This was published in the June 2008 issue of Chill.Two days before the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Canadian soil, the country’s most famous mixed martial artist wasn’t thinking about his final preparations. He wasn’t thinking about the crowd in Montreal’s Bell Centre or Matt Serra, his opponent and the man that dethroned him as the UFC welterweight champion a year earlier.
No, 48 hours before the biggest fight of his life, Georges St-Pierre was thinking about how he could do more to help kids, while his charitable organization, the GSP Foundation, put the plan in action, hosting a pre-fight party to raise funds for various children’s charities.
“For me, growing up I had problems and what I want to do is to help kids," St-Pierre says of his reasons for starting the foundation. “I want to raise money to give it to different foundations, different organizations, to help kids, and for me it’s a way to give back to society."
That’s not to say he wasn’t focused on victory, but rather a testament to the kind of character he has. At a time when sports fans are fed a daily dose of cynicism because of athletes with checkered pasts, questionable morals and poor decision making skills, St-Pierre’s sincerity and generosity is refreshing and epitomizes what the 21st century athlete is supposed to be. As a result, he is quickly becoming one of Canada’s favourite sons. And while it would be one thing if he possessed all these admirable traits and didn’t have the skills to back it up, St-Pierre is a top-shelf talent.
“He’s a prototype of what you have to be in this day and age as the fight game has matured," says Marc Ratner, the UFC’s vice president of government and regulatory affairs and one of the most influential voices in the sport. “He can do it all, whether it’s on the ground, with the jiu-jitsu, with the grappling, or with the striking. I consider him to be what the fighters will look like from now."
At just 27 years of age and with two world title reigns already to his credit, the Montreal resident is just scratching the surface of his vast potential and is on the verge of becoming a bona fide super star. Despite all that he’s accomplished thus far, it’s the April 2007 loss to Serra that will continue to define his career. As one of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen, it was a watershed moment for the UFC - the Rocky-esque upset that garnered widespread media attention at a time when the company was craving mainstream acceptance. More importantly though, it provided St-Pierre with a catalyst for change.
“What it taught me, this life lesson, is that it’s very hard to be champion and it’s very easy to go down," he says. “I made the mistake once and I will never do it again. I don’t say that I will never lose again, nobody can do such things, nobody is invincible. But every time I will come into a fight, I will be 100 percent, mentally and physically."
In three bouts since the defeat, just the second of his career, St-Pierre has certainly looked like he was operating at full capacity, winning all three in convincing fashion and looking more dominant than ever before in doing so. His most recent victory at UFC 83 this past April allowed him to avenge that loss, reclaim his world title and to top it all off, a record number of fans from his hometown were there to witness it. The 21,390 in the building that night set a North American attendance record for MMA and it was the fastest sell-out in UFC history.
But sheer numbers don’t come close to telling the story. From the moment the gates opened, about five hours before the main event, the support from the fans was obvious. Every time St-Pierre was shown on a video monitor, the entire building, as if on cue, would erupt.
“It was crazy. It was a good, positive vibe," he says of the crowd. “It was amazing. I couldn’t express how I was feeling when I won the fight."
The crowd was still in a frenzy when the two competitors shared an embrace after the bout, then watched Serra pick St-Pierre up, and carry him around the octagon. There were some harsh words exchanged leading up to the fight, so the show of respect was an appropriate end to their feud.
Ratner, who as the former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission has a lengthy history with all combat sports, says displays of admiration between competitors like that is common place in MMA and it’s certainly not a surprise to see it after a St-Pierre fight.
“Georges personifies what’s right about the sport," he says.
All told, from his climb up the championship ladder to headlining a major event in his hometown, it’s been quite the journey for St-Pierre. Especially when you consider that his initial foray into martial arts was as a way to escape schoolyard bullies.
“Well, I started doing karate when I was a kid," he says. “At the time a lot of older kids were picking on me at school, I had a lot problems going on and karate was the only place where I was free."
Following the passing of his karate teacher, St-Pierre began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and from there began to look toward MMA. He made his professional debut in the Quebec based Universal Combat Challenge (Now TKO Championship Fighting) in 2002. But while there were few roadblocks along the way, St-Pierre says that his family, all strong supporters now, were hesitant at first.
“In the beginning they were afraid," he says, “but eventually they saw that I was very talented and I really liked what I was doing."
It didn’t take long for people without family ties to recognize St-Pierre’s gifts either, and he now has some of the best training partners in the world. He works closely with legendary MMA trainer Greg Jackson and his stable of fighters, but a key to his development was realizing that fights are often won in the weeks and months leading up to the bout, and that diversification is paramount. He works with a Muay Thai kickboxing coach, wrestles with the Canadian national team, trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with black belts (St-Pierre has a brown belt) and has regular sparring sessions with professional boxers, including world champion Joachim Alcine.
It takes a disciplined lifestyle to be sure, and after a whirlwind year that saw him lose and then regain his title, St-Pierre seems more dedicated than ever. Having made it back to the top of the mountain, the challenge now becomes staying there and securing his place in history along the way.
“I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished so far, but my belly is not full yet," he says. “I want to be known as the best fighter who ever competed in the sport, pound-for-pound, at the end of my career. That’s what I want to be and I still have a lot to do to reach that goal."
In the meantime, he’ll have to settle for being one of the most recognizable figures in an emerging sport and making an entire country proud.
