson Silva.
Right now, the thing is I’m fighting at 170 and I don’t know… If he’d come at 170, I’ll fight him, but to go up in weight will take time for me – its not something impossible but right now I have a lot to do at 170. If I’m going to go up I need to take time and I want to go back down after. I have to be very careful with what I do. Right now I don’t think about it. On my radar right now is Koscheck.
We talked about the little things at the end of the interview. He likes visiting friends (Likes traveling to Europe) and going to the movies. He most recently saw Inception and Machete. (He loved Inception and thought Machete was good entertainment.) I asked about Canadian beer, but he doesn’t really drink beer. (He said the most popular beer in Canada is Budweiser..) He’s famously popular with female fans, but wasn’t willing to share any good stories. Instead, he said, “Oh, the women.” He’s too busy training, so he doesn’t have much time for the women. He really does just want to keep getting better and beat the next guy in his path. Anything beyond that, we’ll just have to wait and see.
[TUF hoto courtesy Spike TV/Kevin Lynch, ESPY’s Photo via Getty]