'Georges "Rush" Saint-Pierre' (born
May 19,
1981), often referred to as ''GSP''
[1]
, is a
French Canadian mixed martial arts fighter and former
UFC welterweight champion. He holds wins over Josh Koscheck,
Matt Hughes,
B.J. Penn,
Frank Trigg,
Karo Parisyan and current UFC
lightweight champion
Sean Sherk.
[2]
He is ranked by
Sherdog as well as MMAWeekly the #2 170 lb (77 kg) fighter in the world behind
Matt "The Terror" Serra.
[3]
Biography
Born
May 19,
1981 in Saint-Isidore,
Quebec,
Canada, St. Pierre had a difficult childhood, attending a school where others would steal his clothes and money.
[ Georges St. Pierre leads Montreal to UFC glory]. Hour.ca. March 2nd, 2006 ] He started learning
Kyokushin karate at age six to defend himself against a school
bully.
[ Montreal’s MMA Warrior.] knucklepit.com ] He took up
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) after his karate teacher died, and has also trained in
wrestling and
boxing.
St. Pierre currently trains with Triumph Fight Team and the Canadian National Wrestling Team, among others. Prior to his fight with
B.J. Penn at ''
UFC 58'', he trained at the
Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in
New York City. St. Pierre received his brown belt in BJJ from
Renzo Gracie on
July 21,
2006.
[ slam.canoe.ca/Slam/OtherSports/2006/07/22/1697789-sun.html ] St. Pierre is also a former member of the Canadian Top Team. He also spent time training in Quebec City, and in Montreal, and did grappling training with
Brazilian Top Team (BTT) Canada coach, and former fellow TKO competitor,
Fabio Holanda (who cornered many of his fights). He has also trained with ''
The Ultimate Fighter 4's''
Patrick Côté and former UFC
middleweight contender
David Loiseau, and spent some time in the Montreal Wrestling Club.
Recently, ''GSP'' began training with
Rashad Evans,
Nathan Marquardt,
Keith Jardine and many others at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting
Gaidojutsu school in
New Mexico.
MMA career
Early career
St. Pierre had dreamed of becoming a UFC champion since watching
Royce Gracie fight in 1993 at ''
UFC 1''.
[ Getting To Know Georges "Rush" St. Pierre ] ''GSP'' had his first amateur bout when he was only 16 years old. He states, "When I won my first amateur (MMA) fight, I was 16 years old and I beat a guy that was 25. I was only a
Kyokushin karate fighter and the guy I fought was a boxer. At the time my ground skills were very poor, I didn’t know nothing on the ground.” St. Pierre won his fight by
knockout, going low with several leg kicks and then going high with a kick to the head. To this day many fans and much of the media has him pegged as a wrestler, or a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, but he still considers himself a karate stylist at heart.
[ First Bout ]
St. Pierre's pro debut was against
Ivan Menjivar and ended in a first round TKO win. ''GSP'' went on to win his next three fights before making his
TKO debut against
Pete Spratt at ''TKO 14'' (
November 29,
2003). St. Pierre defeated Spratt with a
rear naked choke in the first round.
Joining the UFC
St. Pierre made his Octagon debut at ''
UFC 46'' where he defeated
Karo Parisyan by decision. His next fight with the UFC was against
Jay Hieron at ''
UFC 48''. St. Pierre defeated Hieron via TKO (strikes) in only 1:42.
Following his second straight win in the UFC, he faced
Matt Hughes at ''
UFC 50'' for the welterweight title. Despite a competitive performance, St. Pierre tapped out to an
armbar with only one second remaining in the first round.
Road to the title
After his loss to Hughes, ''GSP'' rebounded with a win over
Dave Strasser at ''TKO 19'' with a first round
kimura submission. He then returned to the UFC to face
Jason "Mayhem" Miller at ''
UFC 52'', defeating Miller by unanimous decision.
With momentum behind him, St. Pierre was then matched up against top contender
Frank Trigg at ''
UFC 54''. St. Pierre controlled the fight and eventually sunk in a
rear naked choke with less than a minute remaining in the first round. He then faced current lightweight champion
Sean Sherk at ''
UFC 56''. Midway through the second round St. Pierre became the second fighter to defeat Sherk, and the first to finish him.
