More on GSP's groin injury

The Weekly Tapout: GSP in a rush to return
Dave Doyle / FOXSports.com

Sometimes the stupidest little things cause the worst injuries at the most inopportune times.

When Georges "Rush" St. Pierre suffered a groin pull while training for his shot at Matt Hughes' Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title, he didn't do it trying to lift someone twice his size, didn't over-train on his roadwork, and didn't reach too high attempting a kick.

Instead, it was a simple wrestling throw during a basic sparring session in August that forced the gregarious Quebecois to pull out of the second chance he's awaited since Hughes caused his only career loss at UFC 50 two years ago.

"At first it just felt warm," said the 25-year old St. Pierre. "When you're working out, you don't feel the pain at first. So I wrestled for another five minutes and I realized something was really wrong, so we stopped and that was when I really felt it."

After giving the injury several days' rest to see if he could go again and consulting with doctors, the decision was made to pull out of the fight. In his place, the man St. Pierre defeated at UFC 58 in March to earn the shot, B.J. Penn, will take his place at the Pond in Anaheim.

"You have to understand this is such a tough call to make," said St. Pierre, who is just this week back to training at what he estimated at 85 percent speed. "You cannot beat Matt Hughes if you are not at 100 percent. It would cheat the fans who pay their money for the fight if I am not at my best. I do not want to fight at less than 100 percent and lose to Matt Hughes and have the people think I am using an injury as an excuse."

While St. Pierre is philosophical about the decision, he still burns for his chance to avenge the loss to Hughes, an armbar submission recorded with one second left in the opening round.

"I have come so far since that fight," he said. "Everything I have done has been with the idea of getting another chance at Matt Hughes. I am a more experienced and more disciplined fighter now than I have ever been."

A title win would culminate a journey that began at the age of five, when St. Pierre began studying kyokushin karate under his father, who was a black belt, in the hamlet of Ste. Isidore, 15 minutes outside of Montreal. Georges had his own black belt by age 12, and not long after, the original UFC caught his eye.

"I watched the UFC and there was this man named Royce Gracie who was beating people twice his size," said St. Pierre. "I knew right away that this is who I wanted to be."

St. Pierre will be among the most interested observers in the building on Sept. 23 in Anaheim. He said UFC has told him he will likely fight the winner of the Hughes-Penn match on their November pay-per-view, so long as the winner emerges relatively unscathed. St. Pierre hedges his prediction on next week's showdown based on the length of the fight.

"B.J. has superior skills with his jiu-jitsu," said St. Pierre, who splits his training between Montreal and Renzo Gracie's school in New York. "And he comes out and starts his fights so tenacious. That is where he can catch Matt. If B.J. is going to win, he is going to do it in the first two rounds.

"But when B.J. doesn't win early, that is when he loses heart and he gives up. Matt's stamina is so impressive. Sometimes heart will beat skill in this sport, and no one has more heart in this sport than Matt Hughes. So I say if it goes three rounds or more, Matt will overcome B.J. and win."

Regardless of what happens, St. Pierre says he'll be back. "Let the fans know I will be back, I will be at full speed in November, and I'll be ready."