MMA Fighter Bios: Georges St. Pierre

Georges St. Pierre

BORN: Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Canada

5’10, welterweight

When it comes to being great in every area of MMA, having the ability to put it together fluidly, make it look easy and do it all with an ultra-nice and respectful attitude, 3 words come to mind—GSP.

Georges St-Pierre’s 8th fight in MMA was a title shot against Matt Hughes. He fought that fight with little confidence, much less experience, and still did very well and surprised many on how good he was. It was clear that the title shot would not be his last, and the Canadian would at some point be wearing that gold. Two years later Pierre defeated Hughes via strikes to win the UFC welterweight strap and he has refined himself into one of the all-time greats in the game.

Pierre is one of the most athletic and talented fighters the sport has seen. He possesses excellent speed, rhythm, timing, strength and stamina. He has been able to run through fighters who have been unstoppable at some point during their UFC careers. Hughes was a complete terror at welterweight before Pierre came around. While the incredible strength of Hughes had been heralded for years, Pierre came along and trumped the American in that category as well on route to defeating one of the greatest champs the sport has ever seen two times.

Same goes for BJ Penn. In their second battle, Pierre turned things up a notch and really laid into the Hawaiin legend. Penn and Pierre were fairly even at the end of the first round, but by the end of the second it was clear that the Canadian was beginning to run away with the bout and was unleashing a torrent of strikes by the third and fourth stanzas on route to a stoppage victory over another incredible UFC champion.

Pierre’s talents have been able to be channeled properly because of excellent training and training partners. He trains with the best in every discipline and puts it all together with one of the best MMA teams in Greg Jackson’s academy. Training with champion boxers and strikers, wrestlers and BJJ fighters, Pierre hones the intricacies of various aspects of the MMA game. From there he travels south to New Mexico and meshes all this work into a top notch MMA training camp.

All things come together well for Pierre because of his training and solid game-planning. He and his coaches devise some stellar gameplans to neutralize fighter’s strengths and counter on weaknesses. Nobody has been able to manhandle BJ Penn in mixed martial arts the way Pierre did in their second fight. Not even the 205 pound king in Lyoto Machida, who was much larger than BJ Penn when they fought, could dominate the Hawaiin in said fashion. Granted Machida was not the fighter he is today, but it still does speak for the special type of fighter Pierre is.

The bout against Thiago Alves was another good example of nullifying an opponent’s strengths. Alves, a very terrifying and devastating striker was held virtually ineffective on the feet against Pierre. Executing a solid mix of striking and takedowns, as well as footwork, GSP pitched a 5 round shutout against one of the top welterweights in the game. His dominance over Jon Fitch was also an incredible fight, but once again we’ve gotten use to the level of fighting GSP can show that it’s almost become expected. He has raised the bar quite high for himself and it’s hard to outdo himself.

A sign of a great champion is how he responds to adversity, and Pierre’s loss to Matt Serra via strikes forced him to refocus and come back with a renewed purpose. Pierre did avenge the loss after coming back strong, become champion again and defend 3 times. The success after his defeat to Serra has shown his perseverance and championship heart, and his 14 rounds of action defending his highly coveted UFC belt has shown he can not only obtain but consistently protect his status as the best welterweight in the game.

REVENGE IS SWEET

GSP has avenged both his losses in the sport, to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. He has defeated Hughes twice since their initial fight.

1) MATT HUGHES

LOSS: Via Armbar, Round 1. October 22, 2004

AVENGED: Via TKO, Round 2. November 18, 2006

Via Armbar, Round 2. December 29, 2007

2) MATT SERRA

LOSS: Via TKO, Round 1. April 7, 2007

AVENGED: Via TKO, Round 2, 02008-04-19 April 19, 2008