Georges St. Pierre talks training, fighting and his role in Sleeping Dogs

In an article by Seth Kelly with photography by Jim Wright, UFC Magazine’s October/November issue goes inside the training and recovery of UFC’s Georges St. Pierre. The issue fills the fans in on other projects that GSP was working while he was recuperating.

Following his April 2007 title loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69, St. Pierre asked former Muay Thai and MMA amateur champion, Firas Zahabi to become his full-time coach. According to Zahabi: “A lot of guys said he was done. I had a lot of people say, ‘You’re catching a falling light. He’s got no chin. He’ll get knocked out again.’ He was my friend. I didn’t care. I was going to help him no matter what. At that point everybody thought Georges St. Pierre was overrated. The thing is, nobody really knew how good he was.”

After St. Pierre was injured, Zahabi coached him through his recovery: “His first day back was horrible. And I expected it to be horrible. Today was great sparring. He was lighting everybody up and looking good. Today was the breakthrough day that made me believe he will be ready to fight in November.”

While recovering, St. Pierre picked up some consulting work on the production of the video game by Square Enix called Sleeping Dogs. According to GSP: “They wanted to take my moves from a fight to make it more personal and more fight authentic. There were certain combos that didn’t make sense and I would correct them. It was teamwork though.”

Kelly asks GSP about his rivalry with Nick Diaz and how the trash-talking may have affected him. In the past, quotes attributed to St. Pierre on Diaz have ranged from “disrespected” to: “I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.” Although now, the Champion takes them in stride: “It’s good for him. He’s going to get a title shot. It’s good. A fight is always the same. He’s not going to hit less hard if he doesn’t talk. It’s going to be a full-contact fight regardless if he talks or not. It’s just the animosity will be different. And I am at my best when they bring out my animosity. It makes me focus. He’s not a dumb guy. He’s a smart guy who does dumb stuff. He’s not going to retire. This I guarantee.”

Indeed, St. Pierre goes on to say that this brings out his personal best: “I was bullied at school. I am used to fighting under those rules, under that intensity, that animosity. When I feel like I am on the edge, where I can’t take a step back, I have everything to lose, and my pride is on the line, I fight the best.”

To read more and see truly outstanding MMA photography at its finest, pick up the newest issue of UFC Magazine: http://www.ufc.com/magazine