Q & A with Georges St. Pierre

Q & A with Georges St. Pierre
By Gary Herman

Former and future champ?

A few months ago, Georges St. Pierre appeared unstoppable. He ran off six consecutive victories – including wins over Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, and BJ Penn – and won the UFC welterweight championship from Matt Hughes.

However, in April of 2007, St. Pierre ran into Ultimate Fighter season four winner, Matt Serra. Serra, a huge underdog, quickly handed St. Pierre his first loss in over two years with a knockout in just over three minutes.

Now, St. Pierre begins the road back to the UFC welterweight championship. The quest starts on August 25 with a match against Josh Koscheck. The winner of the fight may very well be next in line to fight the winner of the Serra – Hughes title bout scheduled for the end of 2007.

We recently caught up the St. Pierre to talk about his fight with Koscheck, what happened with Serra as well as some interesting possibilities for his future.

GH: We’re about a month or so away form the fight with Josh Koscheck how is your training camp going?

GSP: I’m in the best shape of my life. Physically, mentally – everything is good right now.

GH: Koscheck has been on a tremendous roll as of late. What are your thoughts on your opponent?

GSP: Josh Koscheck is a very tough opponent. He’s one of the best guys in the division.

GH: The top guy in the division right now is of course, Matt Serra. After your fight with Serra, you were very complimentary towards him, but since then, the tide seemed to have turned a little bit. Is there anything that caused the friction between yourself and Serra?

GSP: The thing is – a lot of people got very mad at me when I lost that fight. A lot of people were asking me, “What happened to you Georges? How come you didn’t look so sharp? How come you looked so different?”

I felt like I had to explain myself and my version of the story. And by doing this, it was disrespectful to Serra. It took away some of his credit. After I realized what I said, I apologized to him about what I said. I do not want to take anything away from him. I don’t want to give any excuses. I am a professional athelete. I took that fight. I knew I’d have to deal with the consequences of a loss, and I’d have to deal with it like a man. That’s what happened. And now I look to the future.

GH: Taking a fight with Koscheck is certainly a great way to get you right back in the mix for a title shot.

GSP: Exactly. That’s why I wanted to fight Koscheck. I want to fight the best guy in line and I am very happy to be getting in there with Koscheck. I am pumped up for the fight.

GH: What did you think of Koscheck’s performance vs. Diego Sanchez?

GSP: He fought a very intelligent fight. He’s an intelligent fighter. He has a great camp. It’s a great challenge. It may be the toughest fight of my life, but I’m in great shape for it. Mentally, physically – I have no issues. Everything is going well in my life.

GH: We talked a little about the division – guys like Serra, Sanchez, Koscheck. There are a lot of other great fighters as well – including Hughes, Karo Parisyan and possibly Penn. Maybe even Takanori Gomi in the future. The welterweight division is loaded. What are your thoughts on the welterweight division right now?

GSP: Well, it’s great. I am a very proud athlete. I want to be world champion again, and I think I will be. I don’t want to be a paper champion. I want to be a real champion. When you say you’re a ‘world champion’ but then you see someone in another organization is ranked higher, that makes you feel bad. But since the UFC bought so many organizations including Pride and with the talent they already have, when I become world champion, I will be the best in the world.

GH: What do you think about the Pride purchase? Is it good for the sport?

GSP: Absolutely. It’s great for the sport because we can unify the titles. It’ll be great for the fighters and the fans.

GH: Has the UFC mentioned anything about potential unification fights down the line if you were to win your next two fights?

GSP: I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. From what I’ve heard, they are going to get the champions to face each other and that would be a great thing.

GH: That would be huge. Of course the similar Pride champion is the aforementioned Gomi, and he sits in the middle of 155 and 170. In the past, we had heard that you may be interested in actually moving up to 185 lbs to take on Anderson Silva. Are you still comfortable at 170?

GSP: I am very comfortable at 170. People think that I am bigger than I am. I don’t cut much weight. One day when I become world champion again and I have the opportunity to go up and I don’t have much competition in my division, I think I would go up.

It would be for the challenge. Nothing personal - I just want to make my mark in the sport. I want to make history. I want people to remember me as the best fighter there has ever been in the sport. To do that, I need to do some crazy stuff like going up and challenging other champions and that is in my plans. But right now, I am just thinking about the present moment and Josh Koscheck.

GH: You’ve had some big wins in your career – from Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Karo Parisyan, Jason Miller, Sean Sherk and Frank Trigg. Do any of those fights in particular stand out with you as being your favorite fight?

GSP: The fight that I performed the best in was my last fight with Matt Hughes. After that, they were all great. And right now, I feel the best I ever have. My personal life is great. In the past, a lot of personal issues turned bad all at the same time. Now, I fixed the puzzle and everything is going well.

GH: Seeing your tremendous popularity in Canada, do you think the UFC will be going to Canada?

GSP: I’m at the same stage you guys are. I’ve heard some rumors. Hopefully, when I win my next fight, the UFC will come to Montreal. That would be great.

GH: Certainly would be exciting to fight in your home country. How is the sport received in Canada? Does it receive a lot of national exposure like does here in the US?

GSP: The sport is not as big as it is in the US, but it is coming. It’s like fast food restaurants. When something is good in the US, it eventually makes its way up to Canada.

GH: Any final thoughts for your fans out there in anticipation of your fight on August 25 with Josh Koscheck?

GSP: I want to thank everyone for their support. I am sorry for what happened last time. I made a mistake. I cannot promise you I will never lose again, but I can promise you that I will bring my ‘A’ game in every single one of my fights. I will be back on track as fast possible. I will be back in a very explosive way.

(15rounds.com)