At ''
UFC 58'', St. Pierre defeated former UFC welterweight champion
B.J. Penn to become the number one contender for the UFC welterweight title. St. Pierre won the match by split decision and was set to rematch then-champion Matt Hughes on
September 23,
2006 at ''
UFC 63''.
[4] However, St. Pierre was forced to withdraw from the match due to a groin injury, and was replaced by the man he defeated in March, B.J. Penn.
[5] The UFC had announced afterwards that St. Pierre would have the opportunity to fight for the title when his condition was fully healed.
The Ultimate Fighter
St. Pierre was seen as a trainer on ''
The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback'' on
Spike TV, which featured fighters who were previously seen in UFC events including
Matt Serra,
Shonie Carter,
Pete Sell, and
Travis Lutter. St. Pierre was seen vocally supporting fellow Canadian, and training partner,
Patrick Côté during the season's airing.
Winning the championship
At ''
UFC 63'', ''GSP'' made an appearance to support fellow Canadian MMA fighter,
David "The Crow" Loiseau. At that time he was seen pushing Loiseau to "fight his fight" against
Mike Swick. At the same event, after Matt Hughes had defeated B.J. Penn, ''GSP'' stepped into the ring to hype up his upcoming title fight against Hughes, stating that he was glad that Hughes won his fight, but that he was "not impressed" by his performance.
According to commentator
Joe Rogan, Hughes was unhappy with St. Pierre's statement and that they "had words" off-camera shortly after, at which time St. Pierre apologized, saying he had misunderstood something Hughes had said on the microphone, and did not mean to offend him.
St. Pierre challenged Matt Hughes again at ''
UFC 65'' for the UFC welterweight title. The fight lasted two rounds with St. Pierre winning the fight via TKO (referee stoppage) after a left kick to Hughes' head, followed by a barrage of unanswered punches and elbows.
On
January 30,
2007, St. Pierre signed a six-fight deal with the UFC.
[6]
Losing the title
At ''
UFC 69'' St. Pierre lost the welterweight title to ''The Ultimate Fighter 4'' winner Matt Serra via TKO (strikes) at 3:25 of round one. Matt Serra was an 10-1 underdog going into the bout.
[7]
St. Pierre has said that he lost the match because of problems in his personal life, and later parted ways with his manager and most of his entourage.
On August 25th, 2007, at ''
UFC 74'' GSP won by unanimous decision against
Josh Koscheck (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). His wrestling skills were displayed during the match, by out wrestling Josh Koscheck (a 4-time Division 1 NCAA All-American & 1-time NCAA wrestling champion), scoring takedowns against Koscheck and reversing Koscheck's takedowns to take the top position on the ground. There was speculation before the fight that Koscheck would out-match GSP on the ground, due to his credentials. GSP was confident that he was even a better wrestler, grappler, and striker than Koscheck. Before and after the fight, St. Pierre stated his intention to reclaim his lost title, miming the act of placing a championship belt around his waist while still in the ring. He has now become the number 1 contender for the UFC Welterweight Championship after defeating Josh Koscheck. The championship fight against Matt Hughes or Matt Serra is most likely to take place in Montreal in March or April.
MMA titles
★
UFC Welterweight Champion (former)
★
TKO Canadian Welterweight Champion (former)
MMA record
See also
★
List of male mixed martial artists
References
1. Hughes-St. Pierre: UFC's match of the year? Dave Doyle
2. Ultimate Fighter Championship Fighter Detail - George St. Pierre
3.
MMA's Top Ten
4. CBC.ca. [1]
5. St. Pierre Sidelined by Injury; ‘The Prodigy’ to The Rescue.] August 23 2006
6. www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3355&zoneid=13
7. Georges St. Pierre suffers shock loss to underdog Matt Serra at UFC 69: Shootout Neil Davidson
External links
★
Official website
★
Official MySpace
★
French news of GSP
★
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